Formation Team The Victors is a Belgian civilian formation team flying close formations with 4 Piper PA28, a very popular touring and training aircraft.
We are based at the former military airfield of Ursel (EBUL) in Belgium.
The team formed by coincidence. In 2004, 3 pilots were approaching the airfield of Ursel at the same time.
They decided to join each other in a formation. The pilots really enjoyed it. Every weekend they kept practising to master formation flying.
They continued to raised their level with the help of experienced pilots and a lot of research. Unexpectedly, they received an invitation to make an overflight over a local event,
and the team was born.
Today, 18 years later, the team is known for its precision formation flying and participates in airshows and aviation events all over Europe.
"Started by coincidence, now regular seen on international airshows."
The very first formation flight was flown with 3 Pipers with the registrations: OO-VMX, OO-VMC and OO-VCU. These 3 immatriculations all begin with the letter "V", which is pronounced "Victor" in the international alphabet. Hence... The Victors.
We offer many kinds of services in the air. Our key words are Precision and Perfection.
"They fly a highly precise routine of graceful formations with an unlikely aircraft: the Piper PA-28, a sports and touring aircraft used at aeroclubs around the world with great success. Presenting this aircraft, which was never intended for precise formation work, in an engaging and tight choreography requires exceptional skill. The Victors will no doubt stun you again with the high quality of their display!"
Our standard 4-ship display is a 15 minute demonstration, from take-off to landing, in wich we demonstrate a nice combination of close formation flying and flawless formation changes accentuated with colored smoke. Due to our relative low airspeed we are allowed to fly closer to the public making it more impressive. We are showing the spectators that even with a light training and touring aircraft, you can do incredible things. A unique variation between blasting demonstrations.
Formationteam The Victors are the proud ambassadors of the B67 Working group. B67 was the former WWII airfield at Ursel (B) from which the RAF 609 Sqdn with their Hawker Typhoons operated in the liberation of the river Schelde, so that the Allies could reach and liberate the harbour of Antwerp. Our team find it very important that these historical events are remembered and therefore we like to participate in remembrance flights. We are able to fly these remembrance flights using the relevant colour combinations in smoke. Basically, we fly a four ship formation flyby, followed by a missing man formation. Additionally, we can arrange for a bagpiper to add an extra emotion to the overflight.
"I felt goose bumps all over my body."
We can give all kinds of events an extra dimension with a formation overflight as eyecatcher in the air. We've flown over opendoors, festivals, gender reveal, international sport events, weddings, ...
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"The Victors are non-professional professionals"
Formation Team The Victors consists of 6 pilots, a speaker and a sales team. Only two pilots fly commercially, while the other 4 pilots have different occupancies. Except, they all have one thing in common. They love flying formations together and are a close group of friends. Generally, all the displays are flown with 4 aircraft, but on special occasions, we fly with 5 or even 6 aircraft.
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| Aircraft: | OO-VMY | Aircraft: | OO-EBU | Aircraft: | OO-VCU | Aircraft: | OO-VMC | |||
| Joined the team: | 2004 | Joined the team: | 2004 | Joined the team: | 2009 | Joined the team: | 2020 | |||
| Flight hours: | 5500+ | Flight hours: | 1900+ | Flight hours: | 650+ | Flight hours: | --- | |||
| Age: | 57 | Age: | 61 | Age: | 36 | Age: | 34 | |||
| Occupation | Freelance Pilot Flight Instructor Retired LtCol BAF |
Occupation | Technical Engineer |
Occupation | Technical Engineer | Occupation | Owner of a construction company |
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| Aircraft Types: | ERJ-135/145 PC-12 DA42 PA28 |
Aircraft Types: | Yak-52 EAA Acro Sport II S.A. Bulldog T.1 PA28 |
Aircraft Types: | PA28 | Aircraft Types: | S.A. Bulldog T.1 P28A Yak-52 |
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| Joined the team: | 2013 | Joined the team: | 2006 | ||
| Flight hours: | 1500+ | Flight hours: | --- | ||
| Occupation: | Railway Instructor Train Driver Flight Instructor |
Occupation: | Airline Pilot Flight Instructor |
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| Aircraft Types: | PA28 EVSS |
Aircraft Types: | Boeing 777 Yak-52 EAA Acro Sport II S.A. Bulldog T.1 PA28 |
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| Joined the team: | 2014 | Joined the team: | 2004 | Joined the team: | --- | ||
| Occupation: | LtCol retired | Occupation: | --- | Occupation: | Belgian Actor | ||
| Aircraft Types: | PA28 EVSS |
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● Frankie Deck (2004 - 2008)
● Jan De Clerck (2006 - 2010)
● Roland D'Hertoghe (2007 - 2010)
● Matthias Schmid (2011 - 2013)
"The Victors showing you what a light training and touring aircraft can do. Just stunning!"
