Czech Flying Bulls Aerobatics Team

In the new season with a novelty

Story

The exciting journey began in 1958 at a modest airfield in Chrudim, where a daring group of acrobats emerged and quickly established their legendary status.

Within this storied saga, the aviators Jiří Tlustý and Božej Struž, forged in the military flight school, embarked on a daring odyssey of formation aerobatics. Alongside with Antonin Klimenda and Ladislav Bezák the team was evolving their exploits with the unique ZLIN Trener aircraft - the best aerobatic plane of 60s.

Their exploits unfolded with razor-thin margins between airplane wings, displaying a breathtaking tapestry of solo aerobatic maneoeuvres flown in a close formation flights. Witness the heartstopping "mirror flight," where one plane defies gravity inverted, while its counterpart mirrors each manoeuvre with unfaltering precision.

SKY BOX's glory came in 1998 when they were crowned champions of the FAI World Cup for aerobatic teams setting a standard that has continued throughout the FAI WGPA era with consistent podium finishes.

Once known as SKY BOX, gradually changing its pilots, their metamorphosis into the Flying Bulls Aerobatic Team under Red Bull's sponsorship in 2000 heralded a new era. The ZLIN 50 aircraft valiantly served until spring 2014, bowing out to the cutting-edge XA42 Xtreme Air machines. Until that time, many top pilots have passed through the team during its existence, such as Radka Machova, the only female aerobatic team leader, excellent solo pilot Jiri Saller, Slovaks Daniel Polonec and Laco Trebaticky, Jiri Veprek or Miroslav Krejci, the last mohican from SKY BOX era, flying with team even the XA42 up to 2021, mentoring all current pilots.

Venturing beyond boundaries, their thrilling displays adorned the skies of exotic lands - Japan, China (navigating through the perilous Tian-men Cave), India, United Arab Emirates, and across all Europe.

In the present epoch, a new constellation graces the skies, led by Stanislav Čejka, an fighter pilot steering the formation, alongside Martin Spacek, and Jan Tvrdík, all seasoned JAS 39 Gripen fighter pilots, together with Jan Rudzinskyj, a free lance airshow pilot. Upholding the founding ethos, their performances show technical excellence of their art of flying, featuring gravity-defying feats like perpendicular climbing half-rolls, vertical formation loops, mirrored acrobatics, and inverted loops that defy the conventions of flight.