PC-7 Team

PC-7 Team
Swiss Air Force Aerobatic team
PC-7 Team insignia
Active1989 – present
Country  Switzerland
BranchSwiss Air Force
RoleAerobatic team
Size9 aircraft
ColorsRed, white
Aircraft flown
Trainer9 Pilatus PC-7


History
The PC-7 team flies in a four ship formation

Soon after the PC-7 was introduced in 1982,[1] the Swiss Air Force started to present the new airplane in solo displays. The first public team display was in 1987, performed by an ad-hoc team of nine volunteer pilots. When the Swiss Air Force celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1989, the PC-7 Team was officially established. Since then, it has been performing in Switzerland several times a year, and since 1992 also occasionally abroad.[2]

Since its establishment the team has flown the Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer. In October 2006, it was replaced by the NCPC-7, which is a PC-7 equipped with a new cockpit. The PC-7 Team currently flies nine Pilatus PC-7 in the standard configuration of the Swiss Air Force's PC-7. The PC-7 Team still uses the unique Swiss Air Force Bambini-Code for its radio communication.

The PC-7 Team's homebase is Dübendorf Air Base, but they often operate from Militärflugplatz Emmen or Locarno Airport. All pilots of the PC-7 Team are full-time military pilots and usually fly the F/A-18. The show program is made from 23 different elements. In 2014 the nine aircraft were fitted with smoke generators, it was publicly used for the first time on 1 August 2014 at Buochs Airport at the roll-out of the Pilatus PC-24. The smoke system was built and financed by the company Pilatus Aircraft. Currently seven smoking systems are available which can be mounted in the luggage compartment of the PC-7. The diesel-oil mixture is injected into the right exhaust of the PC-7.[3] For large airshows like RIAT or the Air14 the PC-7 Team flies in the opening of the flight demonstration also often with the Patrouille Suisse, the Hornet Solo Display Team or the Super Puma Display Team in a joint flyover formation.

A unique flight demonstration offered the PC-7 Team on September 7, 2014 at the Air14 Air Show in Payerne as they together with the Patrouille Suisse demonstrated a display with a total of 15 aircraft.

Award
  • Royal International Air Tattoo UK "King Hussein Memorial Sword"[4]
gollark: `[sudo] password for potato-ai: `
gollark: Mission statement not accepted. Insufficient privileges.
gollark: ?
gollark: Yes.
gollark: Diurnal logic parser running.

See also

References
  1. "Pilatus PC-7 Turbo-Trainer". Swiss Air Force. Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  2. "History of the PC-7 TEAM". PC-7 Team. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  3. Insider (Patrouille Suisse fan club newspaper) 2014 page 21
  4. Insider (Patrouille Suisse fan club newspaper) 2014 page 13
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.