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Blue and brown, blue and brown . . . alternating colors spinning faster and faster. The sun, like a shiny planet with a broken orbit, increases the tempo of the insane dance behind the smoky tinted canopy glass. The airplane turns an inside loop with multiple snaps. Positive and negative, positive and negative . . . Three quarters of a loop behind, Tchaikovsky "The First Concerto for Piano and Orchestra" rushing through the headset pushing faster and faster.
"Well done, my boy! Almost the right tempo now . . . "Speed . . . Please, do not lose the speed . . . We need speed for the final part of the concert. Level out . . . right time . . . coda in headset . . . Ten seconds before last chord. Tempo of turns . . . "Keep it boy!" Three seconds . . . attention for final stops . . . WOW! Stop! The final note of music loses power in the headset. I return to normal life. Normal position of ground and sky. Somewhere, inside my head, Tchaikovsky continues. The tape recorder of my brain restores four minutes of the struggle with my plane, the music and myself. I try to make a final analysis of how it was. I feel empty, adrift. I turn final. Earthbound. WHY DID IT BEGIN ? 
Aerobatics dates back almost 90 years from when pilots first tried to make unusual figures in the sky. Turns in level flight, the first loops and spins, as more and more pilots tried to use the ability of the airplane for more than transportation from place to place. New planes came to the sky. New figures were born. Flying mankind does not stay in one place. Step by step, aerobatics and aerobatic figures have been systematized. The first aerobatic competitions, names of the World Aerobatic Champions, pilots with the gold feeling of flight inside. Great names like Leo Loudenslager, Igor Egorov, Victor Letsko and Peter Jirmus.
Soon, however, competitions became increasingly standardized. Performing technical figures under predetermined rules was fantastic for improving the overall quality of flight and advancing the sport, but competitions have been reduced to accuracy in performing the figures and struggling with degrees and seconds and wind vagaries. Art in flying has become absent. In recent years new generations of airplanes have come to light. The ability of the Sukhoi, Extra and Cap has given pilots a fantastic tool to transform technical ability into art, to transmit feelings from their cockpits. Competition rules have not changed to match the increasing flexibility of aircraft and pilots. The direction of technical aerobatics is now limited by the physiological limits of the pilots bodies, rather than the limits of the aircraft's performance. Competitions have become less interesting for the public. Without some knowledge of aerobatics, it is very difficult to see the difference between 20 Advanced Known flights. Imagine the feelings of a large theater audience attending a classical ballet and spending the evening watching only technical jumps and rotations. Now imagine those technical figures having to be performed on only a small area of the stage. In order to expand aerobatics, a new idea, which could be called our invitation for the art of dance to enter three-dimensional theater, was born. The idea of creating a total picture in the sky with the ability to design extra contacts between the pilot in the cockpit and the people on the ground. To change aerobatics from air circus, with a number of tricks in the sky, into aerobatics as a finished work of art, which can be understood and appreciated by the spectators on the ground. Aerobatics as dance, as a creative medium with soul infused back in, not as a replacement for the existing form of technical perfection, but as an enhancement for those pilots who fly the highest levels of competition. TWO PLANETS OF AEROBATICS 
The first aviation events were staged to attract the public to airfields. Airshows became a basis for aerobatic and other aviation competitions. Sooner or later the question came . . . "Who is best?" Both types of aerobatic activities came from the same foundation, but they have continued to develop in independent ways. The two planets of aerobatics rotate in different orbits. Pilots who are well known in the aerobatic's world are almost unknown in the airshow planet, and not many airshow pilots are highly successful in competitions. A few names, such as Patty Wagstaff, Sergio Dallan, Nigel Lamb, are well known in both planets of aerobatics. Each planet has many positive factors which can be applied to both types of aerobatics. It is very difficult to make a fantastic airshow performance without a strong technical basis. Not only is it difficult, but without the proper background, it can be very dangerous to both pilot and spectators.
