- 2 years ago
Join Editor-At-Large Arthur St. Antoine for a once-in-a-lifetime drag race
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MotorTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:11 [MUSIC]
00:21 [MUSIC]
00:31 [MUSIC]
00:56 I'm Arthur St. Antoine with Motor Trend Magazine, and I'm here in Pensacola, Florida today with the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1.
01:06 Codename, Blue Devil. The fastest, most powerful, and at roughly $117,000, by far the most expensive production automobile General Motors has ever built.
01:21 [MUSIC]
01:33 That's right, more than $100,000 for a Chevrolet. But even at that price, you could consider the ZR1 something of a bargain.
01:42 That's because this incredible Corvette loves fried Ferrari for breakfast. It lunches on smoked Lamborghini. Dinner, baked Porsche.
01:53 The ZR1 has even been known to snack on Nissan GTRs. Makes you wonder, can anything keep up with, much less intimidate, Chevrolet's awesome, utterly unbelievable Blue Devil?
02:06 How about a Blue Angel? Hmm, just saying the name Blue Angels gets the heart racing.
02:15 Now the oldest active flight demonstration squadron in the world, the Blues were created in 1946 to attract new recruits to the United States Navy by showcasing the talents of some of the finest pilots on the planet.
02:29 Each year, the team performs some 70 air shows for more than 15 million spectators.
02:36 And what the six demo pilots do with their glistening Boeing F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter jets borders on the unbelievable.
02:45 [Music]
03:12 The show's high-G aerobatic maneuvers, which include loops, barrel rolls, minimum radius turns, inverted flight, place intense demands on pilots and aircraft alike.
03:23 And if you think it all looks terribly dangerous, well, you're right.
03:28 In the Blue Angel's 63 year history, nearly 10% of its pilots have died in training or air show accidents.
03:36 Make no mistake, this is literally one of the most breathtaking shows on Earth.
03:43 Maybe this will help explain just how challenging flying for the Blue Angels really is.
03:48 If my shoulder were one Hornet flying in formation, my hand would be another.
03:53 That's right, these guys often fly just three feet apart and at more than 400 miles per hour.
04:00 [Music]
04:07 The right stuff, this is righteous stuff.
04:12 [Explosion]
04:15 Now it's time to meet my adversary, the man who will attempt to outgun me and my Blue Devil.
04:21 Meet the man in charge of narrating the shows from the ground and giving VIP rides in Blue Angel 7, the team's only two-seat F/A-18, Lieutenant Ben Walburn.
04:31 Call sign, Baxter.
04:34 Okay, Baxter, this is the Corvette ZR1, the fastest car General Motors has ever built.
04:39 In fact, this is one of the fastest cars on the planet.
04:42 638 supercharged V8 horsepower.
04:45 It'll do 0 to 60 in 3.3 seconds, does the quarter mile in just over 11 seconds at 130 miles an hour.
04:52 It's very, very quick. What do you got?
04:54 What I have here today is a twin-engine tactical fighter, a Boeing F/A-18 Hornet, with about 32,000 pounds of thrust coming out the back end.
05:02 Ouch, that's quite a bit. Well, the ZR1 will go over 200 miles an hour. How fast does your Hornet go?
05:08 This Hornet here can do about Mach 1.8, which is roughly about 1,400 miles an hour.
05:13 Okay, well, that's pretty fast. How much does it cost?
05:15 This one here is probably about $25 million.
05:17 Twenty-five million? That's more than Simon Cowell makes in a whole week.
05:21 Well, do you think your Blue Angel has the stuff to beat my Blue Devil?
05:24 We'll take a look at it and we'll try. We'll see.
05:26 All right, let's find out.
05:27 All right, sounds good.
05:29 Our matchup is simplicity itself.
05:32 From a standing start, we'll run a straight one-mile drag race.
05:36 First one across the finish line wins.
05:40 The runways here at Naval Air Station Pensacola are 8,000 feet long.
05:45 That means I'll have enough time to accelerate the Blue Devil up to the mile marker,
05:49 at which point I'll probably be doing around 180 miles an hour,
05:53 then jump on the giant carbon-ceramic binders and bring myself to a safe stop.
