Team 60 Swedish precision flying

Text and photos by Emiel Sloot The ’s demo formation Team 60 celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2006. With their six specially marked Sk 60 aircraft, instructors of the Krigsflygskolan at Linköping-Malmen put up a professional display.

The 2006 team members Team history In 1974, the F5 training wing at Ljungbyhed started a display with two Saab 105 aircraft (locally designated Sk 60), adding another two the next year before the formation was expanded to six aircraft, with a first rehearsal in November 1975. Following approval of the Swedish air force commander early 1976, Team 60 – referring to the Sk 60 type designation – was officially established. The first demo was performed over Göteborg-Säve on 15 May 1976, and the first appearance abroad was over Skrydstrup, Denmark in 1980. Since then, Team 60 visited several air shows outside . During the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) 1996 at RAF Fairford, the team won the Sir Douglas Bader Trophy for the best overall flying display. The 2006 anniversary season included a visit to the Czech International Air Fest at Brno. There were a few seasons without displays, though. During 1989 and 1990, no demos were flown due to lack of pilots, while the 1999 season was cancelled due to engine-related issues. Furthermore, Team 60 was forced to display with a reduced number of aircraft during some summers, mostly due to pilot shortage. However, from 2004 the team was back on full strength. Team 60 can put up three different displays, depending on the weather. The full show lasts for 16 minutes, starting with various six-ship formations including the pyramid, kite and swan. Halfway, the program continues with a four-ship while the other two fill the gaps with various . At the end, all aircraft join for a split from a horizontal fly-by. Two different low-level shows act as an alternative during low cloud cover and/or poor visibility and solely consist of horizontal six-ship formation displays. Generally, shows are rehearsed over the closed air base at Norrköping-Bråvalla, some 40km north-east of Malmen, as the home base itself is too busy with many flight operations from the various based air force units including the Helikopter Flottiljen (helicopter squadron), the transport squadron of F17 wing, the armed forces material test & acquisition unit FMV (Försvarets Materiel Verk) and the TU (Test Unit) JAS39, also known as the Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) unit. Sk 60 The aircraft that equips Team 60 is the Saab Sk 60A. In the early 1960s, Saab developed a two-engined for the Swedish air force of which the first of two prototypes flew on 29 June 1963. The air force acquired 150 aircraft that were delivered between 1966 and 1969 (a full briefing on this type can be found in a separate article). Seven Sk 60As were sprayed in the Team 60's colours. Between 1994 and 1998, these aircraft were re- engined with two Williams-Rolls FJ44-IC engines, locally designated RM15. During the engine modification programme, Team 60 performed with only four aircraft during 1997 and 1998 due to lack of aircraft. In 1999, some re-engined aircraft encountered issues due to the higher engine bleed air pressure towards the air conditioning packs, even causing a few pack turbine explosions. As a result, the Sk 60 fleet was grounded temporarily and Team 60's season was cancelled completely. Another problem encountered with the new engines was the smoke system as due to the lower exhaust temperature, the injected diesel fuel did not ignite. The engine manufacturer did not allow for extensive modifications, so to counter this, smoke pods filled with TEXPAR 15 diesel fuel were attached under each wing in 2001. In 2006, TEXPAR 22 was introduced supplying a more dense and lasting smoke cloud.

Flight instructors Team 60 is one of four units under control of the Krigsflygskolan, the other three being fully involved with flight instruction. The 1. Division (1st squadron), also known as the Grundläggande Flyg Utbildning (GFU) is responsible for the basic flying training course. Graduates move to the 2. Division (2nd squadron) or Grundläggande Taktisk Utbildning (GTU) for basic tactical training). The fourth unit is the Utbildnings Sektionen (Education Unit), which handles flight instructor courses. Ljungbyhed, home of F5 wing since 1925, has been the Krigsflygskolan’s base for decades until the wing disbanded late 1996. The school then moved to nearby Ängelholm, where it was placed under the command of F10. However, as F10 was planned for deactivation in December 2002, it was decided the year before to move the school to Linköping-Malmen, via a temporary relocation to Uppsala where the tactical part of the flying training was already based for a number of years. From 1 July 2003, the Krigsflygskolan started to operate out of Malmen. The unit was initially under command of the Ronneby-based F17 wing until the latest reorganisation came into effect on 1 January 2006. As a result, the school is now controlled by the Luftstridsskolan (LSS - Air Combat School) at Uppsala which is responsible for a number of other air force training units. During the show season, the team captain would spend his time fully in support of the team, as he also acts as the team’s manager to make the necessary arrangements for the rehearsals and the actual displays. The other team pilots are regular flight instructors of the Krigsflygskolan. Beside them, one instructor acts as speaker while another is a spare pilot for slots no. 2, 3 and 4. Generally, the season starts in March when the display programme is rehearsed. Between May and October, some 25 displays on average were performed, of which the number abroad depended on allocated funds from the air staff. Unfortunately, budgetary problems forced the team’s grounding in 2007. Since then, only few displays were flown. Furthermore, a 2009 contract with Saab Aerotech to maintain the Swedish Sk 60 fleet did not provide for Team 60 in view of extra flying hours and stress to these airframes. ■ This article has been published in various aviation magazines, such as Onze Luchtmacht (NL – Vol.59 No.1), Pilots & Planes (NL – No.2), Ptisi (Greece – No.264), Aranysas (Hungary – Mar2007) and J-Wings (Japan – No.103). Furthermore, images have been used for the Team 60 website and a few aviation- related books.

© 2007