08 DEC: END OF A CYCLE


After turning the page of the Japan Aerobatics Grand Prix at Motegi, with our deepest gratitude for all their support, HONDA has just announced their immediate withdrawal from Formula I.
We have a thought for Soichiro Honda the founder of the company, who was so fond of aviation that he took a wing as his logo. Honda goes on ...
 
Haute Voltige will go on too ... The current worldwide situation gives us the opportunity of to make a futuristic comment at the end of this year 2008, which is definitely a turning point in our history.

< read more


18 NOV: A TRIBUTE TO THE TWIN RING MOTEGI PILOTS


23 solo pilots
9 formation teams including 6 aerobatic teams (16 pilots)

Haute Voltige salutes all pilots who have flown during our past nine events at Twin Ring Motegi, Japan.

Out of the 1'000 flights performed from the 400m runway, only one did not return to land.
The aircraft was totally destroyed but the pilot (A. Krotov from Russia) miraculously survived and is now back to international aerobatic competition.
 
So, all pilots returned safely back home, but we would like to pay a special tribute to Martin Stahalik, from Czech Republic, who disappeared on March 9th 2001 during an instruction flight, flying a Yak 52 in the Netherlands .

< see list (PDF file)

03 NOV: A NEW GENERATION


For our 9th and last event at Twin Ring Motegi, the audience could witness the victory of a new generation of champions and aircraft with Renaud Ecalle from France flying the XTREME SBACH 300, and Castor Fantoba from Spain on his SU 26 M"Angry Fish", just ahead of the old SU 26 of the brilliant Svetlana Kapanina.

At this point in time when we turn a page of the fantastic human adventure of Haute Voltige in Japan, fresh blood is giving us a new energy to continue despite the international economical crisis. This matches perfectly with the Conjunction of the Opposites demonstrated by Haute Voltige flights to music.

Renaud Ecalle ( Ecalle-san, as they say in Japan), aged 27, has won GP N° 27, making him the youngest pilot to win the FAI World Grand Prix.
The numbers also matched perfectly with this 9th event where the renewal was enhanced by the performance of Almadrava, the Spanish band who dazzled the pilots and audience with their live concert for unpredictable aircraft.

Earlier this year, I had promised to reveal the Motegi secret. For the game, let's call it an aerobatic prophecy born a long time ago from the understanding of the loop and its reverse. We are entering the end of a time that will open, within IO years (2018), the doors of a new era where individuals will have to live the freedom of birds in the air, and the concept of return...

02 NOV: FINAL COMPETITION RESULTS

27th FAI World Grand Prix
2008 Haute Voltige Aerobatics Japan Grand Prix
Twin Ring Motegi, 02 - 04 November 2008

Rank
Pilot
Nationality
Points
1st
Renaud ECALLE
FRA
12,125
2nd
Castor FANTOBA
ESP
12,033
3rd
Svetlana KAPANINA
RUS
11,973

PUBLIC VOTE WINNERS
Sat 01 Nov - Renaud ECALLE
Sun 02 Nov - Yoshihide MUROYA

< Full results
< Event pages
< Photos

01 NOV : RESULTS - FIRST FLIGHT
Great weather, great show, great audience !

The 1st day of competition has produced the following results:
DAY 1 - Saturday 01st November
 
Ranking
Pilot
Pts
1st
Renaud ECALLE
12,125
2nd
Svetlana KAPANINA
11,758
3rd
Castor FANTOBA
11,608
4th
Viktor CHMAL
11,288
5th
Philipp STEINBACH
11,028
6th
Yoshihide MUROYA
10,933
7th
Martin ALBRECHT
10,305

Tomorrow, the pilots will fly their 2nd competition flight. The best result of both days will be considered to determine the final ranking.


PUBLIC VOTE

In addition to the official competition ranking, the Japanese audience can vote for their "favourite performance" each day.

Winner of the "PUBLIC VOTE" for Saturday 01 November is
Renaud ECALLE from France.

Congratulations Renaud!

1st Renaud ECALLE
2nd Yoshihide MUROYA
3rd Castor FANTOBA

29 OCT : EVENT PREPARATION
Preparation at Twin Ring Motegi is well underway for the 2008 Haute Voltige Aerobatics Japan Grand Prix,
 

Pilots have been practicing under beautiful weather conditions, the musicians have arrived and the first of the photos are now online.

