Team Raven is a British civilian aerobatic team flying the Vans RV-8. Founded in May 2014 with five aircraft, many of the team’s pilots are former members of Team Viper and the Red Star Rebels. In 2016, the team flew six aircraft (five RV-8s and one RV-4), before shrinking to five. Since 2022, the team has primarily flown as a six-ship, but briefly grew to seven in 2025. In 2026, they are displaying six or seven aircraft, depending on the event.
Active: 2014-present
Country: 
United Kingdom
Home base: Swansea
Operator: Private
Size: 7 aircraft (7 in display)
AIRCRAFT FLOWN
Vans RV-8 (2014-present)
Vans RV-4 (2016)
LINKS
Official website
Display
The aim of Team Raven’s display is to present manoeuvres to the crowd at all times, with no gaps, similar to major European military jet teams such as the Red Arrows and Patrouille de France. The team is also unusual in that it performs formation aerobatics with relatively large groups of aircraft, often including notable rolling componants (for example, a six-ship quarterclover), which is extremely rare for aerobatic teams flying such low-powered aircraft.
The aircraft begin with a loop and wingover with all the aircraft together, but they quickly break down into smaller groups. The display mostly comprises manoeuvres flown by a ‘synchro pair’ and a larger formation.
Manoeuvres include:
- Delta Loop (six-ship loop in Delta)
- Stinger Barrel Roll (five-ship barrel roll in Stinger)
- Cyclone (three-ship flyby with fourth aircraft barrel rolling around)
- Crossing Flute (one vs. one opposition pass)
- Cross Break (four-ship opposition break)
- The Heart & Spear (three-ship)
- 3-2-1 Break (six-ship loop with three breaking away on the up-line, and three splitting on the down-line)
- Twizzles (six-ship in echelon roll-under break)
- Big Vic Fan Break (five-ship on-crowd bomb burst)
- Vertical Break (six-ship quarterclover into a downwards bomb burst)
