The sad farewell of the Patrulla Águila to the C-101 Aviojet, the Spanish 'derradeiro' jet

This is a blog about defense and aviation, but I want to start this article, written from Galicia (Spain), with a linguistic note.

RAAF Roulettes, an example of what the future Patrulla Águila will look like with PC-21 aircraft
The smoke generators of the new Pilatus PC-21 aircraft of the Patrulla Águila

In Galician, there are two words that have a very similar meaning: "último" and "derradeiro". In English, both are translated as "last", but in Galician, there is an important difference: "último" refers to the most recent element in a series that can continue, while "derradeiro" is something that will no longer be continued.

This weekend, the Spanish Air Force held an air show to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Patrulla Águila, its fixed-wing aerobatic team, in San Javier (Murcia). Aerobatic teams from other countries participated in this event. I would like to post the entire video of this air show here, but YouTube has canceled it due to a copyright claim. It's a shame. That's more than six hours of lost broadcast.

This event was attended by His Majesty King Felipe VI, who this Saturday had the opportunity to fly in one of the new Pilatuc PC-21 training aircraft at the General Air Academy. Here you can see the video published by the Royal House:

And here is the video published by the Royal Family this Sunday as a summary of the air show, with the farewell of the Patrulla Águila:

This air show, called Aire 25, was the last performance of the Patrulla Águila with its CASA C-101 Aviojet, an aircraft that made its first flight on June 27, 1977, and entered service with the Air Force on March 17, 1980. The Patrulla Águila performed its first training with this aircraft on June 4, 1985, participating in hundreds of exhibitions. Here you can see the recording by PlanesTV of the Patrulla Águila's participation in this air show, flying alongside a PC-21 and an F-86 Sabre:

This farewell to the C-101 Aviojet by the Patrulla Águila is certainly a sad moment, not only because 40 years of service for this aircraft are coming to an end and because of the nostalgia it provokes. 45 years ago, the Spanish aeronautical industry was able to make the C-101, responding to the needs of the Spanish Air Force for a jet training aircraft. Since 2000, CASA has been part of the European conglomerate Airbus, which has allowed Spain to participate in projects such as the A400M Atlas and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

However, the loss of autonomy of the Spanish aeronautical industry has had an adverse effect, as we can see in the replacement of the C-101 Aviojet by a Swiss aircraft (the aforementioned PC-21) and the foreseeable replacement of the Northrop F-5BM by a Turkish aircraft, the TAI Hürjet. There was a last attempt to make a Spanish jet aircraft to replace the C-101 and F-5BM, the Airbus AFJT, but it failed due to the lack of support for the project from Pedro Sánchez's government.

It was not the first time that a socialist government condemned a Spanish aeronautical project to failure. At the end of the 1980s, there was a Spanish fighter project, the CASA AX, of which the Air Force planned to receive 72 units according to a news item published by El País in February 1988. The project failed due to lack of government support. Thus, we find ourselves with the paradox that while Italy continues to manufacture aircraft such as the M-345 and M-346, Spain lacks an aeronautical industry capable of responding to this need, because our politicians are not interested in ensuring that capacity either. The Swiss and Turks benefit from this shortsightedness of Spanish politicians.

Thus, without CASA AX and without AFJT, the C-101 becomes the "derradeiro" 100% Spanish military jet aircraft. The last representative of a short saga that began on August 12, 1955 with the first flight of the Hispano Aviación HA-200 Saeta, the first Spanish jet. A saga that ended because the different Spanish governments have not wanted to invest in defense enough to not lose the opportunity to manufacture our own training aircraft. That is why it is difficult, being Spanish, not to feel sad on a day like today. Farewell, "Culopollo".

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Main photo: Peng Chen / Patrulla Águila.