The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is very popular light aircraft and is mainly used as a training and touring aircraft. The first PA-28 received its type certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration back in 1960 and the series remains in production to this day. Unlike military training aircraft, the Piper Cherokee is not built to fly in formation. The aircraft has a steering wheel instead of a stick and it has no engine power in excess. The visibility of the pilots is also limited. This makes flying in formations with this aircraft really challenging. The pilots must constantly anticipate with their limited engine power. A small mistake results immediately in the loss of the position in the formation.
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General characteristics | |
| Pilot: | 1 | |
| Passengers: | 3 | |
| Length: | 23 ft. 9.4 in (7,25 m) | |
| Wingspan: | 35 ft. (10,7 m) | |
| Height: | 7 ft. 3.6 in (2,23 m) | |
| Empty weight: | 1510 lbs (685 kg) | |
| Max. takeoff weight: | 2440 lbs (1105 kg) | |
| Engine | 1x Lycoming O-320-D3G | |
| Performance | ||
| Maximum speed: | 160 KIAS (296 km/h) | |
| Cruise speed: | 105 KIAS (195 km/h) | |
| Stall speed: | 44 KIAS (81 km/h) | |
| Range: | 540 nm (1000 km) | |
| Service ceiling: | 11.000 ft. (3350 m) | |
| Rate of climb | 660 ft./min. (200 m/min.) | |
| Power/mass: | 0,145 hp/kg | |
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| A very big thank you to Vliegclub Ursel! They always allow us to use 3 aeroplanes from their fleet on a regular basis for a longer period of time. We even got the permission to paint the tails of these aeroplanes in our team colours. All our pilots are members of VCU. Without Vliegclub Ursel our team could not exist. | A big thank you to graphic expert Michel Minne of Studio BigFish for designing all our badges and aeroplane tails. | We are proud to be the flying ambassadors of working group B-67. This working group has the noble aim of keeping the history of the World War 2 airfield of Ursel (B-67) alive. |
● Chris Janssens (Aviation Video)
● Patrick Vercauteren (Aviation Photography)
● Tom Brinckman (Aviation Journalist & Photography)
● Tom Houquet (Aviation Photography)
● Marc Talloen (Aviation Video)
● Jol Vel's Airshow Fotografie
Below listed are the first confirmed events of 2023.
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 01.07.2023 | TBC | Zottegem (Belgium) |
| 13.08.2023 | AVS Balloonmeeting 2023 | Deinze (Belgium) |
| 09.09.2023 | Belgian Air Force Days | Kleine Brogel Air Base (Belgium) |
| 10.09.2023 | Belgian Air Force Days | Kleine Brogel Air Base (Belgium) |
Formation Team The Victors vzw
Bogaardestraat 72
B-9900 Maldegem
Belgium
IBAN BE72 3630 1211 2916
Information & Booking.
Chairman Emmanuel De Craene
manu@thevictors.be
Mobile: +32 486 74 79 39