< event pages

< event photos

Our Japanese fans can visit the Twin Ring Motegi website for complete event information and ticket sales.


14 OCT : COUNTING DOWN TO MOTEGI, JAPAN
Only 17 days to go and we are now in the "Countdown Phase" for the 2008 Aerobatics Japan Grand Prix.
 
Metal Angels, a morning live concert to the flights of the Magnificent Seven (pilots) by the Spanish group Almadrava ...
 
In the afternoon, the 27th FAI World Grand Prix, the unique international aerobatic competition to music  ...
 
Both parts will be an Haute Voltige expression of "poetry in action" in this changing world dominated by regulations, law and order, and the opposite ...
Life is just pure Aerobatics, enjoy it!
 
Come and join us at Twin Ring Motegi, Friday 31 Oct - Sunday 02 Nov.
Our Japanese fans can visit the Twin Ring Motegi website for complete event information.

26 SEP : CONGRATULATIONS YVES ROSSY
Congratulations to "Fusion Man" Yves Rossy for his successful attempt across the English Channel on 26th September.

It is a fantastic reward after so many difficulties, a tribute to perseverance & professionalism.

You can refer to the DVD "Wings over Al Ain" to understand how tricky was his road to success ( Yves was part of the Haute Voltige team in a delicate experience at Al Ain).

Photo Courtesy of National Georgraphic Channel and Jetman Live
http://jetmanlive.com/

04 SEP : FINAL LANDING AT MOTEGI "DVD PROMOTION"


To celebrate our historical final landing at Twin Ring Motegi, which will turn a page of the FAI World Grand Prix, Haute Voltige will launch a DVD Promotion until the end of December 2008.
 
The DVD's "Wings Over Al Ain" & "The Best of Haute Voltige Vol 1" include our best quality pictures from events in Japan, United Arab Emirates, China and Switzerland, and some remarkable inboard camera footage. 
 
A spectacular testimony for the "conjunction of the opposites" and the power of "team spirit".

15 AUG : THE TIME HAS COME


Due to the international financial crisis and escalated restrictions imposed by Japanese law for organising such an event, Mobilityland Company and Honda have taken the decision to put on hold the "Haute Voltige Aerobatics Japan Grand Prix" at TWIN RING MOTEGI, effective from 2009, until further notice.
Therefore, our next event, early November 2008, will be our last one there, a milestone for this FAI competition which started in 1996 at Tajima, Japan, 13 years ago, and at Twin Ring Motegi 11 years ago.

MOTEGI 2008 will ring an historical bell for all of us, and will have a great programme despite all the administrative obstacles which led to the cancellation of Formation Teams, the Da Vinci Parachute and Avion Plume.
We welcome you and your family to join us at Twin Ring for this historical Final landing at Motegi.  It will be a fantastic event that will give us the opportunity to say THANK YOU and express our gratitude to the Japanese aviation fans, the people of Motegi, Mobilityland, Honda and to all of you who have given us your continuous support. 

This special event will not only be an exceptional aerobatic competition with the new generation of champions and some new extreme aircraft, but we are also preparing, especially for you, an exceptional live music concert by the Spanish group Almadrava for you to take a great family pleasure with "Poetry in Action".

ILM.

01 AUG : ASIAN AND WORLD PREMIERES


Unfortunately, the displays of the Da Vinci Parachute (Asian Premiere) and of the Avion Plume with an electrical engine (World Premiere) during the Haute Voltige “Poetry in Action” at Twin Ring Motegi have not been accepted and permission was denied.

Regretably, the scheduled display of these two great performances, essentially cultural and poetic, have been cancelled.

Please feel free to follow their adventures on their respective websites:
http://www.dehavilland-watches.com
http://www.woopy-fly.com/


21 JUL : WHY NO HAUTE VOLTIGE AIR RACE?
To answer the question of a lot of people facing the great success of the Red Bull Air Race and the lack of sponsorship for freestyle flying to music.
 
In 2003, we were the first international competition to validate the aerobatic air race concept for the FAI. Our idea was to fly against time around a circuit of 11 poles with a few aerobatic figures in between, including a loop and inverted flying.

This difficult challenge was restricted to World Aerobatic champions, however, we had an accident at Twin Ring Motegi (31 Oct 2003) and, although the pilot miraculously survived (and still competes), we stopped our efforts in this direction.
 
