The Royal Jordanian Falcons (صقور الأردن الملكية) is the national aerobatic demonstration team of the

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. The team was formed on the orders of King

Hussein of Jordan Hussein bin Talal (14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 1952 until Death and state funeral of King Hussein, his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemites, Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Hu ...

in 1976. It was initially led by American pilots Paul Warsaw, Dave Rahm and Steve Wolf, but Rahm was killed in a 1976 crash during a performance in front of Hussein. The team used two and subsequently three Pitts S-2A Specials before changing to Walter Extra EA300s in 1992. Later, in 2007, the team's fleet was upgraded, the older Extra 300s were replaced by Extra 300Ls. The team displays with four aircraft and has a fifth as a backup. In 2018, the team switched to the Extra 330LX, replacing the older Extra 300L trainer aircraft. The team was formerly based at

Amman Civil Airport Amman Civil Airport (), commonly known as Marka International Airport, is located in Marka district, Greater Amman Municipality, Jordan, some northeast of Amman's city centre. Amman Civil Airport served as Amman's main airport from 1950 unt ...

, but has since moved to

Aqaba Airport King Hussein International Airport, , , also informally known as Aqaba Airport, is a minor international airport located in the vicinity of a northern suburb of Aqaba, Jordan. It is the country's sole other scheduled commercial airport besides ...

, also known as King Hussein International Airport. The Falcons are unusual in that the team is a joint military-civil venture. The pilots are all

Royal Jordanian Air Force The Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF; Arabic: سلاح الجو الملكي الأردني, ''Silāḥ al-Jaww al-Malakī al-ʾUrdunī'') is the aerial warfare branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces. Founded in 1955, the RJAF serves as the primary ...

personnel and are selected competitively from the top RJAF pilots, to join the team for a 3–4 year posting. For the majority of the team's existence it has had five pilots and three to four engineers for each given season. The aircraft, however, are owned and maintained by

Royal Jordanian Airlines Royal Jordanian Airlines (formerly known as Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines) is the flag carrier of Jordan with its head office in the capital, Amman. The airline operates scheduled international services over four continents from its main base at ...

. The Royal Jordanian Falcons aim to promote interest in Jordan and its culture and to advance international goodwill. The Falcons have displayed at air shows and events in Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. At a number of air shows they achieved various accolades, including winning the

Royal International Air Tattoo The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) is the world's largest military airshow, held annually in July, usually at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England, in support of The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust. The show typically attracts a to ...

's Cannestra Trophy (best overseas flying demonstration) three times.

Royal Jordanian Falcons team (as of 2021)

*Maj. Riyad Ayyoub (general manager) *Maj. Ghazi Sadoun (director of operations) *Capt. Sharif Hatouq (chief pilot) *Capt. Jamil Zayyad (formation leader) *Maj. Tamer Majali (left wing) *Maj. Ahmad Al-Rababa’h (right wing) *Capt. Doraid Al-Lawama (solo/slot) *Doraid Lawama (coach) *Chief Eng. Riziq Haddad (chief of maintenance) *Eng. Thaer Al Shoufi (engineer) *Eng. Mohammad Malhas (engineer) *Eng. Bassam Rahamneh (engineer) *Khaled Sakarneh (engineer)

References

*
Royal Jordanian Falcons: History

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Royal Jordanian Air Force

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Aerobatic teams 1978 establishments in Jordan