THEY have delighted millions of people across the globe with their daredevil antics.

Jumping out of a plane at 12,000ft and hurtling towards earth at 120mph, the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team is regarded as one of the world’s finest freefall aerobatic units.

On Tuesday the team, now based at RAF Brize Norton but formed at RAF Abingdon, marked its 50th anniversary.

The 11 members of the 2011 team made their first jump of the year at the Carterton base after months of intensive training.

And people in Oxford can catch sight of the team in action at 10.35am today when they drop in on the Oxford Fun Run in the University Parks.

Flight Sergeant Wayne Clayton, the new team coach, said: “My main goal is to mentor the 10 other jumpers on the team and make them the best military freefall instructors they can be, and to lead the demos into all the arenas safely so that everyone enjoys their time.”

The team was originally formed in 1961 by six parachute jump instructors from No.1 Parachute Training School, which was then based at RAF Abingdon.

The team made their debut at the Farnborough Air Show in 1961.

In 1965 the team was expanded and renamed the RAF Falcons because they were “swift, swooping, elegant and aerobatic in flight”.

Original member, retired Group Captain Peter Hearn, 78, watched the newest crop on Tuesday.

He said: “We were initially trained in France to introduce freefall parachuting into a military environment and when we returned we were sent to Australia to give a display.

“We had a dual function – in the week we were a trials team, evaluating military freefall, and at the weekends we would go and display.

“There had been individual professional jumpers for years, but we were seen as a novelty as there was a group of us.

“These men and women have been at the heart of parachute development.”

Retired Warrant Officer Dougie Peacock, 79, still jumps five or six times a month with the team.

He said: “Parachuting is very much in my blood.”

Members are trained at No 1 Parachute Training School at RAF Brize Norton.

Referring to the jump on Tuesday, new team member Sergeant Jon Parkhurst, of Carterton, said: “It was our first official jump of the season and for the last 12 years I was working towards this.

“While on the team we’re training all the time and I’ll be developing my skills in freefall.”

During their time with the RAF Falcons, each team member will accumulate more than 1,000 jumps, many of which are on training detachments worldwide.

RAF Brize Norton spokes-man Katie Zasada said: “The RAF Falcons have been privileged to display in front of millions of people throughout their history.

“By providing their own unique freefall display, the Falcons remain one of the world’s leading freefall display teams and continue to be a major attraction wherever they perform.”