Asas de Portugal

The Asas De Portugal (Wings of Portugal) was a flight demonstration team created in 1977 integrated with Esquadra 103 (103 Squadron) of the Portuguese Air Force. It was Portugal's national aerobatic flying team and flew two ex-Luftwaffe Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jets.

History

In 1977, Asas de Portugal was created by order of the Air Force Chief of Staff (CEMFA), with the objective to represent the Portuguese Air Force (PoAF) at the International Air Tattoo air festival. This was the third aerobatics team established by the PoAF, after two teams of the 1950s — the Dragões (Dragons) and the São Jorge (Saint George) teams.

Asas de Portugal operated the Cessna T-37C for 13 years while integrated with the 102 Squadron Panchos.

The single fatal accident in the team's history occurred on 9 December 1990, when one of its T-37Cs suffered a catastrophic wing structural failure during a practice session, killing team pilot José Magalhães da Costa. The accident prompted a fleet-wide inspection which revealed that all but five T-37 aircraft in the PoAF inventory suffered from fatigue induced micro-cracks in the wings' structure. Repairs to airworthy status were considered financially inadvisable. This conclusion, together with a restructure of the PoAF in the 1990s, led to the phase-out of the T-37 and an interruption of the team's activities.

Portugal

Portugal (Portuguese: [puɾtuˈɣaɫ]), officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa), is a country on the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, being bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 km (754 mi) long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union. The republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments.

The land within the borders of current Portugal has been continuously settled and fought over since prehistoric times. The Celts and the Romans were followed by the Visigothic and the Suebi Germanic peoples, who were themselves later invaded by the Moors. These Muslim peoples were eventually expelled during the Christian Reconquista of the peninsula. By 1139, Portugal had established itself as a kingdom independent from León. In the 15th and 16th centuries, as the result of pioneering the Age of Discovery, Portugal expanded Western influence and established the first global empire, becoming one of the world's major economic, political and military powers.

Portugal (disambiguation)

Portugal is a country in southwestern Europe.

Portugal may also refer to:

Similar spellings

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Portugal (surname)

Portugal is a surname derived from the country of the same name. People with the name include:

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