News

Royal Falcons will again fly over Mošnov

After nine years, the smoke trail of one of the most famous parachute teams in Europe will be spread over the Ostrava Airport. The RAF Falcons Display Team will become the fourth aerobatic group of the 25th anniversary NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days.

This team, made up of professional Royal Air Force paratroopers, will complement the already extensive aerobatics portfolio, which this year includes other world famous groups such as the Red Arrows, Wings of Storm, and Turkish Stars. Of their nearly fifty scheduled performances this season, only five are scheduled to take place outside the UK - making NATO Days a unique opportunity to see the group live.

"Similar to aerobatic teams performing with airplanes, the Falcons perform synchronized group flight with attractive routines and figures. Compared to groups with airplanes, however, they are of course more limited by gravity and weather conditions," comments Zbyněk Pavlačík, chairman of Jagello 2000. Each of them, however, is a rare spectacle, during which the paratroopers approach up to a distance of around half a metre."

Their performance includes a precisely coordinated jump, in which the parachutists reach speeds of up to 190 kilometres per hour in the first phase, during which they form a "non-contact canopy stack" - a multi-stage formation of parachutes without physical contact between team members. The show is also accompanied by coloured smoke and a commentary that introduces the audience to the different stages of the jump. The team will use their Dornier Do 228 aircraft to carry them to the drop site.

The Royal Falcons were founded in 1961, then as a group of six instructors known as the ‘Big Six’. Four years later, the team grew to twelve members and officially took on the name Falcons. They represent the only professional and centrally funded military-parachute team in the United Kingdom, breaking many records as early as the 1960s, and regularly performing for members of the Royal Family and top British and foreign statesmen. The team currently has a total of 14 members based at RAF Brize Norton airbase.

See you at
the NATO Days in Ostrava
& Czech Air Force Days!