National military team ready for its debut on the European mainland

An exciting and rare addition to the flying display will premiere in its current composition on the European mainland at the International Sanicole Airshow on 21 & 22 September 2024, the Irish Air Corps Silver Swallows, an event that you don’t want to miss!

Turboprop aircraft often combine high performance with surprising elegance, and even with multiple aircraft in formation, they are able to move around in a confined airspace. No wonder they are so popular in the flying display of the International Sanicole Airshow then! It’s been five years since the last turboprop formation display team appeared at our show, so we’re proud to present you such a demonstration again this year.

The Silver Swallows used to fly the renowned Fouga Magister jet trainer until that type left Irish service at the end of the 1990s and the team were disbanded. Since then, they only occasionally performed one-off routines on the newest training aircraft in the Irish inventory, the punchy Swiss-built Pilatus PC-9M turboprop. Ireland operates eight PC-9s from the base at Baldonnel near Dublin.

For the 100th anniversary of the Irish Air Corps in 2022, this rarely-seen legendary team were re-established as a four-ship again though they mainly appeared in Ireland and haven’t ventured to European mainland since. Their debut participation at Sanicole is therefore keenly anticipated as the four experienced instructor-pilots show off the amazing flight characteristics of this highly capable training aircraft during graceful aerobatics in close formation, breath-taking synchronized passes and exciting solo manoeuvres.