(Spanish for "Eagle Patrol"), formed 4 July 1985, is the aerobatic demonstration team of the

Spanish Air and Space Force The Spanish Air and Space Force () is the Aerial warfare, aerial and space warfare branch of the Spanish Armed Forces. History Early stages Hot air balloons have been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with th ...

. It is based at San Javier Air Base at the location of the academy of officers of the Spanish Air and Space Force, near Mar Menor and

La Manga La Manga (), or La Manga del Mar Menor (meaning "The Sandbar of the Minor Sea") is a seaside spit (landform), spit of Mar Menor in the Region of Murcia, Spain. The strip is 21 km long and 100 metres wide (average), separating the Mediterran ...

, in the Murcia region of Spain. Flying seven Casa C-101 Aviojets, they are the only team to use yellow smoke and are also known for their formation landings.

History

During the 1950s and 1960s the Spanish

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

teams which preceded the creation of the Patrulla Águila were: * Basic Air School of Matacán (

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

) Patrol, founded in 1954 with six T-6 Texan aircraft. * Jet Training Air School Patrol, Talavera la Real Air Base (

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

), established in 1955 with T-33 Shooting Stars.
Ascua Patrol
Manises Air Base (

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

) established in 1956 (officially in 1958 became the Patrulla Ascua) equipped with the

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

. * Los Llanos Air Base Patrol (

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

) in 1980 with the Mirage F-1. On 4 June 1985, Patrulla Águila made its first training flight from pilots were selected among the teachers of the Air Force Academy and equipped with the Casa C-101 Aviojet.

Members of the team

The team has seven pilots (plus a chief and support personnel). * Leader or Eagle 1: in the standard formation of the team, the leader occupies the head, the other extending to the sides and behind him. The leader directs the whole team. * Points right and left or Eagles 2 and 3 : the points go behind and on both sides of the leader. * Dog or Eagle 4: the 'dog' flies behind the leader and of the points, forming the four one

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

. * Solo or Eagle 5: the one in charge of the maneuvers that show off the aircraft. * Pair right and left or Eagles 6 and 7 make up the sides of the formation. They are responsible for the maneuvers that require more precision and coordination.

Information

*To mark the 25th anniversary of the Patrulla Águila Aviojet #5 was painted. *Aviojet #5 has got stickers that say "World Champion 2010", which were given by the Netherlands Air Force, who planned to put them on their planes but finally it was Spain who won the football World Cup. In January 2022, at the entrance to the Ciudad del Aire neighborhood, located in the Madrid town of

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

, a C-101 of the Patrulla Águila was installed as a tribute to Commander Eduardo Garvalena, who died in the line of duty on February 27, 2020. The plane bears the pilot's name on the fuselage and the number five on the tail.

Incidents

*27 Feb 2020: Commander Eduardo Fermín Garvalena was killed when his #5 jet crashed into the ocean near

References

External links

Patrulla Águila Website
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Patrulla Aguila Air force units and formations of Spain Aerobatic teams