Last year of Breitling Fighters!

It has been announced that 2003 will be the last airshow display season to be graced by the OFMC-operated Breitling Fighter Team. This press release just in:

Last Year of the Breitling Fighters

2003 will be the fifth and final year of the Breitling Fighters display team.

Created in 1998 after discussions between Theodore Schneider, Breitling’s President , and Mark Hanna of Duxford based Old Flying Machine Company (http://www.ofmc.co.uk), the team made its first appearance at the Basel Watch Fair in April 1999 operating a Spitfire IX, P51 Mustang, Corsair, P.40 Kittyhawk and Me 109j.

Since then, the Breitling Fighters Team has flown more than 2,000 sorties, of which nearly 600 were display flights, covering 13 countries stretching throughout Europe. With the Spitfire, Mustang, Corsair and Kittyhawk as their key formation display aircraft, the team has become synonymous with the precision, expertise and aesthetic appeal of Breitling chronographs.

Looking forward to 2004, Mr Schneider said, “The association with the Old Flying Machine Company has been a resounding success and the Breitling Fighters Team has surpassed our expectations. The image has been perfectly suited to our products and, despite the vagaries of the European weather these aircraft have always and without exception been in the right place at the right time – Swiss chronographic precision!

“It has been both a privilege and a pleasure to work in partnership with the Old Flying Machine Company. 2003 marks the fifth year of Breitling Fighters operations and we feel that it is now time for us to move forward with OFMC in developing another exciting project which will be announced at a future time.”