- World Champion in Air Rally 2023 and 2018 (GA) in the crew with Marko Velát
- European Champion 2017 in UL category RAL 2
- Champion of the Czech Republic 2020 in aerobatic flying category Intermediate
Petr Jonáš (34) is currently employed by the European organization Eurocontrol, where he works as an aviation radar specialist. He graduated with a master's degree in Air Transport Operations and Management at the Faculty of Transport of the Czech Technical University, where he is continuing his doctoral studies.
He started his competitive career on ultralights and participated in the Petr Tuček Navigation Cup and the Czech Republic Championship with the Young Sports Talents program. For seven years, he flew in a crew with his partner Lucia, and in 2017 together they won the title of European champions in UL flying in
category RAL2. His flight logs have so far settled at 550 hours with ultralights and 450 hours with general aviation aircraft. In competitive flying, however, Petr is also active in his organization - for example, he was the sports director of last year's successful FAI championship
of the world in UL flying in Hosín. One of the highlights of his sports aviation career is undoubtedly the gold medal from this year's 23rd FAI World Rally Championship in a crew with navigator Mark Velát, where the entire Czech team also shone at the same time (see Pilot 8/2023, p. 6). Petr was also 5 years old
member of the board of the Association UL flying LAA ČR.
Peter, you have been winning at air competitions for over 10 years. But what were your beginnings in aviation?
My beginnings are somewhat unconventionally connected with computer games. I'm not a typical "I've loved airplanes since I was little, all my toys were airplanes, and I've been gluing plastic models since I was three" type, because I wasn't. As a teenage "kid" I discovered aviation
PC simulators that enchanted me. Then, when I went to the Jihlava Aeroclub at the age of seventeen to fly a Vivat, it was clear that I had failed at flying. I spent the money my parents saved for my studies on gliding training, and then in college I went to load planes at Ruzyna to catch up and to earn money for further flying.
In an older interview with you, I read that you didn't finish your glider training after all and switched to ultralight aircraft. How did it affect your further flying?
I completed the basic training and got my GLD license at the aero club in Jihlava. Unfortunately, shortly after, during follow-up training, when I was trying to fly the silver C, there was a sudden decision by EASA to ground the Blanik L-13. There was no other two-seater in our aero club
without it, it was not possible to make a check flight before retraining to a single-seater L-33 or Vosu. At that time, it was not clear how long the Blaniks would not fly, and I did not want to wait. So in Letňany, I got a UL certificate for the Samba XXL airplane. With "relief" for gliders I am training
managed in less than 12 hours. Although the training was short, instructor Tomáš Müller managed to pass on important habits that I still benefit from today, as well as those that were instilled in me by the glider instructors in Jihlava. This step opened up a whole new world for me and I certainly do not regret it, although I would like to return to sailing "after retirement".
Your career also took off quickly thanks to the Young Talents program of the Ultralight Flying Association. How do you remember your participation in this program and how did this program help you in developing your next career?
I have very vivid memories of the beginning. I remember the invitation e‑mail to the MT program that I received as a new (and young) holder of a UL card from Ivo Lengál. I remember the train ride to the navigation seminar at Skutč airport and how I timidly sat down
the farthest table from my now good friends from competitive flying in the airport clubhouse where the seminar was taking place. I couldn't believe at the time that only two of us entered the program that year! The beginning was literally a rocket and I got all the know-how on
silver tray. I completely skipped the recreational category and started collecting my first successes in the sports category, and the very next season I represented the European Championship. Since then, the program has expanded enormously, with a large part of today's representation in UL flying being alumni
graduates of the MT program. I have a lot of great friends from the program and from UL flying in general that I spend time with on and off the fly.
You participate in various competitions in the category of ultralight aircraft. What do you enjoy most about competitive flying and why did you start competitive flying?
