A Greek-schooled debut

The Polish Air Force set up its F-16 solo display team in 2015 at the 31st Tactical Air Base, Poznań-Krzesiny. Its first display pilot, Captain Robert “Bluto” Gałązka, was trained by pilots of the Hellenic Air Force’s Zeus demo team, and his routine closely followed the Greek format. The display had its public premiere at the Łask air base open day on 26 September 2015, flying between about 60 and 5,000 metres and pulling up to 9.5g in its most demanding variant, according to The Aviationist. The team numbers about 20 people, including pilots, a commentator and ground crew.

Ramrod, Slab and the Tiger’s Fang

Gałązka was followed by Major Dominik “Zippity” Duda and then by Captain Wojciech “Ramrod” Kieczur, a team member since 2015, who debuted as display pilot in 2019 and flew his last display sortie on 3 April 2023 after 72 flights from the front seat. Kieczur co-created the Tiger’s Fang, a square manoeuvre of 90-degree turns flown partly inverted, introduced in 2021. Major Maciej “Slab” Krakowian, an instructor at Krzesiny, was appointed display pilot on 26 April 2023, and in July 2025 he won the As the Crow Flies Trophy for the best overall flying demonstration at the Royal International Air Tattoo.

Radom, 28 August 2025

On 28 August 2025, during a rehearsal for AirSHOW Radom, Krakowian’s F-16C entered a steep descent over the runway at Radom-Sadków, failed to recover and struck the ground; he did not eject and was killed. It was the first loss of a Polish Air Force F-16 since the type entered service in 2006. The Radom show was cancelled, the state aviation accident commission and the Warsaw district prosecutor opened investigations, and no findings had been published by October 2026. No display season by the team has been traced for 2026.