Baby Blue
The Royal Danish Air Force Flying School’s piston-engined T-17 formation team from Karup, grown out of liberation-day memorial flypasts into a regular on the European display circuit.
Baby Blue: how the team came to be and what it flies today
From memorial flypasts
Baby Blue grew out of the formation flypasts flown each 4 May, Denmark’s liberation day, over cemeteries where Allied airmen of the Second World War are buried, using basic finger-four and missing-man formations. From the mid-1980s instructors of the Flying School, several of them former F-104 and F-100 pilots, developed a full display, and the team was revived in 1993, when the school moved to Karup and former Draken pilots joined its staff. It flies the Saab T-17 Supporter, the Swedish-built basic trainer Denmark has used since 1975, and its pilots are Flying School instructors with backgrounds in fighters, transports and helicopters.
Slow, close and in view
The team’s slow trainers keep the whole display within sight of the crowd, as the Danish Defence noted when a new generation of display pilots qualified in June 2014. Usually a four-ship, Baby Blue expanded to six aircraft for 2022 and made its flying debut at the Royal International Air Tattoo that July, with one aircraft painted to mark 75 years of the Chipmunk in Danish service. It flew five T-17s at the Danish Air Show at Aalborg on 13 September 2026. On 28 March 2008, after the team displayed at a family day at Karup, a visitor was struck and killed by the wing of a taxiing T-17.
Baby Blue in numbers
The team
- Formation
- 4 to 6 aircraft
- Usually four Saab T-17
- Six aircraft in 2022, five at the 2026 Danish Air Show
- Pilots are Flying School instructors
Display team of the Flying School
המטוס
- Flown
- תומך סאאב MFI-17 (T-17)
- Saab T-17 Supporter (Danish service since 1975)
בַּיִת
- Based at
- בסיס חיל האוויר קארופ
- Flying School at Karup since 1993
- Earlier T-17 bases: Vandel and Avnø
The display
- Aircraft in the display
- 4
Every type Baby Blue has flown
| כְּלִי טַיִס | שנים | Number | פֶּתֶק |
|---|---|---|---|
| תומך סאאב MFI-17 (T-17) | 4 | Usually four aircraft; six in 2022 and five at the 2026 Danish Air Show. Denmark took delivery of 32 T-17s from 1975. |
What Baby Blue is known for
- RIAT flying debut in 2022 as a new six-ship formation (Royal International Air Tattoo).
- Origins in 4 May memorial flypasts over Allied airmen’s graves (Aerobatic Teams; FlyMag).
- Five T-17s at the Danish Air Show, Aalborg, on 13 September 2026 (Up in the Sky).
Baby Blue, year by year
First T-17 delivered to the Royal Danish Air Force at Vandel
Flying School moves to Karup; display team revived by former Draken pilots
Visitor killed by a taxiing T-17 after the team’s display at a Karup family day
New generation of display pilots flies at the Danish Air Show, Karup
Six-ship flying debut at the Royal International Air Tattoo
Five T-17s display at the Danish Air Show, Aalborg
The cost of flying this close
Display flying is among the most demanding flying there is. These are the accidents on record, with the findings as published.
Saab T-17 Supporter. At a family day at Karup where Baby Blue displayed, a visitor was struck by the left wing of a T-17 taxiing in to park at the Flying School and died of the injuries. The investigation found rules on spectator distance from taxiing aircraft had not been fully followed and responsibilities were unclear. 1 killed.
Everything people ask about Baby Blue
What aircraft does Baby Blue fly?
Where is Baby Blue based?
How many aircraft are in Baby Blue?
When was Baby Blue founded?
Around Baby Blue
כל עובדה, נבדקה
- Saab T-17 Supporter (Danish Defence)
- T-17 Danish basic trainer (FlyMag)
- Royal Danish Air Force T-17 Baby Blue Display Team (Royal International Air Tattoo)
- Friske piloter bag roret i Baby-Blue (Danish Defence)
- Havariundersøgelse om T-17-ulykke offentliggjort (Danish Defence)
- Vuurwerk van Deense luchtmacht op verlaat verjaardagsfeestje (Up in the Sky)
- Baby Blue aerobatic display team (Aerobatic Teams)
Verified 2026-10-02.