Since then, everyone is aware of the success of Red Bull in a race without any aerobatic figures (no loop, no inverted flights), which is certainly a good thing for safety. We are quite happy for this great success, and we have no reason to copy the RB Air Race, now supported by the FAI.
As a matter of fact, we have completely different goals.
 
Haute Voltige was launched in 1988 (first event in 1989) to express a philosophical idea perfectly demonstrated by freestyle Aerobatics flights to music: the conjunction of the opposites, individual freedom within a "reasonable" frame, poetry in action.

Of course, we do not have budgets for marketing and communication, of course people just see RBAR on TV and, of course, it is not good for our promoters who do not have similar budgets available. But this is just about money, and we are convinced there is still a slot in this world for "clever flights by clever pilots" with a team spirit, dreaming of painting, dancing or sculpting the sky. We even pretend to be qualified as "the Wings of Culture", which is not good for business or to attract sponsors who usually don't understand that culture can be spectacular ... This is a foolish attitude, worth the glassbead game ...
 
Speed, fighting against time, has no importance at all in the Haute Voltige game, we just aim at the right timing, the best tempo, this is a basically different wavelength from air racing.
This is why Haute Voltige will continue "Fighting the Spirit of Gravity" with its language made of spectacular freestyle flying to music, despite all obstacles ...
Culture is the knowledge of inverted time, said I.L.M. And he lied down on his back contemplating the stars in the sky ...


25 JUN : UPDATED PROGRAMME FOR MOTEGI 2008

IO ... Lines and loops ... 10 years ... Mobility ...
This is aerobatics, when you have to guess the meaning of things within a BOX ...
Between I straight and O round, the angle of poetry in action ...


Almadrava the sound of music from chill out to Metal angels ... Live concert for the birds ...

Aerial Creatures and Cognitive Integration, Masterblaster,
the Da Vinci parachute and the Avion Plume ...
The Super 8 Aerobatic pilots of the double S in the 2008 Haute Voltige Aerobatics Japan Grand Prix ...
Virtuality and the dreams of Reality ...

Between I and O the language of my computer ... 10 ...
Ten years since our first event at Motegi with loops (O), lines (I), and angles (L) to OIL human relationship with our public audience in Japan.
>>> event pages

29 MAY : "PASSION PRIZE" FOR "TIMELESS" AT FIFAC 2008


The 2008 International Aviation Film Festival of Châteauroux, France, (FIFAC), has awarded the “Passion Prize” to the Haute Voltige video “Timeless”. 

Timeless was filmed and produced by Lionel Charlet for Haute Voltige productions, during the 2001 FAI World Grand Prix at Twin Ring Motegi, Japan.

The film clip is featured in the “Best of Haute Voltige – Vol 1” DVD, under the title “Aerobatic Sushis”, music by Almadrava. 


>>> shop
>>> 2008 fifac
15 MAY : BRAVO YVES "FUSIONMAN" ROSSY


On 14th May, our good friend Yves Rossy, successfully completed the first official flight demonstration of his jet propelled wing.  The flight was made at Bex in the Swiss Alps in front of the International Press.

For more information and photos, please visit www.fusionman.ch

15 APR : THE SUPER EIGHT, 6 MEN, 2 WOMEN, 6 NATIONS


Here is the list of pilots selected to compete in the "2008 Haute Voltige Aerobatics Japan Grand Prix" to be held at Twin Ring Motegi, Japan from 31 October to 02 November.(Subject to change in case of "force majeure")

ALBRECHT Martin
(AUT)
Extra 300 SHP
BOULANGER Kathel
(FRA) Sukhoi 31
CHMAL Viktor
(RUS)
Sukhoi 26
ECALLE Renaud
(FRA)
Xtreme 3000
FANTOBA Castor
(ESP)
Sukhoi 26 M
KAPANINA Svetlana
(RUS)
Sukhoi 26
MUROYA Yoshihide (JAP) Extra 300 S
STEINBACH Philipp
(GER)
Xtreme 3000

>>> event pages


01 APR : BIG BROTHER vs FORMATION TEAMS


A bureaucrat in Japan has found a law which prohibits a formation team leader to speak to his pilots through air-to-air radio whilst flying.
It is so ridiculous, we could publish this news only on April Fools Day, although it is unfortunately true.

