Ireland Irish Air Corps

Silver Swallows

Pilatus PC-9M formation display team of the Irish Air Corps

Silver Swallows carries an Irish Air Corps display name first made famous by the Fouga Magister. Today the identity belongs to a compact PC-9M team from the Flying Training School at Casement Aerodrome, combining close formation aerobatics with the aircraft's everyday military training role.

Formation roots
1982
Name adopted
1987
Standard team
4 aircraft
Aircraft
Pilatus PC-9M
Unit
Flying Training School
Home
Baldonnel

The team

A national display identity carried by a working training squadron.

Built around the Flying Training School

The modern Silver Swallows is drawn from the Irish Air Corps Flying Training School, the squadron responsible for training Air Corps cadets. Display flying sits alongside the school's main work: initial and advanced pilot training, instructor training, weapons training, air tactics and operational tasks assigned to the unit.

Four aircraft is the team format

The full routine is structured around four PC-9Ms, usually presented as a close formation before the aircraft divide for individual or opposing elements. Some appearances have been flown by three aircraft, but the Silver Swallows is correctly described as a four-ship team rather than a permanently fixed three-ship formation.

Not a separate display fleet

The PC-9Ms remain part of the Flying Training School's normal fleet. The same aircraft type teaches aerobatics and close formation during the military pilot course, so the display is a public demonstration of skills that already belong to the school's training syllabus. That connection is the defining feature of the present team.

The display

Close four-ship aerobatics, then space for the breakaway aircraft.

The Silver Swallows routine is deliberately compact. Formation flypasts, loops and rolls establish the four aircraft as one unit; breaks, individual aerobatics and opposition passes then change the pace without losing the clear connection to military formation training.

Formation arrival

The team normally enters as a single group, allowing the audience to read the spacing and shape before the first aerobatic figure.

Loops and rolls

The PC-9Ms fly collective loops and rolling manoeuvres while the wing aircraft hold close visual references on the leader.

Formation changes

Diamond, line and echelon-style shapes make the display readable from the ground and show the precision expected in advanced flying training.

Breakaway elements

Later figures give individual aircraft or a separated pair room for faster passes, reversals and opposing approaches.

White display smoke

Smoke makes the flight path visible through loops, rolls and breaks, adding definition without hiding the aircraft themselves.

Ceremonial tricolour

For selected national flypasts the PC-9Ms can trail green, white and orange smoke, a capability first publicly revealed during the Easter Rising centenary commemorations in 2016.

The aircraft

Pilatus PC-9M: the Air Corps trainer behind the display.

A tandem-seat military trainer

The Swiss-built PC-9M entered Irish Air Corps service in 2004 and is the service's main pilot-training aircraft. Student and instructor sit in tandem beneath a single canopy, with the rear cockpit raised to improve the instructor's forward view.

Training, tactics and operational work

The Flying Training School uses the type for ab initio, advanced and instructor pilot training. Its syllabus also includes formation flying, aerobatics, weapons training and air tactics, while the aircraft can support close-air-support tasks when required.

A modern cockpit and escape system

The Irish aircraft combine a head-up display with electronic flight instrumentation and a full VFR/IFR avionics fit. Both cockpits use Martin-Baker CG-A ejection seats, giving the PC-9M a level of safety equipment expected of an advanced military trainer rather than a civilian aerobatic aircraft.

Why it works as a display aircraft

The PT6A-62 turboprop gives the PC-9M a maximum speed of about 320 knots, while the airframe can sustain 7 g. That combination is fast enough for energetic opposition work but slow and compact enough for a small formation to remain easy to follow along the display line.

The story so far

From silver Fouga jets to a revived PC-9M formation.

1975

The Fouga Magister joins the Air Corps

Six Fouga CM.170-2 Super Magisters entered Irish Air Corps service in 1975 to replace the Vampire. Their silver finish and distinctive V-tail later supplied both the appearance and the name of Ireland's best-known military display team.

1982

The formation-aerobatic roots

A four-Fouga display for the Air Corps' 60th anniversary developed a routine built around keeping the aircraft close to the audience, breaking the formation apart and reforming during aerobatic figures. This was the direct flying tradition from which the team emerged.

1986-87

The Silver Swallows identity takes shape

A three-aircraft team operated in 1986. A fourth Fouga was added in 1987, when the Silver Swallows name was adopted for the Baldonnel Air Spectacular. The name referred to the aircraft's silver finish and swallow-like V-tail.

26 Jul 1990

First display outside Ireland

The Fouga team made its international debut at the RAF Brawdy Open Day in Wales, beginning a small but memorable overseas history.

1997

An award-winning RIAT appearance

During the Air Corps' 75th anniversary year, the Silver Swallows appeared in Britain and Belgium. At the Royal International Air Tattoo they received the Lockheed Martin Cannestra Trophy for the best flying demonstration by an overseas participant.

