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

Spanish Air and Space Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December , equipment ...

. 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 Mar Menor (, "minor/smaller sea") is a coastal saltwater lagoon in the Iberian Peninsula located south-east of the Autonomous Community of Murcia, Spain, near Cartagena. Its name is the opposite of the Mediterranean, which is the (greater/lar ...

and

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

, 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 "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glide ...

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

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

) Patrol, founded in 1954 with six

T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air force ...

aircraft. * Jet Training Air School Patrol,

Talavera la Real Air Base Talavera may refer to: Battles * Battle of Talavera de la Reina, Spain, an 1809 battle of the Peninsular War * Battle of Talavera de la Reina (1936), during the Spanish Civil War People * Talavera (surname), list of people with this name * Ta ...

(

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populati ...

), established in 1955 with

T-33 Shooting Star The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

s.
Ascua Patrol

Manises Air Base Manises Air Base ( es, Base Aérea de Manises) is a defunct Spanish Air Force base. It was located in Manises by Valencia Airport, the civilian airport for the city and metropolitan area of Valencia, Spain. Units The air base housed the followin ...

(

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

) 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 (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) 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, t ...

) in 1980 with the

Mirage F-1 The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack aircraft Aircraft design process, designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the popular Dassault Mirage III, Mirage III family. Du ...

. 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 solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

. * 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 , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

, 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 city in the Community of Madrid. Straddling the Henares River, it is located to the northeast of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated municipality ...

, 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 Spanish Air and Space Force Aerobatic teams