Pitts biplanes, 1981

The Escuadrilla de Alta Acrobacia Halcones was created by supreme decree on 14 January 1981, with Commander Hernán Gabrielli Rojas leading the first team. It began with four Pitts Special biplanes, later five, and from the start chose unlimited-category aerobatic aircraft over jets. The team is based at El Bosque, Santiago, and since 2006 has belonged to the Escuela de Aviación Capitán Manuel Ávalos Prado there.

The Extra years and international recognition

In 1990 the Halcones moved to the German Extra 300, later the improved 300L. They appeared at the Royal International Air Tattoo from 1987 to 1989, winning best display in 1989, and were named best team at the first world championship of aerobatic patrols at Évreux, France, in 1998. Displays have since taken them across the Americas, to Europe and to Israel.

Pérdidas

The team has lost four lives. Lieutenant Roberto Pérez Figueroa died in 1992; Lieutenant Cristián Padilla was killed in an Extra 300L in training at El Bosque in November 2011; and on 15 March 2013 an Extra 300L crashed near Quintero during a maintenance flight with three aircraft, killing Captain Eduardo Varas and mechanic Cristián García. Varas, with 1,850 flying hours, had survived an earlier forced landing in 2009.

GameBird era

Seven Game Composites GB1 GameBird two-seaters were delivered from July 2019. One crashed onto an apartment block in El Bosque on 7 September 2019, the pilot surviving with injuries, and another made a forced landing at Chillán in November 2022. The GB1 is a carbon-fibre aerobatic aircraft with a Lycoming AEIO-580 engine. The team flew its first international GB1 display in Brazil in August 2022 and performed at FIDAE 2026.