TEAM YAKOVLEVS FINAL DISPLAY SEASON
The British Team Yakovlevs announced that the 2023 airshow season will be their last display season after 25 years and over 2000 displays across 13 countries.
The Team Yakovlevs are the UK's premier formation aerobatic team, flying a mixture of powerful Russian aerobatic aircraft the single-seat Yak-50 and two-seat supercharged and specially lightened Yak-52 'Super'. These reliable and robust aircraft were designed for advanced aerobatics training and competition aerobatics.
The team owns 10 Yaks in total with 8 flying at any one time and can perform solo displays or formation aerobatics with 2 to 6 aircraft.
Team Yakovlevs at the Meeting aérien Cambrai 2022
The team was formed in December 1999 and since then the Team Yakovlevs demonstrated their skills at airshows all over the world going as far as India and China.
Their display programme involves close formation aerobatics in different formations as well as breaks and opposition passes. The team can also perform the impressive sky typing where five aircraft in line-abreast formation at 10,000ft emit a pulse of smoke creating a unique Sky Billboard message.
Team Yakovlevs at the Bournemouth Air Festival 2022
Statement from the team;
“So as Douglas Adams once wrote… “…..so long, and Thanks for all the Fish”… The 2023 season will be the last year that TeamYakovlevs will be display flying… After over 2000 displays across 13 countries and what will be 25 years of the team display flying…… its Hasta la vista baby. We want to say a massive thank you to all those that supported us,… and a big fat raspberry to those that didn’t. It's been an amazing 25year journey from those baby steps in 1998 to the full-on 6 ship of today.
A few big shout outs….
The pilots over the years
Azat Zaydullin fighting for Ukraine
Dave Stobie
Dave Boardman RIP
David Jones
David Morgan
Den Harkin
Edward Yard
Etienne Verhellen
Jim Schofield
Marc Vanhove
Matt Kitson
Nick Barnard
Paul Farmer
Peter Scandret
Willy Hackett.. there on day one in 1998Not forgetting our illustrious Engineers; Arturas Armonas, Nigel Cross and thanks to Geoff Jarvis, owner at Henstridge airfield…
We have lots of displays already booked for 2023 so keep your eyes out for us around he display circuit here in the Uk and of course France.
Finally, an enormous thank you to the wives and partners of the pilots….. including my own amazing wife Sarah Hopkinson… without all your support over the years… non of this would be possible.”
