An all-new, very original move replacing the Box Break, which I always felt was flown a long way from the crowd, and often was quite poorly-executed. Having not seen Vortex in person yet, I'm not sure if the new move is any closer, but is certainly looks like it is from videos of their performance last week. And it's certainly much more impressive to watch.
The Clover Leaf Cross replaces the previous four vs. two opposing pass (the Gourd Bottle). By eliminating the enormous set-up turn that was included in the Gourd Bottle, the first part of the new manoeuvre can now be flown much closer to the crowd than the old one was. Removing the setup turn has also cut the duration of the manoeuvre by 50%. A great way to tighten up the show.
Rock & Roll replaces the Cross Break and combines it with a sophisticated rolling sequence, with one jet doing slow aileron rolls down the display line and the second jet barrel rolling around its smoke trail. The old Cross Break hasn't been lost, though, as they've retained it at the very end of Rock & Roll. Unlike the old manoeuvre, the jets no longer overfly the crowd, so this change is not only more impressive, but it also makes the routine more complient with airshow regulations in Europe and Singapore.
Probably the most eye-catching of the bunch, and again, totally original! The team's old landing break has been given a new twist (literally) with all eight jets performing a turning descent as they fan out from the break. This manoeuvre will place all eight jets straight into a safely-spaced landing pattern. This wouldn't be allowed under most European airshow regulations, as it would take place almost directly above the crowd - although the same was true of their old landing break, of course. Luckily, the team have reg-compliant landing breaks available to them as well, although they are much less impressive.
Other changes include:
- More frequent use of coloured smoke throughout the display (made possibly by reducing the number of aircraft producing colour at any one time)
- Second manoeuvre of the show (8-ship formation loop with formation change on top) is now flown parallel to the crowdline, rather than pointing at the crowd, to make it closer to spectators
- Opposing passes tweaked to make them more photogenic
- Solo routine which ends the show is now more sophisticated, featuring a half-vertical eight and downwards spiral
- Minor tweaks to the Rollbacks to reduce complexity without losing visual impact
- Several four-ship barrel rolls, turns and formation changes towards the end of the show have been condensed into one long, flowing manoeuvre, rather than a series of three shorter ones
If there's going to be a year without airshows, this is how to put the time to good use! The precision of the Black Eagles' flying lags slightly behind most of the other top teams, but now, more than ever, the Black Eagles have the most exciting, most varied and most unique display profile in the business.