The famous arabesques and flights of the Patrouille de France amaze every year aviation enthusiasts but also the general public. Whether in official demonstrations or during air shows, the airmen of the PAF will have left their mark on the spirit of the French. This Saturday, May 20, the famous aviation institution will celebrate its 70th candle. For the occasion, flights will be planned above the base of Salon-de-Provence.
"You should recognize a 70 in the sky, which will allow us to blow out our candles at each performance," predicts Commander Aurélien Declercq, leader this year of the "Grande Dame", one of the nicknames of the patrol. As every year, its eight members (and a replacement), all fighter pilots with at least 1,500 flight hours and holders of the patrol leader qualification, multiplied training between November and April. With the arrival of spring, the season of meetings and commemorations begins: on May 20 and 21, these elite pilots in sky blue suits will begin their summer tour at the Meeting national de l'air 2023, on their land, at Air Base 701 in Salon-de-Provence.
Some 80,000 aviation enthusiasts are expected there to also admire demonstrations of the huge A400M Atlas transport plane, the Air Force aerobatic team, the Rafale or the Swiss, British or French aerobatic patrols. Saudi Arabia, in particular. And, as a highlight, the Patrouille de France: "It really goes beyond the framework of aviation enthusiasts, everyone knows it", summarizes with AFP Alexis Rocher, editor-in-chief of Fana de l'aviation and Planet Aero.
"The Patrouille de France is a real vector of recruitment, of influence. At the Salon-de-Provence base, all the pilots have seen the Patrouille de France make their eyes shine - and I include myself in it", underlines Lieutenant-Colonel Aurélien Hazet, director of the presentation teams of the Air and Space Force. What if "70 is the golden age!" “, as the lieutenant-colonel enthuses, “the anniversary celebrated this year is above all symbolic”, recalls Alexis Rocher.
Since its inception, the missions of the patrol have not changed: "We must be ambassadors of the air force and space, […], to encourage vocations […], to be a symbol of France , like the Eiffel Tower", summarizes Commander Declercq. "For 70 years, I would tend to emphasize what has remained, rather than what has changed, and what has remained is the rigor, the requirement, the passion and the investment", abounds the Lieutenant-Colonel Hazet.
"In the very long term, the state of mind has changed", nevertheless underlines Alexis Rocher: in the 1950s or 1960s, PAF planes broke the sound barrier during meetings, something "unimaginable" Today. "At that time, between the different patrols, it was a race to who would make the best figure, who would fly the lowest," he points out.
The planes of the PAF flew, for example, so low, during their first flight with tricolor smoke in 1958, that the white caps of the officers attending the meeting were speckled with sequins after their demonstration, recalls the then leader, Bernard Capillon, in Fana de l'aviation. "Today, they have to make a kind of average between spectacular demonstration and security requirements", underlines Alexis Rocher.
Threatened with extinction because of its cost, in 1964, the PAF was reborn almost immediately and was perpetuated at the Salon-de-Provence Air School. “Today, the problem would rather be that there are ecological disputes […]. It's on a very small scale, but you have to be aware of it, concludes Alexis Rocher. This is perhaps the danger that awaits her in the long term. »
