Aerobatics in Red and White

The Patrouille Suisse and the Turkish Stars do not only perform in the same colours, but also with the same combat aircraft. Both teams have confirmed to participate in the AirPower09.

From the ground, it is rather difficult to distinguish the two teams: The Patrouille Suisse as well as the Turkish Stars both use the Northrop F-5, one of the most-built combat jets worldwide and the only supersonic plane used in military aerobatics. Besides that, both squadrons have painted their jets in red and white, which can be quite confusing when you see them from the ground. Anyhow, is there something that makes the two teams, who have signed up for the air show at almost the same time, really distinguishable? Yes, there is: The Turks perform their show with eight F-5A Freedom Fighter jets, whereas the Swiss use six F-5E Tiger II which have a white cross on the fuselage. This means that all in all 14 planes of this type will take part in the air show and that the American-built F-5 will be the most represented military aircraft of the AirPower09.