Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Black Eagles show a fantastic dynamic airshow

A perfect airshow will be performed until Feb. 16th with the first familiarization flight that surprises everyone by showing off splendid colorful vapour trails.

Black Eagles, 53 Special Aircraft Group of the Republic of Korea Air Force Aerobatic Team, completed its first flight through the sky in Singapore with success on February 6.

At 11 a.m. that day, the Black Eagles started its first familiarization flight to check the airspace of an air show.

For the third time, followed by flights of Black Knights from the Republic of Singapore Air Force and Jupiter Aerobatic Team from Indonesia, eight T-50B Korean aircraft, after finishing the terrain familiarization, had a dynamic, splendid performance for 20 minutes including Victory Break, in which seven aircraft headed in different directions and left colorful vapor trails behind over the sea near the Changi Airport.

At the media conference held right after the first familiarization flight with attendance of other pilots of the Black Eagles, Black Knights and Jupiter, Lieutenant Colonel Park Sang-hyeon, the General of 239 Special Flight Group, said, “It is very pleasing to meet people who go for red, a symbol of Korean Air Force pilots, and black, that of the Black Eagles. It’s just as if we are welcomed from the Black Knights with the symbolic color of black and from Jupiter as well, which uses red for its symbol.”

“We’re here not to compete but to show what we have been trained so far,” said Lieutenant Colonel Park.

He also added, “With the Black Knights and Jupiter, we will display an exciting and dynamic air show with the flight skills we have mastered. Black Eagles is coming up with all the representative performances from the Victory Break, shown for the last time in today’s flight, to Rainfall, which won high praise at the 2012 RIAT International Airshow.”

He then expressed his intention of performing flights with the Black Knights and Jupiter at the next Seoul Aerospace and Defense Exhibition.

Major Kim Yong-min, the leading pilot of the Black Eagles, stated his satisfaction with the first familiarization flight that the airspace was so beautiful.

“It is a 20-minute flight performance we actually prepared and we showed only one third of it today. We are going to perform the most interesting and exciting airshow at our optimal level with hard training for this Singapore Airshow for you all until Feb. 16th,” said Major Kim.

Prior to this, pilots of the Black Eagles attended a briefing prepared by the Airshow host beginning at 8 a.m. in the morning, and received the flight schedule as well as various information and remarks necessary during the flight.

Meanwhile, three C-130 transport planes of the 5th Air Mobile Flight Group that supported deployment of the Black Eagles in Singapore returned to Gimhae base, departing Singapore in the morning through Taiwan.

By Seok-Jong, Lee < seokjong@dema.mil.kr >
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