The Rafale Solo Display (RSD), official display team of the French Air Force, is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2019. The Rafale Solo Display is a French Air Force organization tasked with showcasing the handling qualities of the Rafale and the skills of Air Force pilots.
The first Rafale Solo displays were organized by the company Dassault Aviation before being entrusted to the Air Force in 2009. The 1/7 Provence fighter squadron was the first French operational unit to be equipped with the omnirole aircraft. The team appointed by the squadron to manage the Rafale displays has been responsible for taking the colors of the French military air force to new heights for the past 10 years.
In 2019, Captain Sébastien Nativel, or “Babouc,” will fly his second consecutive year as the Rafale demo pilot. Having joined the Air Force in 1999 and acted as patrol commander since 2007, “Babouc” has clocked up around 3,500 flight hours, 1,500 of which have been behind the controls of a Rafale. During each display, which lasts around ten minutes, “Babouc” wows crowds with a breathtaking technical display of the Rafale.
He is assisted in his mission by his coach, Jean Guillaume Martinez, or “Marty,” former RSD demo pilot in 2016 and 2017, as well as a team of aircraft maintenance and optimization technicians.
Join the Rafale Solo Display at one of its 20 scheduled displays and read the fantastic book Rafale Solo Display: Alpha Expérience, which looks back over ten exceptional years of displays in France and abroad.