• Jurgis, tell us when did you first start interesting about aviation? When and how did you start flying?

     In my Childhood, I was watching birds flying in the skies and I was wondering how free and happy they are. More serious interest about flights became stronger while walking to school and watching airplanes flying. Later I was taken to the air by agro culture airplane and saw my village from the cockpit of An-2, it was amazing for a 12 years old boy!!!

     In 1973 after my studies in Viborg, I acquired aviation mechanic profession. Working as a mechanic engineer in Kaunas airport, I joined Kaunas aerobatic club and start flying in 1974.

• Tell us about your first steps and progress in aerobatics.

     My progress in aerobatics was very fast and I was flying 100Hr/year with airplanes Zlin-326, Jak-18, Jak-50 in Kaunas and Vilnius Aeroclubs.

     From 1976 till now I am a member of Lithuanian aerobatic team. From year 1977 I was a member of Soviet aerobatic team, flying Jak-50, Jak-55, Su-26 till Lithuania regained independence in 1990.

• You are an aircraft engineer too! Did that help your pilot career? Is engineering as interested as flying an aircraft?

     That’s true, engineering knowledge and skills have been huge help in all my sport’s, test pilot’s, and instructor’s career. It helped very much for my aerobatic progress, opening new ideas, designing new airplanes, testing them and showing it in the contests and airshows flight programs with my own original maneuvers.

• We watched your amazing show in Athens Flying Week, tell us the feeling flying above audience all these years.

     Flying Airshows for me is like a nice game and theater. The most important to me, is the quality of the flights. I love the public and my emotions depend on audience’s reaction. It's also important what professionals see and think.

• You have many difficult amazing maneuvers in your airshows and o lot of them have been invented by yourself! Specially the one you fly above the ground at 10-15 feet with the aircraft upside down is unbelievable! How much training is required for a pilot to do such things?

     Safety must be and its the priority. Safety depends on many things, pilot is only one aspect, but the most important and responsible.

     To invent and improve new maneuvers, display programs and then fly them at low altitudes it takes time. Generally, it takes years before pilots are ready to fly safe over ground at level 100 meter, then again it requires hard work before you fly safe at lower altitudes. For the most experienced pilots to improve new things is enough to have only some training flights.

•  You have so many Achievements that we must write a very big list to refer to them! How many hours a day has a pilot to be trained, to get in this level?

     First of all, sports pilots must be educated, be physically strong, specially trained and motivated to do this. Flying hours and preparation is depend on personality, but not everybody can be really good, like the best and champions.

• How many airshows and competitions are in your yearly schedule? How important are your sponsors to this fact?

     I have about 15-20 international airshows per year.
     To be strong in the contests, a sports pilot needs minimum 3-5 contests a year.

     Sponsors are important for pilots, as financial things help to have more possibilities for training of pilots, special displays and contests. One bad thing, sometimes sponsors’ interests go on top of the sports, so it does not support but destroys progress and the spirit of it.

• We remember your accident at September 2014 on the Aegean Sea. Did you ever had any other difficult situation when flying?

     There were more flights when I was in very risky situations, but it' s better not to scare others and myself and I don't like to talk about them. I do not want to have bad dreams anymore...

• You have fly a lot of aircrafts, you have also designed JUKA! Which is your favorite one and why? Can you compare today’s aircraft with the ones when you first started flying?

     All my planes for me are like my kids, they are different but I love all of them. I worked for design of airplanes Su-26, Su-31 and “Juka”, so I feel “Special Love” flying them.

     With my aerobatic airplanes, I was competing in the most difficult aerobatic programs in the World, in European contests and in the World Grand Prix, where I had victories and won medals. So, the possibilities of these airplanes made me happy many times.

     When we designed aerobatic airplanes in Sukhoi factory and started to fly them in the contests (it was Su-26), aerobatic sports had huge progress, specially from 1986 it was revolution in aerobatic sports. I look forward to seeing the second revolution in Aerobatic flights, but not sure it will come soon.

• Jurgis, tell us about your future steps in aviation.

     I like Airshows very much and I will continue with solo and formation flights. I do not have much ambition flying in the contests, but always I think about new possibilities of the aerobatic airplanes and new maneuvers…