Patrouille Suisse
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008The Patrouille Suisse is a famous aerobatic stunt team of the Swiss Air Force. This team fly six Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighter - bomber jets. They are one of the most spectacular and skilled flying teams of the world.
Patrouille Suisse history:
1960s
The Patrouille Suisse was founded as a part of Swiss Air force on 8 August 1964 . Their name was taken from similar group - the French Patrouille de France.
They started with 4 British Hawker Hunter Mk.58s at the EXPO 1964 exhibition in Lausanne and another training for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Swiss Airforce in 1964. Next year they already had a scheduled season.
1970s
In 1970 the Patrouille Suisse acquired another plane. Their performances remained confined only to Switzerland due to its neutrality. This changed in the year 1978 when they travelled to Salon-de-Provence, invited by the French, with their new sixth aircraft.
1990s
In 1991, the Patrouille changed their paint scheme to incorporate the national Swiss flag colors (red and white) and the new logo for 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation. In the year 1994 the Patrouille Suisse flew their Hawker Hunter Mk.58s aircraft last time and transferred to the faster Northrop F-5E Tiger II. In 1996 they installed smoke systems to increase the teams visual appeal.
Below you can see the Patrouille Suisse video of their exhibition, also flying above Swiss Alps.
