An example of her determination and willingness to adapt to challenges was her 2014 appearance at the World Advanced Aerobatic Championships. She was sharing a CAP 332SC with others in her group, and when it came time for her to compete, the airplane broke down and could not be repaired. Faced with elimination, she welcomed the generosity of an Italian competitor who loaned her his CAP 232. Her mantra of “be bold, be daring” carried her to fourth place in that program—and seventh overall, and first woman overall—despite competing in an unfamiliar airplane she had never flown.

Based in the Alpilles region of Provence in southern France, Astles has found success with competition aerobatics, and also as a race pilot on the Red Bull Air Racing Circuit, where in 2017, she won the event portion held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Astles shared with FLYING how she got to this place, and what she does to maintain her competitive edge.

FLYING Magazine (FM): Your record of achievements indicates you’ve always pushed hard towards your goals and persevered through any challenges you faced. Tell us about your work ethic.

Mélanie Astles (MA): If I had to quote keywords to define my work ethic, those words would be passion, determination, and boldness. I focus on my target, clear away the limiting beliefs, and make a plan to go after it. This way, I can change negative beliefs into positive thinking. I abide by Nelson Mandela’s saying that you either win or you learn. My philosophy is that challenges make you stronger, and failures are incentives to make you progress.

FM: We all know aerobatics competition is extremely strenuous on the human body. How do you condition yourself to handle the G loads of this type of flying?

MA: “A great mind in a healthy body” could be my motto. My physical conditioning is intense, with workouts virtually every day and coaching several times a week. Breathing and abdominal exercises are very important to sustain the G loads, and I recently took up yoga, boxing, and stretching. In aerobatics, mental preparation is just as important as physical preparation.

FM: Does your preparation regime for aerobatics extend to your diet?

MA: I don’t follow a strict diet, because as is everything in life, it should be pleasurable. I eat healthy food regularly but occasionally won’t say no to a pizza, a hamburger, or a drink of champagne.

FM: Walk us through your pre-competition preparations. Do you have methods to eliminate outside life stresses from your mind so you can focus on the demands of the routine?

MA: I guess my best friend is music. Before a competition, I like to be by myself with my headphones listening to my favorite music, oblivious to everything else. At that moment, I am already in the air. In aerobatics, mental preparation is essential. I recently had an insight into hypnosis and learned some basics of autohypnosis, which is sometimes practiced by people, like Bertrand Piccard, who have trained themselves to use autohypnosis for short periods of restorative sleep.

FM: Describe the precision it takes to become a successful Red Bull Air Race (now Air Race World Championship series) pilot. What is the focus like, and what margin of error do you have to maintain to excel?

MA: In aerobatics, we have to perform figures in a limited area, and we are given marks by several judges, very much like ice skating. The difference with air racing is that we compete against the clock, so we are judged on speed. Along the runs, we have to find the best track trajectory, avoid penalties, and preferably not hit a gate.The concentration needs to be maximum because the run is only about 1 minute, so precision is essential, as we fly at nearly 400 km per hour very close to the ground or water. The margin of error is nil.

FM: As a woman, have there ever been times in your career when there were indications that the men around you doubted your skill and determination?

MA: When I was touring with the Red Bull Air Races, I was rather welcomed by the men, everybody was kind and helpful to me. The one problem [I had] was maybe with the media. As the only woman in the sport, I attracted the media, and some of the males resented that, which is a bit understandable. I did not have this feeling of sexism with the other pilots and believe strongly that they saw me as a pilot and not as a woman pilot. And I guess from my results, everybody realized I was not just a pretty face, but was there for fighting and winning!

FM: Throughout your bio and blog posts on your site, you use the word “happiness” frequently. Is flying your happy place?

MA: I always wanted to fly, and when I started flying at 21 years old, the exhilaration was even stronger than I had anticipated. Reaching the sky where I knew I belonged was an intense experience. What other word but “happiness” could I use? My motto of  “Smile On” started when I flew my first Red Bull Air Race in Spielberg, Austria, because I just could not believe this was happening to me. I had a permanent smile on my face, even during my runs. When we get on the course, the clock starts when you hear “Smoke On,” which immediately became “Smile On” for me, and that has remained ever since. It is my peaceful cry which I would like to hear throughout the world.

FM: Tell us about the personal relationship you have with F-HMEL, your Extra 330SC.

MA: F-HMEL is indeed very special to me. When I started competing in aerobatics, I shared airplanes. When I wanted my first airplane, the banks refused to lend me the money. But thanks to the help of one of my sponsors, who helped me build a case with the bankers and stood security for me, I was able to buy F-HMEL, and it has been with me through many competitions. 

FM: Tell us about being an ambassador to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Arizona. What is the importance you place on inspiring young people to become involved in flying?

MA: I am very proud to represent the Pima Air and Space Museum internationally, because it is one of the most beautiful museums I have ever seen. The Pima staff and I share many common values and want to inspire people to join the aviation world by making it feel accessible. I love promoting the museum, it is just so natural for me because the history found there highlights the values I defend.

