A regular guest at many airshows is without doubt the aerobatic team of
the French Armée de l´Air - the legendary Patrouille de France. The Patrouille is, together with the USAF Thunderbirds, the oldest active aerobatic team. This should be reason enough to have a closer look at them.
The Patrouille de France was officially founded on May 17th 1953, but its roots can be traced back to the 30ies, to the year 1931, to be precise. At that time, the first official aerobatic team was formed, equipped with three
Morane Saulnier 230 flown by flight instructors from Etampes-Montdésir. Their name: Patrouille d´Etampes. In 1937, the team moved to Salon-de-Provence and changed its name into Patrouille de l´Ecole de l´Air. The
outbreak of WW II stopped any further activity in this direction.
Shortly after the end of the war, in 1946 the team was newly formed and
started to perform formation aerobatics with twelve ! Stampe SV-4 biplanes. Two years later they were officially designated Escadrille de Présentation de Armée de l´Air. With the beginning of the jet age, it was only a question
of time when the national aerobatic team would be equipped with fast jet aircraft. This happened in 1953, when the 3éme Escadre de chasse from Reims was ordered to form the first ”Patrouille de France” with four Republic
F-84 G Thunderjet. Only one year later, the Dassault Ouragan became the new display aircraft, when the team moved to the 2éme Escadre de chasse in Dijon. Every year, the Patrouille was formed by one of the fighter
squadrons of the Armée de l´Air, consequently the type of aircraft used to be changed frequently between the Ouragan and the Dassault Mystere IV until 1964.
Budget shortenings in the fiscal year 1964 made the Armée de l´Air switch
from the cost - intense fighter jets to the much more cost effective Fouga CM 170 Magister. Their unmistakable shape and their paint scheme in the French national colours had shaped the picture of the Patrouille ever since.
The Fouga was flying in the Patrouille until 1981, when it was finally replaced by the Dassault Breguet Alpha Jet, which remained in service with the team until today.The elegant Alpha Jet is a joint development of
Dassault Breguet and Dornier. Apart from France and Germany, this trainer and light attack aricraft has been sold to nine other countries. The Armée de l`Air has purchased 176 Alpha Jet E, which are used for training
purposes only. The Patrouille de France aircraft are regular aircraft, the only difference being the installation of a smoke generator pod instead of the gun pod.
Whilst most people can readily appreciate to some extent the skill required in flying a tight eight ship formation, enthusiasts look more closely at the transitions between formations for tell tale signs of the polished skills demanded of international aerobatic teams. No-one can doubt these skills exist in abundance when viewing the transition from Diamant dos, (Diamond inverted), then loop and turn into Concorde, and then a wide left bank into Canard. With typical Gallic flair, intricate crossovers are expertly executed, and a particular favourite is the alternate barrel roll manoeuvre along the flight line which always presents a splendid photo opportunity. The Fench team are famous for their intricate crossovers – no one on one straight passes here, with inverted crossovers and two ship formations being the norm. Homage is paid to French aviation history with the Ariane and Rafale formations, and cloud base permitting, the final treat is the transition from Deux Poutres, (twin beams), into L’éclatement final, (The final Burst).
coming more soon - stay tuned!!! / R. Kysela
Release 1.0/2010
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Release 1.0/2010
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