The competition system works from simple to complex maneuvers over a range of categories. The basis of aerobatics, lines, angles, vertical lines, safe speed and altitude, becomes, with practice and more practice, a part of the pilot's blood and sinew, forging, at last, the ability to feel comfortable and confident in unusual attitudes whether in competition, airshow flights or over the field at home. This feeling of freedom is a combination of confidence, safety and the ability to perform ideas through the orchestration of hands and feet inside three-dimensional space with 700 kilos of metal and plastic. At this level, airshow aerobatics are free from limits, while unlimited competition aerobatics are not. In an airshow flight, for example, it is not important how many rolls are performed or on what axis they are performed. In an airshow, the structure and excitement of the flight, the impact it has on the crowd, the pilot's ability to keep the show fresh and new and to hold the public's attention year after year is much more important than the technical expertise of competition flight. Shiny blades reflect the stars blinking in the night sky of Miramar. The gray belt of the runway, violet points of light shining, seems a way into eternity. The day's rumble of airshow continues to live; in the black holes of the engines, evaporating warmth from the cooling concrete, in jokes and the light voices of people inside shelters . . . Suddenly, somewhere in space, a high sound rises. It is difficult to understand where it was born. It seems the sound is everywhere; in the sky, in the air, coming from space. Its volume gains force, becoming very clear, an unrealistic combination of jet engine noise and strange sounds from speakers on the ground. The power of the noise increases, suddenly transformed from chaos to an explosion of sound from the speakers, the first chord of Bach's "Fugue in D Minor." Simultaneously, in the sky, a ball of flying fire. A living comet drawing the ideal descending line. A sky traveler, who appears to catch wind of the music and dance a surrealistic combination of fire, speed, music and night sky. It is impossible to say one word . . . THE START OF A NEW GENERATION OF AEROBATICS It would not be fair to say that the use of music during airshows should set new standards for aerobatics. Some airshow pilots are using background music in an attempt to increase the "link" between pilot, plane and crowd. They are creating a coordinated dance between the style of flight and the music by designing instrumental music programs which compliment and enhance the movement of the plane. In most cases they are successful. It wasn't a fantastic day for an airshow . . . There was a feeling of "something in the air," a wrongness, a sense of uneasiness deep inside that ran like an electric current from pilot to pilot, a hint of the danger they faced. It was a day when each pilot checked his plane one more time than usual . . . just in case . . . Strong wind howled like a wild animal one instant, then as gently as a hearth dog nuzzling its master's face. Clouds and sun warred an uncertain conflict, neither side seeming to be assured of victory. On the ground, the crowd fought the wind, more absorbed by their sandwiches and the lazy drone of "hangar flying" then by the occasional burst of clarity from the loudspeakers or the sound of jet flight overhead. It was a bad day for commentators, for holding the crowd's attention. Suddenly the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber stole the space from the airfield, from the strong wind and running clouds. All heads turned toward the sky, searching for the reason for the music. It was difficult to see him. There were two small lines, green and red, above the clouds, sometimes covered by them. A small aerobatic glider inside this unstable atmosphere, and inside this fantastic music a real flying angel looking down on the problems of the modern world. The idea to unite both planets of aerobatics, that of competition and of airshow, and create a new style of competition was born five years ago. Jean Louis Monnet, former leader of the Patroulle de France, was the first flying director of the Breitling World Cup of Aerobatics. The twelve best aerobatic pilots in the world, according to the results of the World Aerobatic Championships, were invited to a new kind of flying competition. Pilots would fly to music without limits concerning the figures they should perform. There were no rules, no prior experience to draw from. We had nothing. It became clear, after the first events, that to fly a four-minute free-style program with some nice piece of music as background was wrong. It was clear that most of the pilots did not have enough musical knowledge to design a complimentary picture in the sky. We realized we were at the beginning of a new road with unknown rules, where the old rules did not fit. It was up to us to find enough energy and gray substance in our brain to create new rules for a new form. At the same time, we were faced with a host of technical problems; how to transmit the music to the cockpit, how to synchronize the start of the music with the pilot's readiness to start his program, how to design a musical program, what kind of music to use-many questions, few answers. But, the designers had created a flexible system. Rules changed each year. The main goal was actually to create rules that would allow for the best presentation of aerobatics to the public. We were trying