Czech Flying Bulls rebrand as Red Bull Aerobatic Team

A civilian aerobatic group based in Czechia has taken a new name after 26 years of flying as the Flying Bulls. The four-pilot team, one of the oldest such groups outside the military, now performs as the Red Bull Aerobatic Team, a change it made this month.

The lineup is the same. Stanislav Čejka leads the team, with Jan Tvrdík and Jan Rudzinskyj on the wings and Martin Špaček in the slot position. Čejka said the new name reflects the team as it stands now and its intention to keep developing its formation work.

The four fly XA42 XtremeAir aircraft, tandem-seat machines modified for aerobatics, which the team adopted in 2014 in place of its earlier Zlín Z-50LXs. Each is powered by a Lycoming AE10-580 engine driving a three-blade constant-speed propeller, with carbon-fibre composite wings, fuselage and tail. The engine produces 315 horsepower and the aircraft can reach roughly 260 mph, while the structure is built to withstand loads between plus-7G and minus-5G.

The team's displays are built around close formation work, with aircraft sometimes separated by only a few feet. Its repertoire includes box, mirror and double-mirror formations, and the apache roll, in which one aircraft barrels around the rest of the formation while trailing a spiral of smoke. According to Red Bull, the manoeuvres are among the most demanding in group aerobatics and only a small number of pilots are able to fly them.

The team performs at airshows, sporting events and other occasions in Czechia and abroad. A typical show, the source states, runs to about 38 aerobatic figures.