Leteće zvezde

Leteće zvezde
Country:	Yugoslavia
Currently used aircraft type:	Soko G-4 Super Galeb Antonov An-26
Sponsor:	Yugoslav People's Army
Base airfield:	Golubovci Air Base
Founding:	1985
Colours:	blue, white, red, yellow

The Leteće zvezde ( Serbian - Cyrillic Летеће звезде , Croatian Leteće Zvijezde , German Flying Stars ) was the official aerobatic team of the Yugoslav Air Force.

history

predecessor

Yugoslavia has a long history of aerobatic displays, the first taking place during the airshow in Zemun - Belgrade's military airfield - in June 1938. After the Second World War, regular flight demonstrations were carried out with two Bücker Bü 133 young masters of the Yugoslav Air Force.

This pattern was replaced by a team of three Yakovlev Yak-3s . This was followed by a team with five Ikarus S-49 aircraft . In the late 1950s, the first Jet Display Team followed with Republic F-84 Thunderjets. A new team was formed from the 204th Fighter Aviation Regiment at Batajnica Air Base (the unit's Canadair Mk 4 Sabers were responsible for the defense of Belgrade) to attend the 1960 Belgrade Air Show in Zemun, with over 200,000 spectators.

The team existed in this form for five years until it was replaced by four with Soko Galeb G-2 Galeb jet trainers who first demonstrated in Ljubljana in July 1968. The Galeb was replaced by the single-seat light attack version of the G-2, the Soko J-21 Jastreb , which was flown until 1979. These were replaced in the same year by a pair of Czech Zlín Z-526 trainers. The Zlín Z-526, flown by instructors from the Yugoslav Air Force, became the first post-war YAF demonstration team to take part in a foreign air show, the 1979 Venice International Air Show.

Leteće zvezde

In 1985 the team switched back to six IJ-21 Jastreb and was officially referred to as Leteće zvezde the following year . In addition, it was nicknamed Kanarinci ( canaries ). For the next five years, the distinctive red, white, blue and yellow Leteće zvezde crabs became a familiar sight at air shows across Yugoslavia.

Four Leteće zvezde Soko J-21 Jastreb

In 1990, the Soko G-4 Super Galeb jet trainer and light fighter aircraft , which debuted in the West at the Paris Air Show in 1983, was painted in the colors of the Leteće zvezde . But almost exactly a year after their first public appearance at the 1990 Batajnica Airshow and shortly before their international debut in Italy, the Leteće zvezde were grounded by the outbreak of hostilities in Slovenia in 1991.

During the years of isolation and sanctions, the team's super galebs were used to train Air Force pilots, although some of the machines kept their eye-catching color scheme. On October 9, 1996 it was decided to reactivate the team under the command of Major General Blagoje Grahovac , commander of the Aviation Corps of the 172nd Air Brigade near Podgorica . He was given responsibility for selecting new pilots and developing the new demonstration program.

Pilots were recruited from a large number of volunteers, all of whom were experienced instructors; Among them were two former members of the 1990 team: Major Predrag Vukašinović and Captain Saša Ristić. Under the leadership of Major Vukašinović and Captain Ristić, the pilots were selected after carrying out five test flights with aircraft of the Super Galeb type, two solo flights accompanied by the major and another three qualifying flights. In February 1997, the team boss, commentator (also reserve pilot) and six pilots with different backgrounds began their training. These were both former MiG-21 and Soko-J-22-Orao pilots. The final program, which lasted 20 minutes, was approved by senior officers in April 1997 and subsequently demonstrated at public appearances.

The new Leteće zvezde with current roundel, which replace those of the former Yugoslavia Air Force, were shown to the public for the first time during the Batajnica Air Show on June 15, 1997. Other domestic shows in Podgorica , Niš and Vršac followed. The Leteće zvezde reached its climax, in the form of a first international airshow by a display team of the Yugoslav Air Force, on September 27 and 28, 1997, when it and its support aircraft, a YAF Antonov An-26 , at the Bulgarian Air Show in Plovdiv in front of more than 50,000 spectators took part. She also appeared at the 1998 CIAF in the Czech Republic .

All seven Leteće zvezde planes were destroyed at the Podgorica airfield during the NATO bombing raids in Yugoslavia. General Veličković was killed at the end of the war, he is the only Yugoslav general who was killed during the war.

After the war, the Leteće zvezde reappeared on Air Force Day on August 2, 2000. At the Golubovci Air Force Base, they regularly fly G-4 Super Galeb aircraft in green-gray-blue colors. Due to the poor financial situation in the air force, the Leteće zvezde were disbanded as a team with several aircraft.

The pilots of Leteće zvezde continue to show aerobatics and work as test pilots at the Flight Test Center-VOC (now the flight test department at the Technical Test Center), with a single Super Galeb at various air shows in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, and Slovakia Romania.

Planes

Soko J-21 Jastreb
1985–1990
The Leteće zvezde had used seven Jastreb for a short time. They were painted yellow with the colors of the Yugoslav flag in blue, white and red. After being replaced by G-4, they returned to serve in combat units in the Yugoslav Air Force. Identification of the J-21 Jastreb at the Leteće zvezde :

• 24404
• 24409
• 24412
• 24417
• 24418
• 24422
• 24423

Soko G-4 Super Galeb
1990–1999
The seven G-4 Super Galeb replaced the J-21 Jastrebs. They were painted in the colors of the Yugoslav flag, blue, white and red. In 1999, during the NATO attack on Yugoslavia, all Leteće zvezde aircraft weredestroyed at Golubovci Air Base, although they were not used as fighter planes at the time. After the war, the team flew camouflaged standard Air Force Super Galeb aircraft until it was officially disbanded in 2000.

Identifiers of the G-4 Super Galeb at the Leteće zvezde :

• 23693
• 23694
• 23695
• 23696
• 23697
• 23698
• 23699

Web links

• FLYING STARS on YU Model Club
• Magazine advertising for Breitling watches shows the Leteće zvezde .
• Leteće zvezde Super Galebs in line-up at Zemunik AB.
• Leteće zvezde on the apron.
• Original amblem
• Another version of the late 80s / early 90s livery.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Flying Stars ( Memento of the original from June 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.