Manuel Rey, a pilot pilot who felt like he owned the world from a few meters above sea level.

With the Yakstars patrol, becauseI had at least one weekend every two months to be able to participate in various aviation competitions and festivals. Galician Manuel Rey Cordeiro, an elite Vueling commander and aviation aficionado, was an aerial pilot with vast experience and a trophy record. At the age of just 30, he became the Spanish super-lightweight champion, the first time a Galician had won the title. After receiving the award, he said that at an altitude of 2800 meters he felt that he owned the world, the newspaper reports. La Voz de Galicia.

Manuel, known as “Coco”, died this Sunday. a risky maneuver during the Beja Air Show at an altitude of several meters. Two planes collided and crashed. The 62-year-old pilot of Spanish nationality from the Yakstars patrol nevertheless jumped out of the Yak-52, but already at a short distance from the ground. He died under the wreckage of the plane, which collapsed in a fireball.

He left behind two children and an extensive history of victories in aviation. “Coco” won twelve Spanish championships and two European sub-championships in the super lightweight division. In 2021, after winning the Spanish Aerobatic Championship with three medals around his neck, he said: “If we were afraid, we wouldn’t do anything we do.” In 2022, he won the silver medal at the World Super Lightweight Team Championship.

Having flown more than 18 thousand hours, Manuel believed that aerial acrobatics was not as risky a sport as it might seem. Everything he did was often rehearsed and required “great discipline and attention.”

Manuel was born in Vigo in 1962 and currently lives in Sigueiro, Oroso. The Yaxstars Patrol is based in Casarrubios, Spain and Ponte de Sor, Portugal. Considered one of the best acrobatic teams in Europe.

The accident also caused minor injuries to the 37-year-old Portuguese pilot, who, although hospitalized, has since been discharged.