'Dancing' By The Rafale

By Anas Abu Hassan SINGAPORE, March 4 (Bernama) -- Flying a multi-role combat aircraft calls for tremendous skills and split second decisions, yet to ensure the spectators gaze in awe their maneuvers in the sky is another skill altogether. Pilots flying Rafale, an omni role aircraft built by French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation, require special training to enable them to fully master the aircraft's role in the sky. Recently, Bernama had the privilege to interview two French Air Force pilots who flew the Rafale for a solo display routine during the Singapore Airshow (SA) 2016 at the Changi Exhibition Center. The air force of the host country, South Korea, United State and the Royal Malaysian Air Force joined the aerial display. The Rafale had also showcased its agility at three previous editions of the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibitions (LIMA) in Malaysia. Rafale means 'gust of wind' in French and the delta wing aircraft could fly twice the speed of sound and carry a wide range of weapons. DANCING BEFORE FLIGHT Preparing to fly the Rafale is an art by itself. Instead of dealing with the technicalities, they start with a 'dance' beside the combat aircraft. For Captain Benoit Planche, the third solo display pilot of the team, the 'dance' is a routine each time he flies a Rafale aircraft on solo aerobatic shows. Planche whose call sign is 'Tao' said the 'dance' is akin to a culture in the French Air Force for every display pilot before flying. However, it is no ordinary dance. They are actually practicing their aerial maneuver on the ground with their body. "We do physical movements because we have to know exactly and perfectly the rhythm of the display and we have to mime it just before we take off. "It is quite like when you race in Formula 1, you have to know each turn and corners of the track," he added. Explaining further, Planche shared before every takeoff, he would allocate himself two minutes to focus practising the routine and rhythm of the aerial display with his body. Planche said Rafale is a very capable aircraft, built for fair maneuverability and is capable of performing simultaneous management of all missions, including air-to-air, air-to-surface and navy-based operations through a single operation system. In a display routine, the Rafale could perform maneuvers such as 'slow pass', 'slow loop', 'split 5', 'barrel roll in-dumble' and 'clover leaf'. MISSION READY The very first French Air Force solo display pilot Captain Cedric Ruet who goes by the call sign 'Rut' said, flying Rafale as a display pilot is part of the job. "We are still operating on Rafale and if we have to move for any mission, we have to do so. Besides that we both (Ruet and Planche) are also instructors at the Rafale training ground in Saint Dizier, Franze," he said. Ruet said he had seen action on the Rafale since 2006 and had flown during missions in Afghanistan, Mali, Africa, Iraq and Libya. "During such mission we have to enforce no fly zone, air to ground mission with missiles, bombs, GPS-guided bombs and also recce (reconnaissance) mission," he said. It is a multi-role aircraft and the crew could take any kind of mission at any time. TRAINING FOR RAFALE Explaining further on the aircraft capabilities, Planche who had clocked 1,700 hours on the Rafale said he could fly in all kinds of missions as the Rafale is a very versatile and reliable aircraft. "Since we are from the Air Force, we can fly all variants of the Rafale. However, landing a Rafale on an aircraft carrier requires additional training and qualification. According to Ruet, young pilots who want to fly the Rafale will have to undergo training for at least a year at the flying school and then they have to undergo another two months of combat training. "As soon as they are commissioned and pass the combat training, they are ready to perform any mission with their squadron leaders. "Rafale is an easy aircraft to fly, it's the only combat proven aircraft in all kinds of mission," said Ruet ending the interview. --BERNAMA