I'm a very competitive person by nature (or nurture, Dad?) and like to compare myself to others in practically everything I do. I enjoy the joy of fighting, striving for self-improvement and advancing my possibilities and knowledge. It fulfills me when I can concentrate on something 100% and deliver
good performance. As for the UL competitions specifically, it is a great team and a good atmosphere that usually prevails at the competitions. You get to see different places around the country and the world, you get to know a lot of airports and people, and a competition is always a great excuse to go flying. I am convinced that competitive flying will allow every pilot to learn to know and control the aircraft perfectly and to make huge progress in piloting skills, whether it is navigation and orientation, feeling for the aircraft, or landing, including emergency ones. But most of all, it's great fun! I am sorry that there are many people who are afraid to try competitive flying when it is so easy to start.
For most pilots, a pilot's license at UL is enough and they may not even participate in the navigation competitions of the Petr Tuček Cup. How did the idea of switching to "large aircraft" races and participating in air rallies come about?
Look for Lengal behind everything. Ivo is one of my best friends from flying and he also introduced me to competitions on "big" airplanes, i.e. to air rallies and precision flying. He did it with a lot of other UL pilots, and today they are a good half of the representatives in rally and precision flying
recruits from the ultralights. There were seasons when I flew UL, rally and precision flying at the same time, and every weekend for the whole summer was at competitions. It has never stopped entertaining me and I hope it never will.
You are part of the interesting Future Vehicles Aerobatics project. How did you get into this project?
I already know Honza Jílek from Future Vehicles from ultralight flying, where we experienced interesting things together. However, we only joined forces in acrobatic flying with other acro enthusiasts, Lukáš Pařížek and Jaromír Čihák. When our acrobatic group was formed, we saw
the possibility of synergy in the different areas that Future Vehicles is dedicated to, and this gave birth to the Future Vehicles Aerobatics brand. You could say that Future Vehicles Aerobatics is really nothing more than four aerobatic freaks who fly and train together. In reality, however, it is already much more today, and I believe that in the future the range of activities we engage in together will expand even further.
At the moment, you are presenting a lot of the ultralight Dingo biplane, which we have already presented in the Pilot magazine. How are you flying with Ding?
The Dingo is pure joy to fly. This plane doesn't pretend to be something it's not. When I flew with Ding for the first time, I was blown away by what it lacks at first glance. The retraining took place shortly after my performance at Extra, so it took me a while to "switch" to the philosophy of ultra-simple flying. I asked – Speedometer? "You can feel the speed." Altimeter? "You see the egg." Balance? "No need." But after the first minute in the air, I understood everything. In short, you don't need these things to fly with Ding, however strange it may sound at first glance. Honza Jílek told me at the time: "The first time you land with Ding, you will smile." And he was right. I was smiling and wanted to fly again right away. Since the Dingo does not have a cabin or a cockpit, the experience with it is actually similar to a rogal.
With Ding, you do quite interesting aerial demonstrations, what is the potential of this aircraft for example in the American market, which has other options in terms of aerial maneuvers?
You are probably referring to the fact that in America, flying such light aircraft is hardly regulated by regulations. In America, the plane falls into a category for which no flight rating or license is required, and not even a medical. This fact, along with the financial availability, makes the Dingo an aircraft that is very easily accessible to almost anyone. For this reason, however, they must be easy to pilot and must be very forgiving to the pilot. The Dingo was designed so that literally anyone can fly it. That simplicity and unpretentiousness is precisely the magic of Dingo.
You also started doing acrobatics professionally and bought an Extra 330SC together as part of the Future Vehicles team. How did this idea come about?
Aerobatics are flown in several categories according to difficulty – Sportsman, Intermediate, Advanced and Unlimited. For the lower categories, Aeroklub CR has quite decent options in terms of aircraft, but it falters a bit in the Advanced category, and at the time I joined it, the Aeroklub did not have any aircraft at its disposal that could handle this category, not to mention the Unlimited category. Together with Lukáš Pařízek and Honza Jílek, we purchased an Extra 2021SC aircraft at the end of 330 and started training. The Future Vehicles Aerobatics brand was then created around the aircraft, and Jaromír Čihák later joined the team with his own Extra 300L aircraft. I certainly wouldn't call it professional acrobatics - it's still mainly a hobby that I pay for myself. However, we still strive for the highest possible level in terms of flying skills and the quality of our flying both at competitions and at performances. So from this point of view, we try to get as close as possible to the professional level.
You started competitive aerobatic flying in 2018 and in 2020 you took 1st place in the Intermediate category at the Czech Republic Championship. Surely there must be special training for this type of race?
