The French Connection was a famous husband-wife

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

pair that performed in countless

airshow An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...

s throughout

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

for almost 30 years. The pair consisted of Daniel Héligoin, a former

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

fighter pilot and aerobatic champion, and Montaine Mallet, an aeronautical engineer and his assistant who later became his wife. Both Daniel and Montaine were French-born; they came to the U.S. from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1973 to promote and sell their aerobatic plane, the

CAP-10 The Mudry CAP 10 is a two-seat training aerobatic aircraft first built in 1970 and still in production in 2007. The plane was developed from the Piel Super Emeraude and was born as the CP100. The name changed to CAP 10, CAP for 'Constructions Aéro ...

, manufactured by

Avions Mudry Apex Aircraft was a French company devoted to light aeroplane manufacture. It markets three ranges of light aircraft which it brands Robin, Alpha and CAP. The "Robin" range is the former Avions Robin DR400 4-seater aircraft of wooden construction, ...

in France. They operated an aerobatics school at Sky Acres Airport, NY,

Dutchess County Airport Hudson Valley Regional Airport , formerly known as Dutchess County Airport, is a county-owned public-use airport located on State Route 376 in the Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York, United States, four miles (6 km) south of the ...

, NY, then at

Flagler County Airport Flagler Executive Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located three miles (5 km) east of the central business district of Bunnell, a city in Flagler County, Florida, United States. The airport's former FAA location identifiers wer ...

, FL. They regularly performed at airshows around the U.S. and Canada until their death in a training accident NTSB Accident Report MIA00FA172A
/ref> on May 27, 2000. Their favorite and signature 'French Connection' aerobatic routine was unique: Montaine and Daniel would fly their CAP-10 planes in an extremely tight canopy-to-canopy formation, literally inches apart, through various hair-raising aerobatic maneuvers. Daniel and Montaine loved to teach, and they devoted much of their careers to aerobatic instruction. The "French Connection Scholarship" fund was established in their name via the International Council of Air Shows Foundation.

References

External links

* ttp://debbiegary.com/v2/stories_thefrench.html Flying Stories Profile by Debbie Garybr>Popular AviationFlight JournalTribute WebsiteEAA Obituary and Guest Book - DanielEAA Obituary and Guest Book - Montaine"French Connection Formation Aerobatics" Video by Fred Robbins - Aug. 21, 1988Typical airshow routine by the pairDaniel's Snap Roll on TakeoffDaniel's Snap Roll on Takeoff - Slow MotionIAC Chapter 52 Contest Photos from 1970s & 1980s
{{DEFAULTSORT:The French Connection (Aerobatics) 2000 deaths Accidental deaths in Florida

French Connection The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada, sometimes through Cuba. The operation started in the 1930s, reached its peak in the 1960s, and ...

Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2000