Quick 6

Who’s the one person living or dead you would most like to fly with? Someone who is dreaming of flying but can’t.

If you could fly any airplane or helicopter, what would that be? The F-15 Eagle, because it’s my favorite fighter.

What is one airport you’ve always wanted to fly into? Oshkosh (KOSH).

What do you believe has been aviation’s biggest break-through event or innovation? Breaking the sound barrier.

What is one important life lesson you’ve learned from being an aerobatic competitor? It is not so much what I do in competition, it is who Ibecome through competing.

When not flying, I’d rather be… Learning new things

The post Melanie Astles Reflects on Perseverance and Precision appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

So, the pandemic presented a somewhat frustrating hiatus for a champion who’s ready to race. The Unlimited and Advanced classes managed to fly some competitions, but it hasn’t been the same in the past two years.

The perfect opportunity lies ahead in 2022 with the reboot of the Red Bull Air Race—the same series where Astles competed in the Challenger Cup in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

The new race? It’s simply called the “Air Race”—and the new organization behind it plans to hold races in at least seven locations starting in May:

• Greece
• Portugal
• U.K.
• Russia
• Egypt
• Istanbul
• UAE

Twelve elite race teams have already signed up for the 2022 season and those projected in 2023 and 2024, with 12 additional challenger pilots competing in a second-tier event Aero Series.

The Air Race will highlight new technology, including use of “zero-carbon” fuels from the beginning, as possible, and eventually expanding to include electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) when they gain certification and are able to race.

A New Team for Astles

As it turns out, Astles will lead one of those elite teams into the competition this summer. 

She had tasted success in aerobatic competition before the Red Bull Air Race, first winning the French Cup in 2008, and ascending to top female and seventh overall at the Aerobatics World Cup Championship in 2014. She has five French titles to her credit, and she’s considered to be one of the top five female aerobatic pilots worldwide. Last year, her aero club based in Paris won the country’s team championship in the upper levels, and overall for the season—and she said it was fun to notch a win for the club.

But when she talked with FLYING earlier this month from her home in France, she spoke energetically of another goal—to create a new aerobatic team. In preparation for the Air Race, Astles has launched a project to offer skill-building and training to young people interested in aviation with an eye towards bringing them up the ranks.

“I’ll be really happy to own my own team, and be flying with [them],” said Astles. “Hopefully it will be a life project—I’ll be training new pilots. It’s my time to give back. It’s good to fly the race, but the whole thing, to give back to aviation, and to inspire young girls and men to enter aviation—not just piloting, but this amazing world.”

She understands the importance of mentorship. 

“It’s all about finding a good person to get started,” said Astles, referring back to the instructor she had who helped her break down her perceived limitations and become an aerobatic champion. “I could have just faced a closed door…he was such a passionate pilot. Basically he destroyed all of my limiting thoughts: ‘You can’t be a pilot because you’re a girl, you can’t be a pilot because you haven’t studied, you can’t be a pilot because you’re not rich.’”

“You can change a person’s whole aviation career by being nice.”

How It’s Done—in France

She began flying back then in a Cessna 152, and then a 172—the stall warning horn “cries like a kitten,” she recalled with a laugh in FLYING’s interview. 

The process of competition in France is similar to that in the U.S. “In France you have six levels,” she said, “and the first I would say is the equivalent to the Sportsman level, and it goes to the Unlimited level, which is the highest one. This is the level I’m competing in.

“If you want to go from Level One to Level Two, you will need to go to a contest, and you will need to perform a score that is above 70 percent.” If a pilot participates in a contest and achieves an average mark of more than 70 percent, they can go to the next level. “There are between four and five official competitions in a normal year. Level one through three is on the two-seat airplane, and level four to six is a one-seat airplane that has more than 300 hp.”

The fifth level is between advanced and unlimited, and it’s specific to France. There’s a very big gap between four and six, and there’s a selection process to fly Level Six, which is Unlimited. 

The aircraft used most often for levels one, two, three, according to Astles? 

“We have a lot of Cap 10s, and we have the Extra 200 now, and CR 100 and the experimental models.” 

In levels four to six, the aircraft are perhaps 80 percent Extra 330 LC, now NG, and a few Cap 232 in France—“They are still surviving!” 

Compete Like You Train

Astles has given a lot of thought to how to combat the stress of competition that would consume her during past championships. 

“I think to perform well in a competition, you should aim to fly like you do when you’re training. Because when you train, you’re relaxed, you don’t have this pressure, so basically if you can manage to fly the competition the same way that you would train, then your results will be close to how you really fly.

“I’m passionate about the mental [part], how you can hack your brain.” 

She pointed to breathing techniques, and tricking your brain into thinking the figures ahead don’t matter if you do well. Once you reach the level of your competition, it’s the one who flies relaxed who wins. It would work for the private pilot exam—it’s setting down the level of your expectation, so if it doesn’t work, that’s OK. 

“The last three competitions I did, I won, and I’ve been using this method.”

The post The Air Race Is Back—and Mélanie Astles Is Ready appeared first on FLYING Magazine.