Fursan Al Emarat (The Knights of the Emirates) will once again fly on afternoons at Dubai Airshow 2019.

The team deployed to celebrate the Year of Zayed to mark the 100th year since the birth of former UAE president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who died in 2004, in a flight along the UAE’s coast, on December 2, 2018. The team accompanied an aerial display involving A380s belonging to Emirates and Etihad Airlines, as well as Flydubai and Air Arabia narrowbodies.

The last major international event where the UAE’s official aerobatic squadron performed was at the Bahrain International Airshow in November 2018. Fursan Al Emarat also participated in IDEX 2019 in Abu Dhabi. Its 2019 flight program has largely involved local and GCC shows.

On November 1, Fursan Al Emarat flew as part of exercise events involving UAE air and ground forces at the UAE Fortress 6 Military Parade in Ras Al Khaimah. The team will also celebrate the UAE’s 48th National Day on December 2 with a special flight.

Fursan Al Emarat operates the Aermacchi MB339A for its displays. Seven aircraft are involved, with three others on standby. Engine type is the Rolls-Royce Viper 632-43. Top speed is 500 knots or Mach 0.82. Maximum aircraft ceiling is 40,000 feet.

Col. Nasser Al Obaidli, squadron commander of Fursan Al Emarat, has led the team since its operational inception in 2011. In April 2019, he gave a lecture to the Gulf Flight Safety Association at Emirates Flight Training Academy in Dubai on aspects of the safety and training procedures of Fursan Al Emarat.

Al Obaidli expects his team to know their aircraft, display discipline and teamwork, think ahead, keep physically and mentally fit, rest well, prepare, and speak out if anything is on their minds. Team members employ the personal "I’m Safe" checklist before displays, to ensure that illness, medication, stress, fatigue, and diet do not impede performance on display day.

His advice to the team before takeoff is clear: “Do a mental rehearsal of your display before you get airborne, give yourself an extra 10 to 15 minutes and walk through the sequence, ‘flying it’ with your hands. Do not get forced into rushing. Isolate your mind.”

In eight years of operations, Fursan Al Emarat has put on displays in Russia, China, the UK, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Switzerland, Belgium, Morocco, Italy, Slovakia, and Kuwait.

“We have two new pilots now undergoing training; they are expected to deploy in summer 2020 to replace existing team members, who will move on to other duties,” Al Obaidli said. “We also changed the number six position on the team, and switched number one and number two around.”

In addition to Al Obaidli, pilots on the Fursan Al Emarat display team include Ahmad Al Menhali, in his first official airshow as team leader, Khamis Al Seriadi, Hamad Al Sheryani, Abdullah Masood, Haitham Al Naqbi, Salem Al Kaabi, and Sultan Al Kindi.