The 45-year-old from Switzerland has flown for the Swiss Air Force, for the airline Swiss and also for the Swiss Air Rescue Service REGA --- clocking up thousands of flight hours in an amazing variety of aircraft over a long career.

But the affable father of five says he has found his metier as the official Red Bull Air Race helicopter pilot, taking to the sky for a total of 25 flight hours at each of the championship events in his Eurocopter B0-105. "I helped to build up this event and my heart stays with it now," says Fleischmann, who has been involved with the Red Bull Air Race since its inception.

Fleischmann has a dual role: as deputy aviation director he works alongside Heinz Moeller on obtaining the required permissions for each of the races while in his function as official helicopter pilot he is responsible for getting the TV cameras as close to the action as is safely possible. "The TV helicopter is always in the air when a race plane is flying," he explains. "We are up there before the start of the flying to make sure that everything is okay."

By okay, Fleischmann means whether the conditions are right for the pilots to take to the skies: as a simple rule of thumb, if the helicopter is in the air then all is well for the 12 Red Bull Air Race pilots to follow suit and get airborne in their variety of planes. "It is a safety tool. We have a direct radio with the race directors and we are looking for any weather issues, wind, birds in the race box or boats which might be crossing," he said. "If something happens I am the first one on the spot, and together with the race director, I evaluate what to do."

The clearest indication of Fleischmann's skill comes from the incredible pictures that are delivered from the helicopter during the races: aerial shots of the course, of the city itself and of the pilots negotiating their way through the Air Gates laid out just metres above some of the world's busiest waterways.

Fleischmann's helicopter carries three cameras: one is a Cineflex Gyro-stabilized High Definition Camera, operated by a camera operator who sits in the co-pilot's seat. Then there is a cockpit camera, which is used to do the commentary on the track introductions and also to talk to people on the ground. There is a third camera on the tail of the helicopter that looks out over the whole helicopter.

"During the race I am flying beside the planes," he said. "Sometimes we are up to two to three metres close to them on the track in order to get these spectacular pictures."

In total, Fleischmann spends 25 hours in the air for each Air Race, a tough job that requires immense skill and patience. "We have to stay in the position which is the best position for pictures: it is not always the best position wind-wise," Fleischmann explains. "But that is what we get paid for."

Having helped develop the sport and seen the pilots progress and improve, Fleischmann has become a keen judge of their skills and abilities. Too much of a diplomat to talk about specifics, he at least hints that he knows when a pilot is going to make a mistake that could cost them in terms of penalty seconds. "In the helicopter, I can tell two seconds before they hit a pylon. I know or I can tell that they are coming in at the wrong angle," he says. "But I think that on both sides there is respect for each other. We have built up trust with the race pilots."

There needs to be trust because at times Fleischmann flies within less than a metre of the planes, seeking out the best angles for TV camera shots - this is a far cry from the beginning of the sport when the helicopter remained outside of the race area when the Red Bull Air Race pilots were in flight. "Sometimes we are flying up to 50 centimetres beside them, beside the wings and you can only do that if you know them off by heart and they know you by heart so you know exactly what they are going to," says Fleischmann. "Without this trust you can't do this job."

So does the helicopter pilot have a burning ambition himself to join the Red Bull Air Race World Series?

"No - I tried it," he says. "I've flown a couple of times through the track and these guys do an amazing job, but my heart is with helicopters."