05:57 Baxter and the Blue Angel will be on a parallel runway about 500 feet away.
06:03 Hard to say how fast he'll be going at the mile marker, but definitely he'll be airborne well before then.
06:09 Now, I get the sense that Baxter's feeling pretty cocky about his jet right now.
06:15 On the other hand, it's going to take that Hornet a while to spool up,
06:18 and my ZR1, well, it is just blindingly quick off the line.
06:22 If I make a good enough start--well, enough conjecture. Let's do this thing.
06:28 [music]
06:33 [music]
06:37 [music]
07:01 [music]
07:05 A good start will be critical for my chances.
07:08 Baxter has 32,000 pounds of afterburner-fed thrust on his side,
07:14 but I've got the electrifying acceleration of 638 supercharged horsepower.
07:20 My ZR1 can reach 60 miles an hour in just 3.3 seconds,
07:24 and blazes through the quarter mile in just over 11 seconds at 130 miles per hour.
07:30 Hopefully, the twin General Electric turbofans and Baxter's Hornet will still be spooling up as I rocket into the lead.
07:37 And besides, I could get lucky.
07:40 Maybe Baxter will accidentally leave his jet's tail hook down or something.
07:45 [music]
07:49 [music]
07:58 Racers ready?
08:00 Three, two, one, go.
08:08 [music]
08:12 [music]
08:16 [music]
08:20 [music]
08:24 [music]
08:28 [music]
08:32 [music]
08:36 [music]
08:40 [music]
08:44 [music]
08:48 Well, that wasn't even close.
08:52 Alright, fine. I'd be lying if I said I actually expected the Blue Devil to be able to beat the $25 million Blue Angel in a drag race.
09:00 But I thought at least, well, I'd lead for a while.
09:04 Instead, Lieutenant Walburn and his F/A-18 were already pulling ahead by around 80 miles per hour.
09:10 I was barely at the half-mile marker when he crossed the finish line and stood the Hornet on his tail for a vertical climb.
09:16 Big show-off.
09:18 By the time I finally crossed the finish line myself, doing 172 miles per hour, Lieutenant Walburn was somewhere up in the clouds.
09:26 He'd passed the finish line going about 345 miles per hour.
09:31 I'm sure I creamed him on gas miles.
09:36 Alright, Baxter, it wasn't a contest. Your Blue Angel destroyed my Blue Devil.
09:40 I gave it everything I had, but that F/A-18 is just too fast. How did it feel for you in the cockpit?
09:44 It felt pretty good. That thing gets up and goes pretty good once you put 32,000 pounds of thrust going out the back end.
09:49 Were you able to see the ZR1 at all during the race?
09:51 Yes, I did. I peeked over right away and it kind of got a little bit of a lead on me initially.
09:55 Then I just kind of caught up and went by.
09:57 I thought it might last a little longer than it did, but it didn't.
10:00 Well, I'll tell you, I think the only two jobs people really might envy each other for are jet pilot and test car driver.
10:06 Maybe playboy photographer.
10:08 But right now, the two of us maybe have the best jobs in the world.
10:11 Do you want to do a little trading places today and maybe try my vehicle? I try your jet?
10:15 Sounds good. Let's go.
10:16 Alright, let's try it out.
10:17 Alright.
10:18 By now, Lieutenant Walborn is an old hand at breaking the sound barrier in the sky.
10:21 But how would he feel piloting 638 supercharged Motown horsepower across the ground?
10:27 Only one way to find out.
10:29 Strap Mr. Blue Angel in behind the wheel and take the Blue Devil out for a full throttle blast.
10:35 Okay, Baxter, we're in the ZR1 now. You get a chance to try the Blue Devil coming from the Blue Angel.
10:40 Alright.
10:41 You ever driven a Corvette before?
10:42 I don't think I can remember if I've ever driven one before.
10:45 Alright, well this is the ultimate Corvette.
10:47 Okay.
10:48 So this will be a memorable experience.
10:49 Okay.
10:50 Give it a shot.
10:51 Alright, we'll see what we shall do.
10:52 Obviously respectful of high-powered machinery, Lieutenant Walborn builds up to speed carefully.
