Aerobatics
Aerobatics… what is it?
Aerobatics is almost as old as aviation itself. In 1913, Adolphe Pégoud flew the first loop, after watching his aircraft fly one on its own just after he had abandoned it by parachute…!
Aerobatics is not stunt flying. It is a top-level sport, codified in the same way as figure skating or gymnastics, with free and compulsory, known and unknown programmes.
The figures are precisely catalogued and improvisation is completely ruled out, giving the sport a framework with a very high level of safety.
Aerobatics… why?
First, because aerobatics develops qualities in a pilot that basic flying cannot bring out.
The Great War immediately revealed its operational value in air combat.
It gives the pilot:
- obvious ease across the aircraft’s entire flight envelope,
- incredible dexterity and precision,
- heightened visual acuity.
But above all, it is a way of exploring the three dimensions far more intimately and passionately than simple climbs and descents.
Because aerobatics is also an activity that is constantly renewed. From one flight to the next, as dexterity improves and the weather changes, the sequences are always different. The satisfaction of a job well done shows, rewarding the effort made.
Because, as a sport, aerobatics brings great joys and victories over oneself — and sometimes defeats — but in every case it teaches pilots to master their own physical and emotional reactions.
And finally, because aerobatics, an individual activity practised as a group, lets you taste the subtle, intense scent of victory, when the vague feeling of mastered skill is confirmed by a podium…
