The Breitling Jet Team is the largest civilian aerobatic display team in Europe. Based in Dijon

Dijon

Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, it flies seven Aero L-39 Albatros jets. Since the 2010 season all of the fleet received a new livery in the colours of sponsor Breitling

Breitling

Breitling is a luxury brand of Swiss watches produced by Breitling SA, a private company headquartered in Grenchen, Canton of Solothurn . The company exclusively offered Certified Chronometers in all models since 2000...

.

The team flies a display lasting 18–20 minutes and includes close formation flying, opposition passes, solo routines and synchronised manoeuvres. The team displays across Europe and the Middle East and each year undertakes a busy schedule of engagements, including major international airshow

Airshow

An air show is an event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their aircraft to spectators in aerobatics. Air shows without aerobatic displays, having only aircraft displayed parked on the ground, are called "static air shows"....

s and Breitling corporate events.

History & Origins

The Breitling Jet Team was established in early 2003 and initially flew four L-39s, before progressing up to the strength of six aircraft in 2004, adding three more for the 2008 season for a total number of nine jets. Although the Breitling Team is recently established, the team's origins go back much further.

Patrouille Martini

Jacques Bothelin, the team's leader, originally began performing in airshows in 1980 with French-designed Mudry CAP 10

Mudry CAP 10

-See also:-References:*Taylor, John W.R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1988-89. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Defence Data, 1988. ISBN 01706-0867-5....

 aircraft. In 1982 he progressed onto flying as part of a team of three SIAI-Marchetti SF260s, which was sponsored by Martini. The team was called Patrouille Martini (Patrouille meaning 'Patrol' or 'Team' in English). Also at this time, Jacques Bothelin established Apache Aviation at the team's Darois

Darois

Darois is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France.-Population:-References:*...

 home base to handle the operational aspects of running a full-time aerobatic team. The Martini Team flew for five years with the SF260s, before the team took delivery of Swiss-manufactured Pilatus PC-7

Pilatus PC-7

The Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer is a low-wing tandem-seat training aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. The aircraft is capable of all basic training functions including aerobatics, instrument, tactical and night flying. It has been selected by more than twenty air forces as...

s in 1988.

Patrouille Ecco

In 1990 new regulations were introduced in France banning the advertising of alcohol, meaning Martini had to withdraw from the sponsorship. Ecco

Ecco

Ecco may refer to:* Ecco, an imprint of the multinational publisher HarperCollins* ECCO, a Danish shoe manufacturer* Ecco & Miramont, a packaging and labels company* Ecco Employment Agency, an employment agency...

, a temporary employment agency, stepped into the breach and the team was renamed Patrouille Ecco in time for the 1991 season, with the team's colours changing from the Martini white to Ecco green and white. At this time, a fourth PC-7 was added to the team. During the 1990s Team Ecco displayed at numerous airshows around Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Patrouille Adecco

In 1997 Ecco merged with a Swiss firm, Adia

Adia

"Adia" is a song by Sarah McLachlan that originally appeared on her 1997 album Surfacing. It was co-written by McLachlan and her longtime producer, Pierre Marchand. The song allegedly reflected the apology to her best friend for becoming involved with, and later marrying, her friend's ex-boyfriend...

, forming Adecco

Adecco

Adecco S.A. is a human resources company, based in Glattbrugg near Zurich, Switzerland. Adecco employs 700,000 temporary workers and contractors who are supplied to business clients, and has over 32,000 employees and 5,500 offices in 60 countries and territories around the world...

- and with this the team's name changed again to Patrouille Adecco, with the team's colours shifting to the corporate Adecco red-and-white. In 1998 the team suffered a setback when Adecco pulled out of its sponsorship. Consequently, Jacques Bothelin and Philippe Laloix flew during 1999-2001 with two PC-7s as "Les Apaches", the name being derived from the Apache Aviation firm.

Khalifa Jet Team

In late 2001 the Algerian company, Khalifa, offered to sponsor Apache Aviation. The result was that the PC-7s were sold and the L-39 jets arrived as their replacement. The new team was known as the "Khalifa Jet Team", and the team was launched in March 2002 prior to making its debut displays in May 2002. Over the summer of 2002 the team worked up from an initial two-ship formation to a full four-aircraft team. Over the course of 2002 the team appeared at no fewer than 43 events in six European countries.

Breitling

Despite this success, however, in early 2003 Khalifa pulled out of the sponsorship. There were concerns about the team's future, but then Breitling stepped into the breach and invested further in the team to allow the outfit to expand from a 4-ship to the 7-ship formation it flies nowadays.

External links

• Breitling jet team home page
• Blog about Breitling Jet Team (fr)
• Video about Breitling Jet Team in Mexican TV (Spanish)