USAF Aerial Aerobatic Display Teams

Men on the Flying Trapeze (1932-1936)

"Men on the Flying Trapeze," organized in 1932 at the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Ala., flew P-12 pursuit aircraft until the team disbanded in 1936.

The photograph shows (from left) Lt. W.C. McDonald, Jr., Capt. Claire L. Chennault and Lt. John H. Williamson, each of whom went to China early in World War II and served with the Flying Tigers. Not pictured was team member Lt. Haywood S. Hansell Jr., who in 1944 and early 1945 commanded the 21st Bomber Command during the B-29 bombing campaign against Japan.

The trophy was one presented to the team during the All-American Air Races at Miami, Fla., in 1935.

Skylarks (1937)

Army Air Corps teams, such as the Skylarks demonstration team from Maxwell Field, Ala., carefully avoided any reference to their maneuvers as "stunt flying," which was strictly forbidden by Air Corps regulations.

Flying P-12Es, the Skylarks, successors to the Men on the Flying Trapeze, demonstrated their skill at the National Air Races at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1937.

Red Devils

The Red Devils are from Las Vegas Air Force Base, Nev. (later renamed Nellis Air Force Base). Standing from left are Lt. Gabriel Bartholomew, Maj. John England (leader) and Lt. Leon Pagan; kneeling from left are Capt. Joe Joiner and Lt. James Putnam. Flying P-51 Mustangs, the team was in existence for less than a year (1949).

England Air Force Base, La., was named for Maj. England, who was killed in an aircraft crash in 1954.

Guardian Angels

The Guardian Angels, a Maryland Air National Guard exhibition flying team, are shown here in close formation in their F-51Hs (1953).

National Museum of the USAF

Acrojets

The Acrojets team are from the USAF Fighter School at Williams Air Force Base, Ariz. (c. 1949).

Team existence from 1949 to 1953, and flew F-80s and the trainer version of that aircraft, the T-33.

Sabre Dancers

The F-86As of the Sabre Dancers demonstration team display the famed "Hat in the Ring" insignia from the 94th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (c. 1950).

USAFE Acrojets

This T-33 was assigned to the USAFE Acrojets, a team organized by USAF instructor pilots after the air base at Fuerstenfledbruck, Germany, became a training base for the West German Air Force (c. 1956).

Sabre Knights

The team was organized in 1954 by pilots of the Air Defense Command's 325th Fighter Interceptor Squadron and flies with F-86D.

Minute Men

The Minute Men aerobatic team is formed in 1953 from 120 Fighter Squadron at Colorado Air Guard. From its beginning the team is unofficial and flies with three F-80 Shooting Star planes.

At the end of 1956, after watching team's performance, the Air Force secretary gives a directive to create Minute Men official Jet Precision Demonstration Team for the Air National Guard of the United States.

In early 1958 the team begins to fly with four F-86F Sabre fighters, while the first show with these planes is in Jacksonville, Florida. Then all of the planes equipped with white smoke generators.

On 7 June 1958 during bomb burst maneuver at the Wright-Patterson AFB airshow, the slot pilot suffered in a fatal crash, when its Sabre receives a flight control malfunction. Trying to avoid impact onto small town nearby, the pilot did not eject and dies. The pilot Capt. Ferrier receives Distinguished Flying Cross for this act.

The team's last performance is at Grand Junction, Colorado, on 10 July 1959.

During Minute Men existence only one of the team's pilots is on active duty, while all other pilots are not. Other Minute Men pilots are in military reserve duty.

Black Knights

The 38th Bomb wing at Laon, France, became well known in Europe in the late 1950s for their Black Knight aerobatic team, normally consisting of a flight of four B-57s and a solo aircraft. Although this was the first bomber aerobatic team, it soon was ordered disbanded.

Four Horsemen

The unique Four Horsemen team performed from 1956 until 1960 in the U.S. flying four-engine C-130 cargo aircraft demonstrating a series of formation-changing maneuvers. Aircraft were selected at random for demonstrations; no specially modified aircraft were used.

The Four Horsemen in 1960 included Capts. Hubert E. Chaney, William H. Hatfield, James F. Akin and David L. Moore, Tactical Air Command pilots of the 774th Troop Carrier Squadron. The team's purpose was to demonstrate the performance and versatility of the C-130 aircraft.