Al Fursan (The Knights), who have appeared at Dubai Airshow and other regional and global aviation events since 2011, will appear daily in a 25-minute display at Dubai Airshow until Thursday, with one of their aircraft also on static display.
“I enjoy it. We fly daily,” said Lt.Col. Pilot Nasser Al Obaidli, leader of the team. Like his colleagues, he served as a fighter pilot in the UAE Air Force before becoming a founding member in 2011.
Al Fursan, which operates out of its home base at Minhad Airbase in the UAE, operates a fleet of Aermacchi MB-339s.
“As an aerobatic team, we have two seasons. During training season, we fly two missions a day. You have new pilots, and their induction training takes around six-to-seven months, to be ready for the start of the season.”
He said there were seven pilots in the team, which also has French advisors. “All the team are Emirati. They are all fighter pilots selected from the UAE Air Force.”
He said Al Fursan had already appeared in China, Malaysia, Switzerland, Belgium, the UK, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The team will also appear at Al Ain Airshow in the UAE on 18-19 December.
Dedication, concentration, and skill are all required from pilots involved. “It is dangerous every day you fly. One metre, one-and-a-half metres separate the team in the drills. On some maneuvers, we are only one metre apart. Daily flights and practice are required to keep up skill levels.”
The Dubai Airshow display involves flying within a circle with a radius of 10 kilometers. “For the explosion, we come in from 4-5 kilometers,” he said.
Every two years, a couple of pilots are changed. “Green pilots sometimes cannot make it, so we make some changes. It’s more fun than flying [commercial], but it’s also a responsibility. Whatever you do is a reflection of the UAE.”