Record breaking 80+ formation. Two jumps were made in an attempt to set a new world record in the parachuting sport of “canopy formation”. The historic 81 and 85 person jumps were planned by a group called CF World Record 2005. The skydivers secured themselves to each other by wrapping their feet around the lines of the parachutes below them creating this wonderful parachute diamond.
If someone decides to make a top 10 of the most memorable flying formations then this one should be one of the best. The mighty Concorde, the only successful supersonic passenger airliner leading the members of the Patrouille de France. Must have been quite a sight.
The Blue Eagles is a British professional helicopter aerobatic team. Formed nearly 40 years ago, the Blue Eagles team is also famous for including the first British female military air display pilot: Sgt Julie Wiles. They fly four Gazelle light helicopters and one Westland Lynx. The Blue Eagles team is composed entirely of volunteers. The team continues to fly out of Middle Wallop and its repertoire includes formation flying, loops, rolls, breaks, and many other standard aerobatic maneuvers. Watch them “work their magic” in this amazing video, soundtrack is Queen - A kind of magic…
This is some great footage from the 2005 Moscow Military Parade. Must have been quite a sight. Stars of the event were the Sukhoi Su-27s and the MiG-29s belonging to the Russian Knights air display team and the Strizhi ( Swifts ). Great in cockpit footage showing formation flying and approach to the parade. Best of all is the Big Diamond formation consisting of five Russian Knights Su-27s and four Strizhi MiG-29s.
The Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single seat close support aircraft designed for the USAF, better known by its nickname: Warthog… or simply Hog. This is one really amazing airplane, a tank in the skies. Built around a 30 mm Gatling gun capable of firing 3900 depleted uranium armor-piercing shells in one minute, the Hog will actually stall if the pilot uses long bursts of fire. Check out this cool vid showing these airborne tanks fly in formation.
The Patrouille Acrobatique de France commonly referred to as Patrouille de France and sometimes abbreviated as PAF, is the precision aerobatic demonstration team of the French Air Force. Pilots fly the Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet since 1981. Jump inside the cockpit of the Patrouille de France pilots for an amazing ride. Feel what they feel as they fly in close formation with precision and elegance. Sensations…
It is well known that the F-18 Hornet replaced the veteran F-14 Tomcat on the aircraft carriers of the US Navy. So Tomcat pilots didn’t really like Hornet pilots. Regardless, this has to be one of the coolest flybys in the history of flybys, and one of those old meets new formation flying.
These two Puma helicopters were trying to do a nice formation pass over the crowd. In terms of proximity, they were flying at the limit. And when they went beyond that limit, all hell broke loose. Their rotor blades collided sending both helicopters in uncontrolled spins to the ground.
