‘Dragon Trip’, great trip
The Swiss Breitling jet aerobatic flight demonstration team spans the Asia-Europe continent, flying tens of thousands of kilometers. The 10-month flying feat ‘Dragon Trip’ is about to end at the ‘Karamay Air Festival’.
On October 9, 2012, 9:30 local time in Dijon, France, and 15:30 local time in Beijing, 7 L-39 ‘Albatros’ two-seat jet military trainers were ready to go. Looking forward to the other end of Eurasia, Switzerland The Breitling Jets took off from the Breitling base formation in Dijon.
The Swiss Breitling Jet Team is the world’s top aerobatic flight performance team. Starting from Dijon, this is the beginning of an unprecedented feat for the world jet team-from Dijon in eastern France to Zhuhai in southern China, flying across the Eurasian continent. The 13,000 km ‘Dragon Tour’. In November 2012, Breitling staged a wonderful stunt movie for the Zhuhai Air Show, and then stationed in Zhuhai. In the spring of 2013, they conducted an ‘Asian Tour’ based in Zhuhai. This summer, Breitling is about to say goodbye to China and Asia. They chose to participate in the ‘2013 Xinjiang Xinjiang Karamay Air Tourism Festival’ as their curtain show for ‘Dragon Trip’.
‘Dragon Journey’-a feat of flight
An hour and a half later, at 11:00 local time, Breitling landed in Prague, Czech Republic (Praha, Czech Republic). The first transfer station of this journey was also the place where 7 L-39 Albatross were made. After a short stop, Breitling took off at 14:00 to the next stop, Riga, Latvia, and arrived in Riga two hours later. After a day of rest, Breitling will fly into Russian airspace for the first time.
At 13:00 local time on October 10, Breitling landed at Ostafyevo Airport in the south of Moscow. This was Russia’s first transit station during the journey. They were greeted not only by the beautiful scenery of the Siberian Plain, but also by the harshness of Central Russia Flight conditions. With the top pilots, near-perfect aircraft and excellent teamwork quality, Breitling has the confidence to successfully complete the ‘Dragon Trip’ as planned.
For the next 5 days, Breitling headed east, passing through Tatarstan, Tyumen, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Irkutsk. After 5 stops, he entered Mongolian airspace on October 15 and landed at Ulaanbaatar at 15:30 local time to make final preparations for entering China. At 8:05 am on October 16th, Breitling took off from Ulaanbaatar Genghis Khan International Airport under the severe cold of -18 ° C. After flying for 1 hour 55 minutes, it landed at Hohhot Baita International Airport at 10:00 Beijing time. This is the first time Breitling has entered China.
Next is Zhengzhou and Changsha. Everyone in the fleet after landing in Changsha was very excited. They said that Changsha was the last transfer station, not far from the end, and victory was ahead.
Finally, on the afternoon of October 17, the coastline appeared again in front of Breitling pilots, and everyone in the fleet was excited. After 8 days, 25 hours of flight, 12 transit stations, 6 countries, across the entire Eurasian continent, a flight distance of nearly 13,000 kilometers, 8 Breitling aircraft steadily before the sun set Landed at Zhuhai Sanzhao International Airport and successfully completed the ‘Dragon Trip’ migration operation. Next they will be greeted by the ninth China Airshow in Zhuhai in November 2012 and a series of performances in Asia.
‘It’s a great teamwork, and it’s hard to imagine how far we can fly,’ said Jacques Bothelin, Captain of the Breitling Jets, nicknamed ‘Speedy.’ Team member Patrick Marchand said: ‘Even if I count my career in the French Air Force, the’ Dragon Trip ‘is still a very unique journey and memory in my pilot career. When I finally got out of the cockpit, When I saw Zhuhai’s coastline and airport runway, I felt the beauty of life deeply. ‘
Asian Tour-Red in the East
In mid-November 2012, the Breitling Jet Team presented a wonderful aerobatic flight show at the Ninth China Air Show. They were then stationed in Zhuhai in preparation for the Asian tour that began in the spring of 2013. At 14:00 on February 18, 2013, Breitling flew away from Zhuhai to start the ‘Asian Tour’, and returned to Zhuhai on May 15.
During this month, Breitling flew over Manila (the Philippines), Jakarta (Indonesia), Sentosa (Singapore), Singapore, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and Bangkok (Thailand). (Bangkok, Thailand), An San, South Korea, Iwakuni, Japan, Kobe, Fujiyama, Yokohama, and Fukushima Of many important cities and landmarks. It has a total mileage of more than 15,000 kilometers and a flight time of more than 40 hours. It shares the passion of flying through the clouds with local audiences and is popular in Asia. After the ‘Asia Tour’, Breitling took a rest in Zhuhai to prepare for the finale of ‘Dragon Journey’.
Karamay-‘Dragon Journey’ Farewell Performance
In the summer of 2013, Breitling will come to the oil city of western China, Karamay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. He was invited to dedicate a wonderful performance to the ‘2013 China Xinjiang • Karamay Air Tourism Festival’, the first air show in western China, and put a perfect end to the 10-month ‘Dragon Trip’. The Breitling Jet Team will take off from Kobe, Japan on August 10, 2013, stop in Cheongju, South Korea, and then enter China. It will eventually arrive in Xinjiang on August 14 after passing Tianjin—Yinchuan—Jiayuguan—Turpan. Karamay.
From August 16th to August 18th, Breitling will soar over the Karamay Airport for three consecutive days. It will present three aerobatic flight shows and three piggy-back flight shows. It will also attend a series of media events and interactive programs with live audiences. .
Breitling attaches great importance to the construction and dissemination of flying culture. Everywhere, Breitling has to form an ‘experienced flight’ at the most famous landmarks in the local area, leaving their most passionate figure with the oldest and most splendid natural features on earth and human civilization, such as the Acropolis , Pyramid, Mount Fuji, etc. During their farewell journey to China, Breitling will fly over Guancheng in Jiayuguan. After entering Xinjiang, they will fly over the Baili Oil Production Zone. In the morning of August 17, Breitling will fly over the Karamay World Devil City before performing the aviation festival. .
After the Karamay Aviation Festival ends, Breitling will take off westward, depart for Moscow to participate in the air show, and finally fly back to Dijon Breitling Base in France. Karamay will be Breitling’s last stop in China and Asia.