They may not have the cool F-16s of the US Air Force's Thunderbirds or the ultra-cool Northrop F-5E Tiger II of the Patroullie Suisse, but the Spanish Air Force's Patrulla Águila (Eagle Patrol) can do some cool tricks too. Here they are landing in formation. (sploid.gizmodo.com) さらに...
Fred, I think the article says the Tiger's are with the Patroullie Suisse, and does not actually say which jet the Spanish fly...so I thank you for that!!!!
my view as a non flier, a clever style of avoiding/minimizing turbulence by first landing the trailing craft , and last by the leading craft in the front ! Gr8 precision however ! Commendable .
Indeed, great precision flying, but then again, not surprising from the Spaniards, who have perfected the lethal choreography of the corrida, mere centimeters away from the horns of 2-ton Andalusian Miura bulls... Flying like this or facing toros takes muy cojones... Incidentally, where could one find an exhaustive list of national aerobatics teams with names, type of aicraft flown, etc...? Also, non-military teams of renown would be a good addition. Thanks
Worried a bit about the left wingman - Suspect those white puffs in his exhaust are from excess throttle movements, AND the tire smoke long after his touchdown speaks of excess braking???
Watching the sequence a second time - correction needed: looks more like a defective smoke oil valve in the left wingman and same after landing, not from brakes. Same thing briefly for the 2nd bird in trail - just in front of the camera plane. Nice job by all!
Thanks for the video. Was flying an F-4 into Plattsburgh AFB in the 80s for static display for an air show and was asked to hold VFR while the Snowbirds did their arrival show. Very impressive to watch their 9 ship formatting from the air, especially their 9 ship landing. Now I have an idea what it looks like from inside the formation. Did some crazy drinking with the Snowbird guys that night and asked them about contingencies for blown tires in a 9 ship landing. They said they changed tires every other show and if they did blow one, the SOP was to take it into the grass (not sure what the guy in the middle was supposed to do). Thanks again for sharing. BobintheLake
Spot on Robert. The F-4 was a piece a cake. Stack level to just a bit high all the way to TD; no big deal on either wg! NOW! In the middle of a "gaggle" like those guys?? No clue!! :)