Black Hawks from a combat group

Arpía 51 is drawn from Combat Group 51 at Air Combat Command No. 5, Rionegro, near Medellín, and its attack squadron, whose AH-60L Arpía gunships are the Colombian variant of the Black Hawk. Helicopter aerobatic demonstrations began in 2006 and the team was formally established in 2011, with its own manuals, crews and procedures. At F-AIR Colombia in July 2011 three Arpías performed aerobatics in public for the first time.

The display

The team now flies two AH-60Ls. For displays each aircraft sheds about 4,000 lb of weapons, armour and mission systems, bringing it from about 20,250 lb to around 16,000 lb. Each crew is two pilots and two technicians. Signature manoeuvres include the near-vertical Arpía climb, the Tibelina hammerhead, inverted crossings and a finale fired with flares. It is a regular at F-AIR, held at Rionegro’s José María Córdova airport, including the 2023 and 2025 editions.