To apply this law is obviously an impossible infringement of the most elementary flight safety common sense, especially during public displays.
Therefore, to comply with Japanese aviation regulations, the Motegi organiser has decided to host only solo pilots for the 2008 FAI World Grand Prix event (31 Oct - 02 Nov.) and to cancel all formation flights.

Although the show will still be quite exciting with the introduction of new elements, we hope that by 2009, a solution will be found to this very strange issue.

Since "Fighting the Spirit of Gravity" is the Haute Voltige motto, we will definitely keep our sense of good humour. So, Motegi will become our international flagship of the Conjunction of the Opposites, with positive and negative accelerations, in support of all the free electrons who still fight against the dictatorship of technocrats who have forgotten to be clever.

What happens is not a Japanese specialty, of course. We love Japan and Japanese people, and we feel sincerely sorry for them to be also hit by this blind bureaucracy which, for fallacious reasons of security, is growing worldwide.

Blue skies!

20 MAR : HAUTE VOLTIGE JAPAN AEROBATICS GRAND PRIX


Confirmed event dates - 31 October to 02 November 2008.

21 FEB : ALMADRAVA TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM


Almadrava (Patricia & Pedro Toro), composers of Haute Voltige Air Musicals, "Dreamings" and "Metal Angels" will soon release their new album "Positivity".
The album mixes the influences of pop, with the chillout style of Almadrava's past two albums.

The first single will be “Where life and the sea...” This track is a duet, where in addition to mixing sounds, they mix languages and voices. The video clip can be viewed on YouTube.

>>>view video clip

29.01


29.01, this is a prophecy for Aerobatic pilots if they don't change their sport : the end of times between an I and an O, a line and a loop .
The dream of a clever sport for clever pilots.
Thanks to HH Sultan and Professor Juma for 29.01.2005 ! ILM.

07 JAN : SPORT IS BEAUTIFUL, BUT ...


Sport is beautiful, but it is not enough. During the past 14 years Haute Voltige has pioneered a system to create public awareness of aerobatic competitions. We are quite proud of what has been achieved as pilots can now secure sponsorship, the World Air Sports Federation (FAI) has raised new sources of income, and new competitions are popping up like mushrooms.

It is now time for us to evolve and fly Haute Voltige to a higher level. Still with the top sportsmen and the competitive input of the FAI World Grand Prix, but honestly, who cares of the best aerobatic pilot in the world if he can only display the same stunts over and over again? We need solo pilots and formation teams with the talent to express their soul, not only their bravado, and to be different each time, not exactly the same, not exactly another one.

Sports and Technique is a necessary approach to offer a spectacular demonstration of what are basically Lines and Angles, Loops and Circles, Rolls and Spins, but they are just a tool to explain the philosophy of Haute Voltige. It is a human adventure, it existed at the origin of our civilisation and it will still be there at the end of its times. This is what we have to demonstrate, this is why we will put more effort to this part of our activity: Art and Culture in the Air

We will maintain flying to music, like we have since our first event as this was the original way for Haute Voltige to escape the Daedalus maze. Like Icarus, we will definitely rise above the maze, quite happy to leave the fighting base to the bull, even if we'll have to die each time in the renewal.

Maybe Haute Voltige is not wealthy enough to twinkle like a star right now, but we know the "journey" is more important than the "destination". We have learned a lot about the world of human beings just by flying, listening to the skies and understanding the  language of the birds. Times are changing, the climate too, but we know the origin and the end are part of the acrobatic loop in a simple spiral. This is what ruled humanity since the invention of numbers and alphabets, the straight line and the round curve, the I and the O. This is "Art and Culture in the Air", poetry in action  for Haute Voltige, an alchemy that will take you to discover  a secret of the world that is part of all cultures.

The “Premier” Haute Voltige event will remain at Twin Ring MOTEGI, Japan, on the first week-end of November. We are committed to MOTEGI as it is "two rings", a special location for families, with a name talking to the past as well as the future, because it is  Japan with a mysterious culture between esoteric Tokyo and Kyoto, in the same time so similar, yet so different to the Occident. And, last but not least, because it is Mobilityland, the temple for acrobatic opposites, a dedication to our civilisation of mobility, motor sports aware of environmental issues, human simulators, instant communication of ideas to our brains which are usually  reluctant to changes.
Just remember ... Haute Voltige, MO-TE-GI.


 
 
 
 
 

 

 

© 1996-2018 Jean-Louis Monnet. All Rights Reserved