TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Nine T-50 Golden Eagle trainer jets and one C-130 Hercules transport plane of the South Korean Air Force’s Black Eagle 239th Aerobatic Squadron landed at Kaohsiung International Airport on Thursday morning (Feb. 16) for refueling, while on their way to Avalon 2023, Australia’s International Airshow and Aerospace and Defence Exposition.
The team departed from Wonju Airport, in South Korea’s Gangwon Province early Thursday morning, Liberty Times reported. The C-130 was the first to land at 9:00 a.m., while the rest of the T-50s arrived in waves between 9:45 a.m. and 10:25 a.m.
The planes departed Taiwan at around 1:40 p.m. and will fly near the Philippines and Indonesia before finally reaching Australia. The last time the Black Eagles were in Taiwan was in August 2022, when they stopped in Kaohsiung for refueling before making their way to the Philippines for a performance at the Basa Air Base in Pampanga Province.
Avalon 2023 will last from Feb. 28 to March 5.
The first iteration of the Black Eagles was formed in 1967, but the permanent team was established in 1994 and flew Cessna A-37B Dragonflies. It had a brief hiatus between 2007 and 2010 as the South Korean Air Force transitioned to the T-50 Eagle trainer.
