Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in normal flight. The term is a blend of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in airplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment, and sport. Additionally, some helicopters, such as the MBB Bo 105, are capable of limited aerobatic maneuvers. An example of a fully aerobatic helicopter, capable of performing loops and rolls, is the Westland Lynx.
Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks—either individually or in groups called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes", it became popular in the United States during the Roaring Twenties.
The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force has seen service in World War II and the Korean War. From 1966 the SAAF was involved in providing infantry support in a low intensity war in Angola, South-West Africa and Rhodesia. As the war progressed, the intensity of air operations increased until in the late 1980s, the SAAF were compelled to fly fighter missions against Angolan aircraft in order to maintain tactical air superiority. On conclusion of the Border War in 1990, aircraft numbers were severely reduced due to economic pressures as well as the cessation of hostilities with neighbouring states.
Surya Kiran is an aerobatics demonstration team of the Indian Air Force. The Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) was formed in 1996 and are a part of the 52nd Squadron of the IAF. The team has since performed numerous demonstrations usually with nine aircraft. The squadron was composed of the HAL HJT-16 Kiran Mk.2 military trainer aircraft till 2011 and were based at the Bidar Air Force Station in Karnataka. The team was suspended in February 2011 and was re-established with Hawk Mk-132 aircraft in 2017.
Jurgis Kairys is a Lithuanian aerobatic pilot and aeronautical engineer. He has won many awards for his flying and has invented several maneuvers, including the "Kairys Wheel." He helped develop the Sukhoi Su-26, -29, and -31 aerobatic aircraft, and also has manufactured his own aerobatic aircraft, called the "Juka."
Lanseria International Airport is a privately owned international airport that is situated north of Randburg and Sandton to the north west of Johannesburg, South Africa. The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 757-300 and the airport was to ease traffic congestion at OR Tambo International Airport.
Arthur Everett Scholl was an American aerobatic pilot, aerial cameraman, flight instructor and educator based in Riverside, Southern California. He died during the filming of Top Gun when his Pitts S-2 camera plane failed to recover from a spin and plunged into the Pacific Ocean.
Kirby Chambliss is an American world champion aerobatic and air race pilot who raced in the Red Bull Air Race World Series under the Red Bull brand.
Frank Versteegh is a Dutch aerobatics pilot. He is also an airshow organiser, a flight safety committee member, a FAI judge and a freestyle aerobatics competitor.
Nigel Lamb is an English aerobatics pilot and the 2014 Red Bull Air Race World Champion.
Glen Dell was a South African commercial airline trainer and aerobatics pilot, who was qualified to race in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in seasons 2008 and 2009.
The Wings of Storm is the Croatian Air Force aerobatic display team. Its task is the presentation of the skill, discipline, and teamwork of the Croatian Air Force.
Sean Doherty Tucker is an American world champion aerobatic aviator. He was previously sponsored by the Oracle Corporation for many years, performing in air shows worldwide as "Team Oracle". Tucker has won numerous air show championship competitions throughout his career, was named one of the 25 "Living Legends of Flight" by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in 2003, and was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008. He has led several efforts to assist youth in learning to fly or becoming involved in general aviation, and currently serves as co-chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)'s Young Eagles program, a role he has held since 2013.
The PAF Blue Diamonds is the national aerobatic team of the Philippine Air Force (PAF). Assigned to the 5th Fighter Wing, the unit is based at Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga. Founded in 1952, the Blue Diamonds is one of oldest formal flying aerobatic teams in the world, along with United States Air Force Thunderbirds founded in 1953, the United States Navy Blue Angels formed in 1946, and the Patrouille de France of the French Air Force formed in 1931. The Blue Diamonds has been inactive since 2005.
Charlie Hillard was an American aerobatics pilot, and the first American to win the world aerobatics title.
Gene Soucy is an American aerobatics pilot. The son of 2 pilots, he would wash airplanes at a local airport in exchange for flight time while growing up in Kentucky. He soloed in a glider at age 14, and in a regular airplane at 16.
Roland Archer Nicholas Turvey was a champion aerobatic and air show pilot in South Africa.
John Gilbert "Tex" Rankin was an aerobatic pilot, barnstormer, air racer, and flight instructor from the 1920s to the 1940s. Rankin Flying Service trained thousands of pilots at Rankin Field for the US Army Air Force in World War II. He was the 1935 US Aerobatic champion and 1938 World Aerobatic champion.
William Lewis "Skip" Stewart, better known as Skip Stewart, is an aerobatic and commercial pilot from the United States. Stewart flies in airshows in the United States and abroad, in his two highly modified Pitts muscle biplanes.
The Blades are a British civilian aerobatic team based at the Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire. They have been described as "the world's only aerobatic airline" and are the only full-time civilian aerobatic team in the United Kingdom. The Blades are a subsidiary of 2Excel Aviation.
