In 2021, after a hiatus of eight years, a lot of people were once again fascinated by the International Day of Flying and the Show of Military Technology in Kecskemét. The main attraction of the event was the air show of a successful flying team returning to Kecskemét, the Turkish Stars.
The aerobatic demonstration team of the Turkish Air Force was formed on November 7, 1992 but received its name – Türk Yıldızları/Turkish Stars – only in 1993. The unit has been flying Canadair NF-5 Freedom Fighters from the very beginning. These are considered to be superannuated but are kept in perfect technical repair. The planes are painted a combination of red and white and grey which is extremely flashy. The safety of the supersonic jets is enhanced by the fact that they possess two engines. The unit became a formation of eight planes in 2004, and this is the number that they have been flying ever since. The extremely well-organized, professional to the core unit is approaching its show number 600.
Although the team has already had a show in Kecskemét, the society of Hungarian pilots and especially the public love them for their tiny jets of an adorable shape (they are 14.1 meters long and their wingspan is 8.1 meters), and their capability of flying over the speed of the sound. This year too, the extremely dynamic show with its background music and requiring perfect concentration was commented on by a colleague of their own – and in Hungarian. Although the name of Kecskemét proved to be a tongue twister for him, during the two days of the air show a public of 120.000 appreciated his efforts.
Another interesting feature of the Turkish team is that its commander is Major Esra Özatay who joined the unit in 2014 as the first and so far the only woman. Only pilots can make the team who have flown a jet fighter for 800 hours already or have done so in an NF-5 A or the (two-seat) B planes for 300 hours.
The Turkish Stars can pride themselves on having presented an air show for the highest ever number of viewers – in 2004 one million people watched the formation in Baku.
