It is named after the date of the founding of the PLA (August 1, 1927), and is a part of the PLAAF Beijing Military Region.

The unit was founded in 1962 and has over the years performed more than 500 times for delegations from 166 countries and regions.

[1] The August 1st aerobatic team (Ba Yi aerobatic team) initially equipped the fleet with JJ-5 fighter-trainer jets,[citation needed] a Chinese version of Russian made MiG-17.

[citation needed] In May 2009, the team upgraded their jets to the much more advanced Chengdu J-10A multirole fighter.

[2] In 2023 it reequipped with the C-Version of the Chengdu J-10, first appearing at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) event in Malaysia.