Instructors at Ljungbyhed

Team 60 grew from an unnamed group of four flying instructors at the Air Force flying school at Ljungbyhed in Skåne, who began working up a display on the Saab 105, designated SK 60 in Swedish service, in 1974. They debuted on 8 June 1975 at the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp. Two more aircraft were added, and the six-ship first flew under the name Team 60 at the Airborne 76 show at Säve, Gothenburg, on 15–16 May 1976, alongside the Red Arrows and the Patrouille de France.

En Sexa Skåne

The pilots were never full-time display pilots but senior flight instructors, and the special-scheme aircraft also flew in the school’s daily training. At Ljungbyhed the team was nicknamed “En Sexa Skåne”, six centilitres of Skåne akvavit, after its six aircraft, and some shows ended with a schnapps glass drawn in smoke. The team followed flying training from Ljungbyhed via Ängelholm and Uppsala to Malmen near Linköping, and some seasons flew with only four aircraft. A sister team, Team 61, flew two SK 61 Bulldogs in 1986–87 until one pilot was killed in solo training on 4 June 1987.

Stops, restarts and an end

Defence budget pressure and a pilot shortage stopped the displays in 2009. Team 60 returned in 2016 and flew a final season in 2017, after which it made no further team appearances. The Swedish Air Force retired the SK 60 on 18 June 2024 after 57 years, ending any prospect of a return; a history of the team was published by the Swedish Aviation Historical Society in 2018.