“Essor Savoyard” – Haute Savoie Newspaper 09 March 2017 – Captens

Formation Aerobatic Championships
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Marianne Shaw, 17 medals at the European and World Championships, is now on patrol with her husband Adam.
 
 

Marianne and Adam Shaw form a couple, both in life and in the air, of pilots preparing to participate in the first world aerobatics championships on patrol from April 29 to May 1 in Zhengzou, China. ” It is above all a human adventure,” says Marianne, who is in charge of finalizing the administrative details .

A logistical puzzle

The main difficulty comes from having to transport their aircraft, two Cap 10 (hence the name of their patrol, the Captens) to about 100,000 euros in China. “Directly flying would have been very expensive and would have had to stop in several countries to refuel. Some of them at war.

The Shaw will therefore transport their aircraft in containers in a freight train, which involves dismantling them in part and then reassembling them before the competition. Given the financial investment, they are still looking for sponsors, ” a company looking for a market in China, for example. 

The rating criteria

At the level of competition, difficult for now to gauge their level compared to other patrols that will fly, for some, up to four planes.

To judge, the judges will be based on criteria of precision, visual impression, harmony of the patrol but also respect for the distance between the two planes, ” if, sometimes in our life as a couple, we are not Always in agreement, in the air we are obliged to be! At a speed of 250 km / h, the two drivers crossed, in fact, to less than two meters.

A trademark

The Captens hope that their trademark, a heart of smoke drawn in the sky, will seduce. “Everyone imagines that it is very complicated when it is the easiest figure to realize ” says Adam who knows that there is obviously a great deal of subjective in the notation, ” as in figure skating , It’s always a bit on the customer’s face. “

The two voltigeurs who account for almost 12,000 flying hours between them, will nevertheless have nice arguments to make.

 

 

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