The Blue Devils or the 410 (F) Squadron Aerobatic Team was a

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF)

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 ...

team that flew the

de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland DH100 Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteo ...

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by one or more jet engines. Whereas the engines in Propeller (aircraft), propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much ...

from 1949 to 1951. The unit was the RCAF's first postwar aerobatic team, and belonged to the RCAF's first operational jet fighter squadron, No. 410 Squadron.

History

The Blue Devils started as a team of three by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

Flight Lieutenant Don C. Laubman. Later, a fourth member was added to provide a solo performance. The team gained official recognition from the Air Defence Group shortly after its first show at

RCAF Station Rockcliffe The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canad ...

on 11 June 1949. Thereafter, the Blue Devils expanded to six aircraft, including a second solo, and went on to fly at

airshow An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air ...

s around Canada and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Despite a training accident on 25 July 1949 in which Squadron Leader Robert Kipp was killed near St. Hubert, the team went on to become the de facto official RCAF aerobatic team. The team's official name became the ''Air Defence Group Aerobatic Team'' in 1950.

Disbandment

The Blue Devils were disbanded in September 1950 as its members were posted to different squadrons and the Vampire was retired in favour of 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 ...

. The team was temporarily reformed on 8 August 1951, however, because of an air show commitment. The last air show was flown on 19 August 1951 at the Michigan Air Fair in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. During its three years of existence, the Blue Devils performed at 45 air shows in Canada and the United States.Dempsey 2002, p.76.

References

* Dempsey, Daniel V. ''A Tradition of Excellence: Canada's Airshow Team Heritage''. Victoria, BC: High Flight Enterprises, 2002. . * Milberry, Larry, ed. ''Sixty Years—The RCAF and CF Air Command 1924–1984''. Toronto: Canav Books, 1984. . Royal Canadian Air Force {{Aviation-org-stub