Page 81 - AirForces - Monthly (February 2020)

stepped into the role, well aware of the even more impressive. After the rollover landing,
challenges of a particularly demanding the braking distance was extremely short. On
forthcoming display deep in the Swiss valleys the other hand, the most difficult demonstration
at Sion. “The axis [for the display] was locked I made was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The
in the mountains,” he says. “We didn’t know sky was stormy and the visibility was very
whether we would have to adapt the flight reduced. The presentation was intended for
or if it could fit in the [available airspace]. the Malaysian government in the presence of
After a training flight on site, we realised the French president, François Hollande, and
that we were the only ones to perform the all the leaders of major French aeronautical
entire demo without changing anything. companies. The pressure was intense!”
Even in the vertical axis, we did not exceed In 2018, Capt Sébastien ‘Babouc’ Nativel,
the highest peaks that surrounded us!” who had flown the Rafale since 2011 and who
The next Rafale solo pilot was Capt Benoît joined ETR 2/92 in 2015, became the demo
‘Tao’ Planche, another former Mirage 2000N pilot. He remained the display pilot for 2019
pilot, who spent three years displaying the and told AFM: “Coming after all these great
Rafale before Jean-Guillaume ‘Marty’ Martinez pilots is not an easy task. I didn’t want to
assumed the post in 2017. Martinez bought revolutionise the demo, just be worthy of my
some big changes, not least a spiral climb predecessors. So I analysed videos trying
directly after take-off. “I would have loved to change the angles and the sequence at
to have launched flares during the demo,” the beginning. Then I imagined what I could
he says. “On the Rafale, they are launched possibly bring [to the routine]. The first year,
upwards and I imagined a turn in a barrel I wanted to do a barrel roll with the gear
roll in front of the public while firing them. down just after take-off. The second year, I
From the ground, the spectators would have [reprised] the square loop of ‘Rut’ and ‘Duch’” .
seen a circle formed by the smoke, with In April 2019, Nativel brought together
the flares converging towards the centre of most of the former Rafale solo display
this circle. Another possibility would have pilots to celebrate a decade of the air force
been to fire them vertically while making a demonstration team. He says: “When I took
barrel. Unfortunately, flares are considered off for my flight, I knew that there were some
as weapons in France and using them big figures scrutinising me from the ground!”
in a public demo is a definite no-no.” Nativel flew his final display at the Dubai Above: This is the 2018 scheme. In 2020, Capt Jérôme
Martinez also has unforgettable memories of Airshow in November and, in 2020, Capt ‘Schuss’ Thoule becomes the latest to climb into the
displaying at Sion: “The plane was incredible, Jérôme ‘Schuss’ Thoule becomes the cockpit as the Rafale solo demonstration pilot.
the conditions were optimal, the wind was latest to climb into the cockpit as the air Below: The Rafale displays have evolved subtly over
the years, with agility and raw power being a common
right on the axis, which made the slow pass force’s Rafale solo demonstration pilot. AFM theme.

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