World's top pilots to be on hand for aerobatic displays

SUWON, South Korea, May 4 (Yonhap) -- The 2011 G-Global Aviation, South Korea's largest aviation and aerospace exhibition, will have some of the world's finest pilots on hand for exciting aerobatic displays in its air show set for this week, including a former head of state, organizers said Wednesday.
When the exhibition kicks off in Ansan, south of Seoul, on Thursday for a six-day run, one of the aerobatic pilots will be Melissa Pemberton, an award-winning American pilot who is also an accomplished skydiver and champion rock climber. Organizers said Pemberton will put on an energetic and action-packed performance for the audience in South Korea.
Formation flying will be the highlight of the air show, and the Global Air Show Team, made up of pilots from Britain and Lithuania, will be the featured unit.
The team's leader, Rolandas Paksas, is a former president of Lithuania. The 54-year-old has nearly four decades of aviation experience, and was a national aerobatics champion in the 1980s, after graduating from Leningrad Civil Aviation Academy.
Mark Jefferies, his teammate, is a 30-year veteran who has won British aerobatic titles at all levels. Robertas Noreika once flew under a bridge over the Neris River in Lithuania in a record-breaking flight.
Zoltan Veres, a champion pilot from Hungary, has accumulated more than 15,000 flight hours in 100 types of aircraft. He set the world record for executing 408 continuous rolls in an aircraft in 2007. In South Korea, Veres will attempt to cut ribbons hung just three meters above ground in inverted flight and will perform other tricks.
The Black Eagles, the aerobatics team for the South Korean Air Force, will perform formation flying with T-50 supersonic trainer jets.
"Top pilots from different continents will put on the best aerobatics to celebrate Children's Day (Thursday) and to give hopes and dreams to children in the audience," said an official for Gyeonggi Province.
The air show during G-Global Aviation will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on each of the six days of the exhibition from May 5-10.