Patrulla Águila, the second aerobatic team to replace jets with turboprops

It was predictable, but it is no less sad, especially for the Spanish aeronautical industry.

The Pilatus PC-21 training aircraft of the Spanish Air Force seen up close
The Spanish Air Force will be one of the largest operators of the Pilatus PC-21 with 40 aircraft

The days of the CASA C-101 Aviojet in the Patrulla Águila are numbered. The "Culopollo", as its Spanish pilots nickname it, will say goodbye to the Patrulla Águila this summer on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, according to the Europa Press agency yesterday, on the occasion of a visit by the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, to the General Air Academy (AGA), in San Javier (Murcia).

The C-101 Aviojet, a training aircraft manufactured in Spain that made its first flight on June 27, 1977, will make its last displays with the Patrulla Águila on June 14 and 15 on the occasion of the Aire 05 Festival that will take place in San Javier to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that fixed-wing acrobatic unit of the Air Force, as Alexia Salas noted yesterday in the newspaper La Verdad of Murcia. The event will be attended by the Red Arrows of the British RAF, the Frecce Tricolori of the Italian Air Force, the Patrouille de France of the Armée de l'Air and the Patrouille de Suisse of the Swiss Air Force.

After more than 500 displays with the C-101, the Patrulla Águila will begin this summer its transition to the Pilatus PC-21, the turboprop training aircraft that has already replaced the C-101 and the ENAER T-35 Pillán in the training of AGA students.

In 2020, Spain acquired 24 units of this Swiss-made aircraft. The first aircraft arrived in Spain in September 2021 and deliveries were completed in June 2022. In March 2023, Spain announced the purchase of 16 additional PC-21s: 14 for the AGA and 2 for the Air Force's Armament and Experimentation Logistics Center (CLAEX), based in Torrejón de Ardoz. Ardoz (Madrid), for experimental and test flights, research and development.

The Spanish Air Force has been very satisfied with the PC-21. It is a good aircraft, very versatile and with very advanced avionics, capable of adapting to different phases of pilot training, from the most basic to the most advanced. That does not prevent us from pointing out one fact: the Patrulla Águila will be the first aerobatic team to change jets for turboprops, something that has not happened in any other country. It is worth wondering how this will affect its hitherto spectacular displays. In addition, it will be the first time that the Patrulla Águila flies in an aircraft not manufactured in Spain.

As you may recall, in 2020 Airbus proposed replacing some of the Spanish C-101s with the AFJT, a jet aircraft that would be manufactured in Spain by that European company. In January 2021, the AFJT was even considered as a future aircraft for the Patrulla Águila, but the project ultimately fell through due to lack of funds. The economic crisis caused by the pandemic and the low investment in defense that Spain has been suffering at the hands of different governments put the project on hold. They will be celebrating in Switzerland.

+ UPDATED 17:27h: As Kepa Sagardi pointed out in a reply to this article, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Roulettes replaced their Aermacchi MB-326 jets with Pilatus PC-9 turboprops in 1989. Thus, the Patrulla Águila would be the second aerobatic group to make such a replacement, and not the first, as I mistakenly pointed out when publishing this entry. I correct the title, I regret the error.

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Main photo: Patrulla Águila. Rest of the images: Patrulla Águila / Ejército del Aire / Ministerio de Defensa / Airbus Defence.