Patrouille de France, the legendary French flight demonstration team celebrated its 60th anniversary today at its base in Salon-de-Provence. The Patrouille de France boasts a rich heritage of spectacular flight demonstrations and has enthused millions of spectators and aviation enthusiasts worldwide at air shows and other events over the last sixty years.

EADS is proud to have played a part in the squadron’s legacy and to take part in the celebrations, by participating in the APPAF display with the Fouga CM 170 “Magister” F-AZZP, the team’s main display aircraft for 16 years. The twin-jet aircraft was also used by the French Air Force for regular pilot training.

The Fouga Magister was replaced by the Alpha Jet as the main flight display aircraft in 1980. It made its final appearance in a Patrouille de France display on 16 September 1980 at Salon-de-Provence, France.

Note for photo editors: A high resolution version of the photograph can be downloaded from the Media Centre of the EADS website, www.eads.com/media

Video: http://youtu.be/hxoqXIkdCew

About EADS

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2012, the Group – comprising Airbus, Astrium, Cassidian and Eurocopter – generated revenues of € 56.5 billion and employed a workforce of over 140,000.

New Media Section on the EADS website!

For information on EADS – photo, video, sound bites, background documents – visit www.eads.com/media. Subscribe to our RSS Feed at www.eads.com/RSS.