F - 86F SABRE JET ''SKYBLAZERS''

Description

SUPER DECALS SHEET 5 VERSIONS

In the spring of 1949 the first flights of the Skyblazers Air Demonstration Team took places in the skies over Europe at the airbase in Furstenfeldbruk, Germany. The pilots were part of the 22nd fighter squadron from the 36th Fighter Wing as part of the USAFE (United States Air Forces in Europe). The team was instructed by the USAFE headquarters to create an aerobatics team using F-80B aircraft and perform demonstrations throughout Europe.Soon afterwards the team was given modified F-84E Thunderjet aircraft. The 50-caliber machine guns were removed from the front of the aircraft for better handling in the demonstrations. By the summer of 1952 the team had performed more that 260 air demonstrations in more than 12 countries.In 1953 the team came under the command of the 48th Fighter-Bomber Wing based in Chaumont, France. Soon after that they moved on to the F-86F Sabre jet for the next 3 years. During this time the team continued to perform air demonstrations throughout Europe using the F-86. In 1956 they were moved back to the 36th Fighter Wing and stationed at the airbase in Bitburg, Germany.During this time a new air demonstration team based in the U.S. called the Thunderbird had been formed. In 1962 with the development of mid air refueling, the Thunderbirds were able to make the trip to Europe for demonstrations. This eliminated the need for a team based in Europe and the Skyblazers were officially disbanded.