Who is the 'fool of the air' who amazes everyone with his acrobatics at Expoagro

In the immensity of Expoagro, thousands of visitors come and go from the stands, get on the machines, do business, meet with others, have lunch, but there is a moment when the air roars and everyone looks up at the same time

.

Between the ground and the scorching sun, a plane passes at 240 kilometers per hour, climbs vertically up to 300 meters high, remains suspended for a few seconds and after a couple of turns on its axis, turns to plummet, leaving a white trail as a footprint. of his stunt.

The man behind the stunt is

, and the craft is a

.

Malatini began dabbling in aerobatics at the age of twenty in his native Carlos Casares and has now been doing it uninterruptedly for 43 years.

His first real contact with aviation was sweeping hangars and washing planes for a small aero-app company near his home.

As soon as he could, he took the course to learn to fly and, logically,

.

In this way, he was able to save to continue training and become a commercial pilot.

At just 20 years old, he was already hired to bring single-engine planes from the United States.

He was making stopovers and it took a month, eighty net hours of flight.

He flew up to ten or twelve hours a day, without GPS, he recalls in a dialogue with

from the hangar of the San Nicolás flying club, a few meters from the Expoagro property.

When Malatini comes out, the sky roars and everyone looks up. Photo: JUAN JOSE GARCIA

At the beginning of the 1980s, Malatini joined Aerolíneas Argentinas, where he worked for thirty years and held all possible roles in the cabin.

In parallel, his true passion, aerobatics, grew.

He bought his first plane in 1983 to do agricultural applications, a service that he continues to offer to this day with three planes specially prepared for the task.

About this year in particular, he comments that

Photo: JUAN JOSE GARCIA

In 1996 the first stunt plane was purchased, a 260 horsepower two-seater biplane.

By then he was already well recognized nationally.

He had had the best instructors, had trained in both Argentina and the United States, and participated in acrobatic events as part of a team.

Malatini did air shows at the opening of the Formula 1 races in Argentina, in Turismo Carretera, the TC2000, the Top Race, MotoGP, Summer Enduro, Dakar… Cars and planes are sister passions, it is

about and at the end of

.

In fact, the acrobat highlights his friendship with many motorists such as the renowned Héctor "Yoyo" Maldonado and Juan María Traverso.

But also, during the summer he flies over the sea from the Atlantic coast, and

, even when Expoagro was not called Expoagro.

Malatini with his red 300 horsepower Pitts-S1-11b. Photo: JUAN JOSE GARCIA

“First they don't like it, but later when they see that I do it seriously and with great care, they change their minds.

I

, I fly around the Expo, never above, only the time that my head and the plane can fly according to the conditions.

Today I flew only 8 minutes because it was too hot.

I have fun, but fun comes hand in hand with a lot of discipline.

I have a nutritionist, a physical trainer…

, for which I have a great team that takes care of me and is essential ”, he remarks.

Then he tells an interesting fact that explains his good physical condition.

Despite sitting in a chair and managing all the variables with one stick,

due to what is known as “

” or “g-force”.

The g force is a measure that determines the acceleration produced by the earth's gravity on an object or individual.

The best known g forces are 0 g, which is experienced in environments without gravity;

and 1 g, which is the force experienced by any object on the earth's surface at sea level.

, that's why I have muscles, a wide neck, a more expanded shoulder blade”, says Malatini, and adds: “Training is essential.

I am used to rotational dejection, that of being constantly upside down, upside down”.

In addition to discipline and training, another characteristic that Malatini highlights in order to be a good pilot is situational awareness, that is, being located in time and space.

“You always have to go five minutes ahead in your head to be able to prepare everything.

.

And the plane never has to adapt to the pilot, but rather the pilot to the plane.

That is critical because every plane is different,” he says.

Malatini rehearses all the maneuvers at height and then lowers them closer to the ground.

When he is on board he has all the necessary information about altitude, but ensures that the control is also visual.

“I have altimeters, speedometer, everything, but

and I compare the height that I see with the one that appears on the altimeter, they have to coincide.

I never trust myself one hundred percent in technology or in what I can see, ”he warns.

After Expoagro, the acrobat will go with his plane to an event in General Rodríguez, then to the Moto GP in Río Hondo, then he will take the plane for maintenance and will travel to La Cumbre to train with the Red Bull team, with which he participates in international level.

Of course, he will go everywhere by air, at this point

.

Furthermore, according to the testimony of his wife, Malatini's situational awareness is not as sharp on the ground as it is in the air.

"Recently, reversing the truck, he broke a small mirror."

Is he an air freak?

None of that: he defines himself as a passionate who, when it comes to the show, leaves no ends to chance.

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