August 1st (aerobatic team)

**August 1st Aerobatic Team**
August 1st Aerobatic Team
	J-10 (August 1st aerobatic team)
Active	1962 – present
Country	China
Branch	People's Liberation Army Air Force
Role	Aerobatic Display
Garrison/HQ	(Meichong) ( 39°22′24″N, 117°5′42″E )
Nickname(s)	Bayi
Colors	White and Red; formerly White and Blue (with red star on the tail fin)
Insignia
Identification; symbol
Aircraft flown
Fighter	8 Chengdu J-10

The August 1st or Ba Yi Aerobatics Team (Chinese: 八一飞行表演队) is the aerobatic demonstration team of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). It was founded in 1962 and named after the date of founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), August 1, 1927.

History[]

It is named after the date of the founding of the PLA (August 1, 1927), and is a part of the PLAAF Beijing Military Region. The unit was founded in 1962 and has over the years performed more than 500 times for delegations from 166 countries and regions. Its first show abroad happened in August 2013 during the Russian airshow MAKS.^[1]

Aircraft[]

The August 1st aerobatic team (Ba Yi aerobatic team) initially equipped the fleet with JJ-5 fighter-trainer jets,^{[citation needed]} a Chinese version of Russian made MiG-17. In later years^[when?] the JJ-5s were replaced by Chengdu J-7EB,^{[citation needed]} then again was replaced by the newer J-7GB (2001).^{[citation needed]} There are about 8 aircraft in the fleet, but only 6 are set for any airshow.^{[citation needed]}

In May 2009, the team upgraded their jets to the much more advanced Chengdu J-10 multirole fighter.^[2]

Base[]

The aerobatics team is based out of (Meichong) near Tianjin, home to the 24th Fighter Division.^[3]

Appearances[]

China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition
MAKS 2013^[1]
Dubai Air Show 2017
Joint Pakistan Air Force and PLAAF Airshow at PAF Base Samungli in 2017
2019 Pakistan Day Parade^[4]
Singapore Airshow 2020^[5]

Accidents[]

June 1997 – 3 aircraft crash in Tianjin during a practice session
15 September 1998 – single aircraft crashes near Chongming Island Airport near Shanghai
July 14, 2009 – Number 3 wing which was a J-7GB crashed at Yang Cun airbase during practicing session, while preparing for the coming National Day demonstration on October 1st.
12 November 2016 – Captain Yu Xu, first female J-10 pilot, was killed in an accident during training in Hebei province.^[6]