11:02 In no time, though, he's gunning the ZR1 past 130 miles per hour and loving it.
11:08 Of course, I'm probably getting in his way a bit by watching his every move.
11:12 So I decide to climb out and let Lieutenant Walborn fly solo.
11:15 Naturally, right away he transforms into a teenager with dad's car keys.
11:37 At this point in his career, Lieutenant Walborn has accumulated more than 1,400 flight hours,
11:41 and now about 20 minutes of seat time at the wheel of one of the world's most awesome ground-bound rockets.
11:47 Now it's my turn.
11:52 In the ready room, I begin suiting up for the ride of a lifetime.
11:56 A no-holds-barred flight in a Blue Angel's F/A-18 Hornet.
12:02 [Music]
12:11 As Crew Chief Austin Armstrong belts me into the rear ejection seat of Blue Angel 7,
12:16 he offers a few friendly words of advice.
12:19 Basically, "Don't touch anything."
12:22 During hard air show maneuvers, Blue Angel's pilots regularly experience forces many times the force of gravity,
12:29 often over 7G, which makes a 200-pound man feel like he weighs more than 1,400 pounds
12:35 and can squeeze the blood out of his skull as if it were caught in the jaws of a giant, invisible lemonade press.
12:42 Key to surviving a flight in an airborne centrifuge like the F/A-18 Hornet is mastering the so-called HIC maneuver.
12:50 Basically, to keep from passing out during high-G aerobatics,
12:54 you have to squeeze your legs and grunt like hell to keep the blood up in your brain where it belongs.
12:59 Done right, it sounds something like, "Hic, hic, gah!"
13:03 Or in my case, "Hic!"
13:05 Well, you'll see.
13:07 [Music]
13:10 Ready to go?
13:11 Ready to go.
13:12 All right, here we go. Here comes spill power there.
13:14 And we'll go right to afterburner to get you in the seat.
13:17 Here comes afterburner.
13:18 Wow.
13:19 And we're already at 60 knots.
13:20 There's 80 knots.
13:21 I wonder if you beat me.
13:22 100.
13:23 Here comes 120.
13:24 150.
13:25 And 140.
13:26 We're safe, we're coming to 121.
13:27 We'll be in fact.
13:28 160 knots.
13:29 Unbelievable.
13:30 There's 180.
13:31 Lieutenant Walburn is going to break me in easy.
13:34 On takeoff, we're going vertical.
13:37 You ready to go flying today?
13:39 Let's go flying.
13:40 All right, ready, hit it.
13:42 [Airplane engine]
13:44 That's what you call having a lot of help.
13:45 Fantastic!
13:46 Only 5.5 G.
13:48 Of course, Mr. Blue Angel is only getting warmed up.
13:52 How about an Immelmann turn, Arthur?
13:55 Take a deep breath.
13:56 Ready, hit it.
13:57 As we pull on up, a little bit more G this time.
13:59 There's 5.5 G's.
14:01 Keep that squeeze going.
14:02 There we go.
14:03 Nice work.
14:04 There we go.
14:05 Now we get up over the top.
14:06 G's are going to kind of relax on us here.
14:07 There we go.
14:08 As we pull up over the top.
14:09 And we'll roll upright here.
14:12 Just relax.
14:13 And we're going to roll to the left.
14:14 And that's how we get in right behind someone.
14:16 Or an inverted negative G pushover.
14:19 [Airplane engine]
14:22 There we go.
14:23 Unbelievable.
14:24 And we're hanging upside down right now.
14:26 What's our negative G here?
14:28 Negative G is negative 1.
14:29 Uh-huh.
14:30 And once you get your bearings here,
14:31 we'll go ahead and push forward a little bit on the stick.
14:33 Get that negative 2, 2.5 G's.
14:34 I feel like your eyeballs are popping out.
14:36 They're coming out.
14:37 All right, here we go.
14:38 We're going to push forward a little bit.
14:40 There we go.
14:41 That's minus 2 G's.
14:42 And we'll roll upright.
14:44 Ready, hit it.
14:46 There we go.
14:47 [Laughter]
14:49 That kind of gets you there, huh?
14:50 That gets you, man.
14:51 There's no technique to keep the blood down.
