The 23 Virtual Wing was born from a project previously known as VAExtemadura in mid-2013, which little by little was focusing on military flights and more specifically with the Northrop F-5M Freedom Fighter, since its founders were from Badajoz.
The project is forged by the love of aviation, the fascination for an airplane, the respect and affection for an emblem and a unit, the 23rd Wing of the Talavera la Real Air Base. Unit closely linked to the city of Badajoz from where are several of the pioneers of this Virtual Wing, who have grown up watching fighters fly over their heads, recognizing the sound of their turbines and looking up every time they thundered in the Extremadura skies.
The first official flights as Virtual 23 Wing were carried out in May 2017, by Cano and Mateos, current chief instructors of the wing.
Over time the Virtual Wing took shape, with work and effort it became a VSOG in sod.ivao.aero, being a benchmark both nationally and internationally, organizing numerous international events. In fact, it is one of the wings with the most flight hours in this sector in its division.
The last two years they have taken charge of organizing the October 12 parade (international event), as well as in-flight refueling training, with which they have built a reputation.
In the following years, a very special bond was created with the Talavera la Real base, the cradle of fighter pilots in Spain, inviting the members of the Virtual 23 Wing to visit the base’s facilities.
The wing has its own photorealistic scenes, as well as HD textures with all the real callsigns of the Extremadura unit, which allow the immersion in the simulation to be more complete.
At the beginning of 2020, he added two MQ-9 Predator B’s to his unit with which they perform different joint training missions, flying in formation alongside them.
In the summer of 2020, the Northrop F-5M Freedom Fighter is modernized, incorporating a functional armament package, which allows the training to be complete, allowing the Wing pilots to gain proficiency with the different weapon systems.
At present, they present a living, active project with a future, already having numerous pilots waiting to join the next promotion of the hunting course.