NO(^70) THE MAGAZINE 02 71
SCANDINAVIAN
AVIATION MAGAZINE
Crossing the Himalayas
If the route was similar, their vision of the overflight
has evolved, as Patrick Marchand explained: “Our
perception of the distances has been changed
because when we were at Yogyakarta, we were
at the Australian gateway. We had not set the
return trip and the choice was made according
to strategic considerations.
Passed to the South meant to hold a winter tour
in the Middle East, that changed the prospects.
But if we got stuck for an administrative problem
in these southern countries, it had little appeal to
flight there. We could not go back to the North
because we had to cross the Himalayas.
So, we had to go back to China, then to Siberia
to return home, but it was in the dead of winter,
so we would be stuck eight months. Very quickly,
Moscow became the suburb of Dijon in our
conversations. Previously, we planned to go to
Moscow and it seemed very difficult to go up.
When we were in Indonesia, if a plane broke
down, in Moscow we would be at home, we
would go back and repair it”.
A tour full of emotions
The infrastructure and regulations of some
countries can always be questioned, but nobody
would have imagined, among the members of the
BJT, the welcome the team would receive: “We
took off from Singapore to fly with the MiG-29
of the Smokey Bandits - the Malaysian aerobatic
display team - we took pictures, we went down
at low altitude, they showed us two or three nice
places in their country,” related Jacques Bothelin.
“We landed, they chartered a bus to take us lunch
in town. After a quarter of an hour, we had the
impression that we had always known each other.
This ease of contact through the sharing
of passion was extraordinary. In return, we made
a demonstration in Kuala Lumpur and offered
them back seats. The language of aeronautics
in terms of passion, is truly universal,” concluded
the Leader.
Welcome to Asia
As Jacques Bothelin often says: “There is no good
place to break down by plane, but there are worse
places than others”. It is easy to understand that
places such as Siberia or Borneo were feared by
the crews, so the chances of survival, in case of
serious incident, were reduced. By the way, can
we trust the local first aid facilities? Not really,
according to the experienced leader: “If we break
down between France and England, between
the rescue systems which exist and the number
of ships passing by, the probability of survival
is certainly much higher than it is between two
countries like Hong Kong and the Philippines.”
The overflight of these spaces hardly reassured
the crews.
Fortunately, the BJT was not alerted of any
incident and the trip proceeded as planned.
The tour continued successively in the Philippines,
Yogyakarta in Indonesia, Jakarta, Singapore,
Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok. At each appearance,
the audience was amazed by their display,
unrivalled in Asia.
Once back in Zhuhai, the team prepared to travel
to South Korea and Japan, and complete its
Dragon Tour. Once more, enthusiasts and the
public enjoyed the spectacle offered by these
elite pilots.
For the return to France, the Aerobatic Team
stopped in Moscow, for the International Aviation
and Space Show of Moscow (MAKS). Just like
the outward flight, the airmen concentrated on
the stages of the return.