14:52 That's the problem.
14:54 Then comes a moment I've waited my whole life for.
14:57 Time to break the sound barrier.
14:59 And not while sipping champagne in the now defunct Concorde,
15:02 but the way it's supposed to be done.
15:04 Strapped into the ejection seat of a military fighter jet
15:07 just a few hundred feet above the water.
15:10 All right, you ready to go to some sonic?
15:12 Let's go.
15:13 Here we go.
15:14 We're going to pull afterburner, nose on over.
15:16 And I'll start my little stopwatch up here.
15:19 There's 180 knots.
15:22 There's 200 knots.
15:23 225.
15:24 250.
15:26 275.
15:28 300 knots already.
15:29 We've accelerated 180 miles an hour in 12 seconds.
15:32 There's 350 knots.
15:33 There's 375.
15:35 Come up to 400 knots.
15:36 See that Mach number starting to come up?
15:37 Yep.
15:38 425.
15:39 450.
15:40 Here's 475.
15:42 We're at 500 knots right now.
15:43 I see the Mach number about .8.
15:46 There we go.
15:47 It's .9 Mach.
15:48 We're at 585 knots.
15:50 There we go.
15:51 There's .94, .96.
15:53 And you're going super sonic, my friend.
15:55 Wow.
15:56 There we go.
15:58 That's 666 knots.
16:00 I don't know what the blue devil for you there.
16:03 Any boats on the water right now, we're rocking with a sonic boom.
16:06 But in the cockpit, I don't feel anything.
16:09 Just wonderful.
16:11 We're going at 70 miles an hour.
16:13 Naturally, Baxter isn't going to let me get away without a little extra pressure, Blue Angel style.
16:19 Time for a minimum radius turn.
16:21 Ready.
16:22 Hit it.
16:23 Here we go.
16:24 We're pulling off this air.
16:25 See, there's 7.5 G's.
16:26 Keep it going.
16:27 You got it.
16:28 Gah!
16:29 Kelly Clarkson!
16:30 Kelly Clarkson!
16:31 There we go.
16:32 Nice work.
16:33 7.3 G's.
16:34 Wow.
16:35 I was starting to get tunnel on that one.
16:37 I heard you talking to yourself.
16:38 That's great.
16:39 You motivate yourself.
16:41 As we come into land, one more brutal turn past 7 G just for good measure.
16:46 All right.
16:47 Go ahead and flex those legs.
16:48 Take a deep breath.
16:49 Ready.
16:50 Hit it.
16:51 Gah!
16:52 Gah!
16:53 Here we go.
16:54 Keep it going.
16:55 There's 7.
16:56 Gah!
16:57 Nice work.
16:58 We got it.
16:59 There we go.
17:00 We'll roll on out here.
17:01 Did you even hear a hick from Lieutenant Walburn?
17:04 I didn't.
17:05 I don't think the guy's even sweating.
17:07 Good job.
17:10 Whew.
17:11 Now I know how it feels to ride in a washing machine set on the spin cycle.
17:15 Somehow, I've managed not to pass out, even during several turns at well over 7 G.
17:21 My lunch is even still where it belongs.
17:23 My brain, though, is now etched with a memory I'll never, ever forget.
17:28 How do these guys do this day in and day out?
17:31 And with other aircraft just a few feet away?
17:34 Oh, yeah. They're Blue Angels.
17:38 And what does our Blue Devil versus Blue Angel race prove, you ask?
17:42 Oh, please.
17:43 If you have to ask, you obviously don't understand the deep-seated Darwinian forces
17:47 that compel boys of all ages to play at any opportunity with fast and expensive toys.
17:53 What's clear after racing the Corvette ZR1 against the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet, however,
18:00 is that the US of A builds two of the world's most monumental and unforgettable speed machines.
18:06 Doesn't matter which flavor you prefer, this is American engineering at its best.
18:12 Red,
18:14 white,
18:15 and very, very blue.
18:19 [cheering]
18:22 [music]
18:25 [music]
18:29 [music]
18:33 [music]
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18:40 [music]
18:44 [music]
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18:52 [music]
18:59 [music]
19:02 (upbeat music)
19:04 (logo chimes)
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