to create a new kind of competition, a special kind of airshow. For the first time in history, the two planets of aerobatics began to merge. A LONG WAY TO THE LIGHT The development of an aerobatic ballet as a form of competition was created inside the Breitling World Cup of Aerobatics. Over four years, pilots, judges, flying directors and commentators tried to find the right way. It was an experience, sometimes as the basis for a good laugh, sometimes as a reason for thinking it was impossible, to find a solution. But, it was the common job of the twelve pilots who had reached the top limits of classical competition aerobatics to find new ways to use their flying ability to create a new form of aerobatics as their legacy to the future. It wouldn't be true to say that all the pilots felt the drive to say so much more. The passion to create an umbilical cord between themselves, their aircraft, the crowd. The chance to do more than multiple snaps and aileron rolls. The chance to become a link between earth and sky . . . but it was in front of us five years ago, and we worked, as one international team, in one direction. Music . . . it was the most unusual element in this new kind of flight. We began to understand very soon that music could make fantastic changes in the feeling of the flight. The right music could lift up a gray flight, and the wrong music could negate even an inspired flight. Questions, always more questions, as we learned more. Where is the compromise between the right music and the right flight? What kind of music corresponds to the airplane and to the sky as the stage of a specific theater? How can the pilot be inside the music if he has a strong head wind to combat, or if the wind is absent? So many difficulties, so many things upon which the pilot must concentrate. These were, and still are, questions that each pilot must try to solve. The more we participated in the Breitling World Cup, the more knowledge we gained. We designed a specific technology for communication between radio operator and pilot. We learned to work inside a very strict time limit. We learned a new and special kind of professional discipline. It was a wonderful time of development and cooperation. Some of the Breitling 95 flights, under the newer rules we forged, were truly the beginning of inspiration. They stand now as examples of ballet in three-dimensional space. 26 of August, 1995 . . .Miramar . . . homebase of "Top Gun" . . . a huge airshow with a crowd of two million expected . . . For the three Russian pilots who came to participate in the Breitling World Cup, it was an aviation Mecca. Yet the sweetness was tinged by a bitter loss. Just before the training flights began, they received information that Natasha Sergeeva, member of the Russian National Aerobatic Team, was killed during a test flight of the Yak 54. She was a kind and beautiful woman, filled with a zest for life, and we questioned why God should make such a choice. The next pilot was ready to start his performance when from all the speakers on the airfield came the words, perhaps an answer, in part: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life . . . World Aerobatic Champion, Russian Natasha Sergeeva, has been killed during a test flight in Russia. Nikolay Timofeev from Russia wishes to dedicate his next flight to her memory. Ladies and gentlemen, Nikolay Timofeev performing to 'Requiem'." . . . I have never felt such an understanding of the airplane. It seemed to me that "my boy" could feel each subtle accent of music, that he was born to fly inside this musical rhythm of Tchaikovsky. I felt that I didn't need an airplane anymore, and that "he" could perform it all without me . . . After landing I returned to the Breitling tent to find many of my fellow team members in tears. One of the women came to me and said, "Nikolay, it was fantastic that you continue to think about such things. I had the feeling that Natasha looked on your flight from the sky and that she is still with us . . ." I didn't find any words . . . CONCLUSION 1995 was the last year twelve of the best pilots of the world said, "Thank you, Mister Schneider!", and the president of the Breitling company didn't even know how often his name had been pronounced over the last few years. It was a great cooperative effort. The Breitling Company will be remembered by those twelve pilots, and many others, with gratitude as the first financial backer of the beginning of the "aerobatic ballet". Twelve new pilots were selected after the World Aerobatic Championships in Oklahoma City in 1996. The competition is now called the FAI World Grand Prix of Aerobatics. Local areas must sponsor the event, which makes for less continuity, but the struggle goes on. Jean Louis Monnet continues as flight and managing director of the project. Perhaps a new sponsor will be found. Monnet's idea of an aerobatic ballet will continue. A new generation of pilots will benefit from the knowledge of those who have gone before. The earthbound dreamers will benefit, as the two planets of aerobatics become one shining world of dancing airplanes. |
| OTHER ARTICLES OF ASI AUGUST'98 ISSUE | News In Brief | Letters To The Editor | World Records | | Overture For Airplane & Orchestra | | British Pilot Breaks Aviation Record | | 2nd World Conference On Women And Sport | | 10th International European Club Class Gliding Championship 1998 | | Portrait Of A Woman |  More articles on Aerobatics
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