From Emperor's Circus Squadron to the Midnight Hawks

The history of Finnish military aerobatic display flying extends over most of the ninety decades of existence of the Finnish Air Force. Since 1997, the Midnight Hawks has carried on and cherished the proud heritage of its predecessors.

In the course of just one decade, the Midnight Hawks has evolved into an internationally renowned military display team that strives to constantly better its display routine. Smoke generators that the team first used in 2008 heighten visual impact. Photo: Mikko Luukkanen.

A vital building block in the demanding profession of the military pilot has traditionally been an ability to maintain position only a few meters away from the other aircraft of the formation while maintaining strict flying discipline and responding the leader's calls, all this at speeds that can sometimes attain hundreds of kilometers per hour.

The origins of formation flying may be traced to the years of World War I when airplanes were first used as serious war machines.

Since the first airplanes had no radios, communications and coordination was largely based on hand signals, wing rock, and preplanned procedures. It was therefore important that the leader and wingmen of a fighter formation had the skills needed for maintaining visual contact even in adverse weather, when keeping in a close formation was the only way to retain the integrity of the flight.

Even though the airborne radio and radar have made life easier for pilots, formation flying figures prominently during the successive phases of pilot training since it hones aircraft handling skills and enhances visual referencing capabilities, and is an important element in ensuring the smooth conduct of tactical missions. A fact is that even these days no one roams the skies alone, and air combat tactics are still based on the two-aircraft element and four-aircraft flight.

Aerobatics is the most demanding form of formation flying. In formation aerobatics, several airplanes typically conduct a wide variety of non-routine maneuvers as if they were one. Display teams exhibiting routines polished to perfection are important assets for the world's air services that utilize these teams to show off the skills of service pilots in air shows and other venues.

Tied-Together Aerobatics

The evolution of formation aerobatics in the Finnish Air Force goes back to the 1920s when an outfit called "Emperor's Circus Squadron", flying French Gourdou-Leseurre fighters under the command of Captain Väinö Bremer would appear to put up displays at aerodromes all over Finland.

The Finnish Air Force's first formation display team was "Emperor's Circus Squadron," which during the 1920s performed with its Gourdou-Leseurres under the command of Captain Väinö Bremer - who later became famous for his round-the-world solo flight. Photo: Finnish Air Force.

Moving on to the 1930s, the standard mount for formation aerobatics changed to the British Gloster Gamecock, which occasionally performed with their wing tips tied together.

The stormy war years and the subsequent era of slow recovery put an end to established formation aerobatics in the Air Force. A revival occurred only after the arrival of the Fouga Magister jet trainer in 1959 since the Fouga was well suited for the purpose.

The Air Force Academy, as the present Training Air Wing was then named, took formation flying as an element in the Fouga training syllabus, which in 1961 led to the establishment of a four-ship display team under the command of Captain Erkki Penttilä.

Sleek Fougas flown by the Academy's flight instructors would delight crowds gathered for the annual Midnight Sun Air Shows with their coordinated maneuvering until 1986.

Among the predecessors of the Midnight Hawks was the Fouga Magister formation of the Air Force Academy. The team performed in the Midnight Sun Air Show at Kauhava and air shows all over Finland in the 1960s to 1980s. Photo: Seppo Viitamäki.

The Team Gets a Name

The Fouga was superseded by the Hawk in the fast jet training role during the 1980s, but this did not spell the end of formation aerobatics flying at Kauhava.

As years went by the skilled but as yet unnamed Hawk team aroused increasing interest both at home and abroad, and in 1996, team pilots brought up an idea of establishing an official brand name for the team.

After a fair amount of deliberation they decided to christen the team the Midnight Hawks to reflect the annual Midnight Sun Air Show at their home venue.

The new name and the current emblem depicting four Hawks in close formation under the midnight sun were rolled out  in the Oulu International Air Show in 1997.

Since the appearance of the Midnight Hawks on display scene, Finnish formation aerobatics have entered the international arena with force. Until the 1990s, the Air Force consistently stayed away from air shows arranged outside the nation's borders, but by now, the Midnight Hawks has regularly performed with success in a number of renowned air shows abroad.

The team's foreign début was in the Air Power 2000 show in Zeltweg, Austria, to a crowd of 350,000. It has also performed in the Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford, UK, in 2004; in the Royal Netherlands Air Force air show in Leeuwarden in 2006; in the 2009 Radom Air Show in Poland and in the Sion Air Show in Switzerland in 2011.

The team has established close links with display teams from other countries. As an example, pilots of the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows, which ranks among the world's best-known military display teams, and Midnight Hawks have hitched rides in the aft seat of the other team's aircraft.

The military display teams of various countries have forged close links between them. The pilots of Britain's Red Arrows in their red flight suits hitched back-seat rides in Finnish Hawks at Kauhava in the Midsummer of 2006. Photo: Mikko Luukkonen.

Constant Strive towards Better

The Midnight Hawks has received much praise for their professionalism while performing alongside the forefront European military display teams.

Since full commitment and hard work will be needed to maintain a position among peers, the Midnight Hawks has actively striven to develop military display flying in Finland throughout its existence. Each year, the team's operating procedures and routine are scrutinized against the lessons learned from the previous season, and the new procedures are then rehearsed and honed during late winter.

Since 1999, the team's composition has included a supervisor in addition to display pilots and aircraft maintainers. The supervisor could best be described as a "coach" who works in close cooperation with the team leader, assisting in the planning and developing of the routine and other operational aspects.

The fifteen or so display seasons have enabled the Midnight Hawks to establish the best practises that have been merged in a constantly updated Standard Operations Manual.

The fruits of development effort and rehearsing that take place outside the display season become visible to the public in the form of entirely new elements inserted in the team's routine and as minor and major adjustments that help give it additional flavor. Display smokes that the team introduced in 2008 are among the most stunning recent enhancements to the team's routine.

Midnight Hawks has delighted international audiences in several airshows abroad. In 2011 the team appeared in Sion Air Show in Switzerland. Photo: Aleksi Ruotsila.

 

Last updated 02.04.2012