Breitling Racing Team’s Mikael Brageot shares his air racing aspirations, his preparations for the Red Bull season, and living life right on the edge.
It doesn’t get much tougher for flyboys than the world of air racing, where pilots battle it out in the skies over some of the world’s most iconic cities. Frenchman Mikael Brageot, the youngest pilot in the Breitling team, nailed 2015’s Challenger Cup and is stretching his wings towards the 2017 Red Bull Air Race World Championship, this time at the controls of his high-performance MXS-R plane, re-named Skyracer.
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What inspired you to become a pilot and to choose air racing?
It all started at the age of 12. My grandfather took me to the local airfield to have my first lesson. He thought it would be a good thing for me to experience. I think he had a futuristic vision of how the world would be with flying cars and wanted to give me the chance to experience this early on.
I completed my basic pilot training, gaining my PPL (private pilot license), and became the first pilot in the family. From there I progressed to flying a cap 10, an aerobatic aircraft; it was a natural progression. I saw other local pilots flying the plane and it inspired me to learn. The cool thing is that you can fly competitions, which was a new aspect of aviation for me. It allowed me to really train, perform and improve flight after flight.
By the age of 14, everything was clear in my head – I knew I wanted to be a pilot. My whole life revolved around aviation at that point. All my weekends, holidays, and evenings were spent at the airfield and flying occupied my thoughts around the clock. Aerobatics was my passion and you really need to dedicate your life to this if you want to be the best. I decided to get a professional aerobatic qualification and I tried to develop a career in this area.
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The Red Bull Air Race noticed me through my achievements in top aerobatic competitions. They called and invited me to the qualification camp where I gave my best in a totally new flying environment and from there I was asked to join the Challenger Class as a race pilot. It was a dream come true. I finished third in 2014 and then went on to win in 2015 and at this point I was awarded my super license to be able to join the Master Class.
What does it mean to you to be the youngest pilot to have joined the French Aerobatics team?
As an aerobatic pilot, it has been, since my first competition, a dream to one day join the best pilots in the world at the top level. It’s difficult to imagine the path towards this target. But step by step, sometimes longer than you think or expect, you see some movement, especially when you pass in the next category and you get closer and closer to the level you’re dreaming to reach.
After a few years, for me, everything sped up and I was very quickly embedded into the high-performance single-seat French category, Excellence, the last step before the Unlimited international level. Trust me, at that time I had just finished my studies, at around 19 years old, and when I saw a tiny possibility to fly with the French Aerobatic Team, I decided to put every ounce of effort into the sport.
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After only one year the French federation selected me as an official pilot for the World Championships at Silverstone in the UK. After all the effort, dreaming, sacrifices, and happiness, it was just a huge honour for me to represent my country during an international contest and to hold the national flag. It was the continuation of my passion at the next level and the start of my professional sporting life in aviation.
You’ve won a number of air races, including the Challenger Cup Championship 2015 in Las Vegas, and have now joined The Breitling Racing Team. How far are you from achieving your ultimate goals?
It is a long journey to my ultimate goals. In terms of the air race, I’d like to be World Champion one day, but I realise that kind of achievement doesn’t happen overnight. So, we take each race, each season at a time.
My first goal will be to get onto the podium at a race, then it will be to win, and finally to become consistent enough to win the title. As I said, it’s a long way to go, so one step at a time. I’d also like to become the Aerobatics World Champion, but unfortunately, I’m not able to compete at this year’s Championship in South Africa due to a calendar clash with the Red Bull Air Race. But I’ll certainly be aiming for National Champion this year and then, World Champion in two years’ time.
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What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in racing?
Air Racing is so far the ultimate competitive aviation discipline you can enter. Most of the pilots come from aerobatics, so you’d think it would be easy you know, but once you’ve arrived in the sport, you realise that you almost need to learn everything again and you never stop learning to progress toward the top; this is the biggest challenge, and to do it all with a professional approach while trying to achieve the best results is not easy. However, I’m relishing the challenge.
What are the most important qualities an air racing pilot must acquire?
Plenty of hours flying high-performance light aircraft is a must before you can even think about becoming an air race pilot. Whether it’s aerobatics or crop spraying, you have to have gained enough experience to be safe flying at low level and to be able to handle your aircraft like an extension of your own body.
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Discipline is a hugely important part of being an air race pilot; the ability to stay calm under pressure, as well as to be extremely focused. You must never allow yourself to become complacent either, that’s the rule to staying safe.
Describe the best moments in your racing career.
Every single time in the air racing environment gives me an amazing feeling. If I had to choose some of the best moments I’d select my first-ever podium in the Challenger Cup (first place in Dallas 2014); my first Red Bull Air Race Championship win (Challenger Cup 2015); my first flight in the track 2016 flying the high-performance aircraft mentored by Nigel Lamb; and my first race with my team engaged in the Master Class World Championship 2017 with the Breitling MXS-R Skyracer.
How do you prepare yourself for competition?
I not only have a physical regime but also a mental one. I ride my mountain bike around south-western France, which helps me to stay fit and enables me to work on different exercises directly linked to the needs of the race. Cardio and endurance, as well as fast reactions, are our main concern and what we train for to be at our best throughout the season.
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You can also really help yourself by exercising particular muscles to combat the effects of G-force on your body. It is very important to maintain strong abdominal muscles. Whilst under high G, if you tense these muscles it will help prevent the rush of blood further down the body. We use a breathing technique which incorporates tensing the abs and this can make a real difference in preventing black-outs or ‘G-LOC’.
I also do a lot of back muscle-strengthening work, as otherwise after time the spine will begin to become compressed and cause pain. It’s also important to keep warm when you are in a colder climate and to stretch all of your muscles before you get into the cockpit.
Mentally I work with a sports psychologist to improve my ability to focus in a demanding environment. Somehow you have to find a balance between being too relaxed and too hyped up. You need to feel sharp but not under so much pressure that you don’t fly in a natural precise and smooth manner. It’s very important that, when you start the engine, you are looking forward to the race and that you’re mentally and physically prepared. You need to be in a frame of mind where you can get the best out of yourself and the machine, and feel that you are absolutely on top of your game. You’re focused, know exactly the line you want to take and you’re not thinking about anything else.
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How do you see air races evolving?
Since the standardised racing engines were introduced in 2014, we have the same power to weight ratio, so times in the track have become a lot more competitive and closer together. Now we really are concentrating on the aerodynamics of the aircraft and flying the fastest lines. With this, the role of the track analyst is becoming more and more important, and you’ll see that’s where teams are spending their time and energy to improve race after race.
How does flying the new Breitling MXS-R Skyracer give you an edge in the 2017 Red Bull Air Race World Championship?
We are now the only team to be flying the MXS-R, with everyone else flying the Edge 540. It’s difficult to know which is the ultimate machine; they each have their attributes. What we do know is that the Skyracer is competitive, and with the right preparation we should be in the top seven in terms of aircraft performance. The rest is down to the pilot.
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