1998-99

The original jet era ends

The Fougas completed their final flying in 1998 and the type left Irish Air Corps service in 1999. Without the V-tailed jets, the original Silver Swallows team disappeared from the display circuit.

2004

The PC-9M enters service

The Pilatus PC-9M became the Air Corps' principal pilot-training aircraft. Formation displays later returned under PC-9M identities, preserving the Baldonnel tradition before the historic name came back.

2016

Smoke gives the PC-9M display a new signature

Six PC-9Ms revealed green, white and orange smoke during the Easter Rising centenary flypast over Dublin. Four aircraft then used the new smoke system in an aerobatic display at Bray later that year.

2022

The Silver Swallows name returns

The Irish Air Corps restored the identity for its centenary year. Four PC-9Ms flew at RIAT, returning the team to Fairford after 25 years, and the formation also escorted the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight across Dublin during Veterans Day events.

2024-25

The revival continues beyond the centenary

A three-aircraft Silver Swallows formation made the Irish Air Corps' debut at the International Sanicole Airshow in 2024. The team was still displaying in Ireland in 2025, confirming that the restored identity had continued beyond its centenary-year return.

Understanding the identity

One historic name, two very different generations of aircraft.

01

1982 is the origin - 1987 is the named team

Formation aerobatics reached a new level with the four-Fouga display of 1982, but the Silver Swallows identity did not yet formally exist. The team developed through the mid-1980s and adopted the name in 1987. Keeping both dates explains the history without treating them as the same event.

02

The name came from the Fouga, not the PC-9M

The original aircraft were natural-metal jets with a butterfly-like V-tail, suggesting a silver swallow in flight. The modern PC-9Ms do not share that shape or finish; they carry the historic name as a link to the Air Corps display tradition created at Baldonnel.

European Airshows photography

Follow the PC-9Ms from the close opening formation into loops, rolls, breaks and opposition passes, with smoke tracing the changing geometry of the team across the display line.

Four military aircraft flying in formation with trails of smoke against a blue sky.
Five jets flying in a diamond formation performing an airshow, leaving white smoke trails in a clear blue sky.
Four airplanes flying in formation during an air show, leaving behind white smoke trails in a clear blue sky.
Four propeller planes flying in a tight formation, leaving smoke trails behind them during an air show.
Four military aircrafts flying in formation, leaving trails of smoke behind.
Four military jet planes flying in formation against a blue sky, with streams of white smoke behind them.
Four military aircraft flying in a diamond formation, leaving white smoke trails behind them against a cloudy sky.
Four aircraft performing a synchronized stunt in the sky, emitting white smoke trails.
Four silver military aircraft flying in formation through a cloudy blue sky, with two leaving white smoke trails.
Four planes performing an aerial display with smoke trails in a cloudy sky.
Four propeller planes performing an aerobatic maneuver in the sky, leaving smoke trails behind them
Two propeller airplanes flying through a blue sky, performing an aerial display with smoke trails behind them.
A gray military ship on the ocean in the foreground with four airplanes flying in formation above, leaving smoke trails in the sky.
Four aircrafts flying in close formation emitting white smoke trails against a gray sky.
Four aircraft flying in a diamond formation in the sky with vapor trails behind the front two planes.
Five military planes flying in a formation in the sky with vapor trails behind them.
Four aircrafts flying in a tight formation in the sky, emitting trails of white smoke.
Three aircrafts performing an aerobatic stunt, leaving white smoke trails in the sky.
Three planes flying in formation with trails of white smoke against a blue sky.
A propeller airplane flying in the sky, viewed from below, with a light gray body and tail, featuring red accents on the tail fins and wing tips, and circular logos on the wings and fuselage.
Four vintage military aircraft flying in formation with smoke trails against a cloudy sky.
A large black military aircraft flying in formation with three smaller white aircraft against a clear blue sky.
Three silver aircrafts flying in formation at an airshow, emitting white smoke trails in the sky.
Three gray military aircraft flying in formation against a blue sky.
Three fighter jets flying in blue sky, leaving white smoke trails behind.
Three aircraft flying in formation in the sky during an air show.
Three planes flying in a tight formation with trails of smoke, against a cloudy sky.
Three airplanes flying in formation with smoke trails against a blue sky.
A gray jet aircraft flying in the sky releasing white smoke.
Military jet aircraft flying in the sky, gray with red and green circular insignia, number 263 on tail, with blurred propeller.
A jet airplane flying at an angle with smoke trailing behind during an air show.
A gray military jet plane flying in the sky with Polish Air Force insignia on it, a red nose, and its landing gear down.
A military aircraft flying in the sky, with a gray body, a transparent canopy, and a red tail fin.
A silver and black aircraft with a propeller flying in overcast sky, marked with the Irish Air Corps insignia and the number 263.
Four aircraft flying in formation against a cloudy sky, emitting trails of smoke.
Three military aircraft flying in formation over a landscape with fields and small towns, leaving white smoke trails behind them.