At that time, I only thought about moving to higher categories, which I hadn't considered at first. Since then, thanks to good friends and acquaintances from aerobatics, I had the opportunity to try the Zlin Z-50L, ExtremeAir XA41 and XA42 and Extra 330SC aircraft, which I fly today. I passed the Advanced category and since this year I have been competing in Unlimited. Training at this level is very demanding and must be taken seriously. Without consistent training with an acrobatic coach and a well-thought-out training plan, it is practically impossible to move forward. Just be yourself
fooling around in the air is certainly not enough, and acrobatics must be approached responsibly and from the point of view of safety. But if a person sacrifices everything that acrobatics requires, a world of incredible possibilities and inimitable experiences will open up to him.
Speaking of the coach, on the Future Aerobatics website you have Loic Lovicourt listed as a coach. How did this collaboration come about?
We tried various collaborations, first here in the Czech Republic. For example, we are taught by Petr Jirmus, an excellent coach, referee and two-time world champion, but flying the Zlín Z-50 is different from the Extra. So we searched abroad as well, and the French school is one of the most recognized in
the world and the judges like it. We approached Loïc and working with him suited us. He is also an active competition pilot, but he doesn't take it as a competition, but that his cooperation and better rivals at races also improve his flying. I would like to prioritize aerobatic flying in LA 2024 season, and it has the greatest potential for aviation development for me at the moment. A small flaw in beauty is that it is a subjectively evaluated discipline, it depends on the judges, whose evaluation is influenced by many factors. Navigation races have an advantage in this, the GPS record is used for evaluation and it will clearly determine who won.
Have you been watching the new Air Race format? What do you say to him?
Well, I saw it, but I really didn't like it very much. It's definitely an interesting concept and it has potential, but graphically it felt a bit underwhelming and kind of hard to grasp when they were trying to combine camera footage and digital graphics. I think it would make more sense if it was all computer generated. When you look at what the latest computer simulators look like, it takes your breath away. It seems that there are still other initiatives on the horizon, for example the Air Race Championship has now appeared, there will probably be a race in Portugal. We'll see if anything happens
catches again. Races between pylons are hugely attractive to spectators, but for me, as a pilot, classical acrobatics are more interesting at this moment.
You are developing a lot in terms of flying and qualification. What are your plans for the upcoming seasons?
I have always considered versatility as one of the important qualities of a pilot. For me, a good pilot is someone who can handle different conditions, control different technology and perform different tasks. I would like to at least keep mine within the framework of flying various aviation disciplines and ideally deepen it in the form of additional aviation qualifications. For the following years, I am considering the qualifications of an instructor for airplanes (I am already a UL instructor) and a commercial pilot. Maybe one day there will be multi-engine airplanes and instrument flying. But for now, I am having fun by training Unlimited acrobatics and maintaining my level in navigational flying. We also want to develop the Future Vehicles project and we have an air show concept ready for next year – three Dingos, Jaromír Čihák's Extra 300L, our Extra 330SC, a radio-controlled model of Honza Rohánek's acrobatic Extra and the possibility of flying with the UL Sparrow. We would like to offer this program as part of aviation days and thus promote different types of flying.
Where do you get your motivation to fly? Do you have a long-term goal?
The older I get, the better I understand that not only in competitive flying, but also in other areas of life, internal motivation and not external motivation is key. The recognition of others, awards and medals are a nice tinsel and stroking for the ego, but as a result, a person can overflow and moreover these things
they cannot serve as motivation in the long term. It is much more important and natural that a person does what he sees the meaning, the mission or his inner pleasure. So I fly primarily for myself and secondly to be able to share the beauty of flying experiences with others or to them
mediate in different ways. Whether to compete with them, take them into the air or show them some interesting demonstration. For me, flying is about sharing the joy of moving in the air. About discovering the world from a bird's eye view, as well as discovering yourself. Long-term goals could be many, be it further qualifications, championship titles and the like. But for me, the biggest goal is that my flight journey is always interesting and fulfilling and that I am able to get other people excited about it.
what is your dream
I would like to fly a jet plane and fly a helicopter.
