The organizers of the Belgian Air Force Days have announced that the Finnish Air Force’s aerobatic team the Midnight Hawks will perform at the event, this will be the first time the team has ever displayed in Belgium.

The team, which flies four BAE Hawk Mk.51, will fly at the Belgian Air Force Days, the largest airshow in Belgium this year. The event organised by the Belgian Air Force will take place on the 9th and 10h of September 2023 at Kleine Brogel Air Base in Limburg province.

This will be the first time ever the Midnight Hawks have displayed in Belgium.

Belgian Air Force Days

The Belgian Air Force Days is a biannual air show held at the Kleine Brogel Air Base in Limburg province and it offers members of the general public the opportunity to see close the past, present and future aircraft of the Belgian Air Force as well aerobatic displays by the best civilian and military pilots from all over the world. Besides the airshow, the event also features a job fair as a recruiting effort to strengthen the Belgian Air Force.

This year's edition of the Belgian Air Force Days will be the first in five years after the event was suspended throughout the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the last Belgian Air Force Days in 2018, 72,000 people turned up — roughly double the number that attended in 2016.

For more information about the airshow visit the Belgian Air Force Days Official Website and follow the Belgian Air Force Days on Facebook.

Midnight Hawks

The “Midnight Hawks” is the Finnish Air Force aerobatic team based at Tikkakoski Air Base and perform classic formation flying together with dynamic breaks and impressive opposition passes. During the show, the team displays in front of the crowd at all times and is known for its trademark very tight diamond formation.

The team consists of Six BAe Hawk Mk.51 jet trainers from Air Force Academy: Mostly only four aircraft actually perform during demonstrations as the other two planes are used as a spare. In 2018 the team grew by an additional display pilot and performed their first five-ship display at the Finnish Air Force 100th Anniversary Airshow. Just a few weeks later the team performed their first five-ship display outside of Finland at the 100th anniversary of the Polish Air Force airshow in Radom.

Until 2017 the aircraft were painted in standard air force colours with the only difference being the number 1 to 4 on the tail fin of each jet. In early 2017 the Finnish Air Force announced that the team will finally receive a special paint scheme to commemorate the 100th year of Finland's independence from Russia and just a month later the first hawk in a new blue and white paint scheme rolled out of the paint shop. The team use smoke pods attached to the pylons under each wing instead of releasing the diesel directly into the exhaust.

The Midnight Hawks pilots are all-volunteer flight instructors from the Air Force Academy at Tikkakoski Air Base who practice for their displays in between their main tasks of training the future fighter pilots of the Finnish Air Force.

The Official Statement

Statement from the organizers of the Belgian Air Force Days;

“The new generation of air force pilots must obviously receive thorough training. Future pilots in the Belgian Air Force complete their advanced flight training in the United States with modernized T-38s, the Finnish Air Force uses the well-known BAe Systems Hawk for this.

The Finnish Air Force's training academy is located at Tikkakoski, where student pilots undertake both basic and advanced flight training. Some instructors at this base are also part of the famous Finnish demonstration team “Midnight Hawks”. Equipped with four BAe Systems Hawks, this team performs precise aerobatics in close formation, as well as breath-taking crossovers in the second part of the display, beautifully accentuated with powerful smoke pods slung under the wings of their Hawks. The pilots of the team are not full-time display pilots, but combine their training flights for the team and their airshow duties with their regular instructor squadron duties, where they prepare future pilots to become part of the high-performing Finnish Air Force, the newest member of NATO.

The name Midnight Hawks originated in 1997, although the Finnish Air Force has a rich history in demonstration teams. The Midnight Hawks take their name from the tradition of flying a demonstration at midnight on Midsummer's Eve, when the sun does not set over their original home base at Kauhava, north of the Arctic Circle. For years this was the only chance to see the team in action, until the Finnish Air Force decided to go public with this stylish routine more often. Still, this is the first time that the team will perform in Belgium!

Don't miss the premiere of this wonderful team and visit the Belgian Air Force Days on 9 & 10 September in Kleine-Brogel. Join the new generation!”