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Russian Knights aerobatic team marks 23rd anniversary

MOSCOW, April 05 /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian Knights aerobatic team marks its 23rd anniversary.

The group, the world's only one piloting heavy fighters, Sukhoi-27s, was formed on April 5, 1991.

In the early 2000s, the Russian Knights and the Swifts began to fly in the formation called "Kubinka Diamond" of five Su-27 and four MiG-29 jets.

The two aerobatic teams almost every day train at their base at Kubinka near Moscow, mastering their piloting skills in the air.

Before joining the group, a pilot must undergo two-three-year training. Each of the newcomers is an ace who has logged at least 800 flying hours.

The Russian Knights’ commander Andrei Alexeyev said earlier that three new pilots would join the group and they would have six jets. For the present they pilot five fighters.

The team is planned to participate in many events in Russia and abroad this year. During all April, they will train together with the Swifts for the Victory-Day Parade, which will traditionally take place on Red Square in Moscow on May 9. They will show their famous Kubinka Diamond.

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