The nerve center of the Red Bull Air Race is the Tower, which has room for up to 250 people. It is ultramodern, with a Master Control Room for managing the event, a Graphics Control Room for TV and video walls, three special boxes for live broadcasts, a Media Room, and all the equipment and facilities needed for monitoring the race.
The Tower is also the timekeeping center, which uses a hypermodern 3D, real-time tracking system called LPM (Local Position Measurement), which works with radio waves. Each aircraft is equipped with two transponders, which transmit data to the base station. The equipment takes a fix on the aircraft 500 times a second, and the transmitted data permit computation not only of the plane’s time but also its current speed, the G-forces, and other interesting and important data.
The Tower weighs 25 tons and has to be newly erected for each race, which takes two whole days, three by the time the electronics have been installed.
Red Bull Air Race