Patrouille de France
| Patrouille de France | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Country: |
 France
|
| Currently used aircraft type: | Alpha Jet |
| Sponsor: | French Air Force |
| Base airfield: | Salon-de-Provence military airfield |
| Founding: | 1931 |
| Colours: | blue, white and red |
The Patrouille de France is the official aerobatic team of the French Air Force , based at the Salon-de-Provence military airfield .
history
The first French aerobatic team was only launched in 1931 in Étampes as the Patrouille d'Étampes . Capitaine Amouroux was made responsible for realizing the project . Training under the team name Patrouille d'Etampe began with a formation of three Morane 230 aircraft type training machines . In 1934 the machines were exchanged for nine more powerful Morane 225s . In 1937 the squadron moved to Salon-de-Provence , where it was renamed Patrouille de l'École de l'air .
After the Second World War, the formation was re-established by the Minister of Aviation in 1947 Escadrille de présentation de l'Armée de l'air . As an aircraft, it received twelve Stampe S4s . With the growing success of flying demonstration events, several aerobatic formations emerged within the French Air Force, such as the formation of Commandant Pierre Delachenal, which consisted of four Republic F-84Gs .
In the following time, French air force formations appeared at air shows at home and abroad under the name Patrouille de France. In 1964 this tradition almost came to an end, as the operation of the Dassault Mystère IV for aerobatics became too expensive, so that the Patrouille de France had to switch to the Fouga Magister training aircraft .
On September 16, 1980, a new era was heralded when the more modern and more powerful Alpha Jet was used, with which the Patrouille de France still flies today.
Pilots
Most pilots are between 30 and 33 years old and their service life averages three years. In 2009 Virginie Guyot became the woman in command of an aerobatic team for the first time in the world .
Others
The PaF - as the Patrouille de France is also often briefly called - flew its full program there at around 1 p.m. as the penultimate aerobatic team before the Ramstein flight conference accident .
At the International Aviation and Space Exhibition in Berlin in 2000, the Patrouille de France was allowed to appear again in Germany as the first military association aerobatics team after Ramstein in 1988, which caused a sensation. However, the flight program at that time was subject to strict conditions. So z. B. only the so-called "first part of the program", without solo maneuvers and encounter flights are shown.
On the French national holiday , the Patrouille de France flies the only time a year with nine instead of eight aircraft. The number of nine jets guarantees the even number of contrails of three-three-three (blue-white-red) in the sky over the Champs-Élysées .
The Patrouille de France played a guest role in the 1988 music video for the French piece Aviateur (sung by Véronique Jannot ).
In the summer of 1986, the Patrouille de France completed a North American tour in parallel with the Italian Frecce Tricolori , which culminated in the season with an appearance at the Abbotsford International Airshow in Canada .
Used planes
- Republic F-84 G Thunderjet (1953-1954)
- Dassault Ouragan (1954-1957)
- Dassault Mystère IV (1957-1964)
- Fouga Magister (1964–1980)
- Alpha Jet (since 1980)
literature
- "ACROBATS OF THE AIR". The world's aerobatic teams , Parbon Books Ltd. UK, illustrated book by Luigino Caliaro ISBN 1-4054-7905-1
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Acrobats of the Skies
- ↑ Tages-Anzeiger : These nations have a proud aerobatic team , accessed on June 11, 2016