vfrpilotpb
I do not know which was the very firstjet aerobatic team, but I will open the bidding by having seen the 54 Sqn Vampires and the 263 sqn Meteor 4s perform at Gatwick in 1947. I believe 54 crossed the Atlantic and displayed there. 208 were not well known, because they operated entirely in the Middle East, where they held the RAF display franchise in the early 50's. We looped and rolled a Diamond 9 of Meatbox 8/9s at the standard presentation in 1954 at Abu Sueir. With live ammo aboard and guns cocked, necause we finished the demo by shooting the **** out of an old wreck in the middle of the airfield. That was well before the Black Arrows - who were admittedly superb. But, of course, they had powered controls and a trimmer button on the stick.
I think choice of "best display team" has to have some regard the type of aircraft used. If you just want bags of noise and a tight 4-ship, then the USAF F-16 team are hard to beat. If you want intricate formation changes and beautifully timed cross-overs in front of the crowd, then the Arrows are probably the most artistic, although the Patrouille de France run them close. But for sheer skill at formation-flying, the propellor teams must have it. The Jordanians I saw at RIAT a few years ago made me boggle for their smooth transitions from positive to negative 'g'and back, and for what they achieved with limited reserves of power. Having been box-man in the CFS piston Provost team (the "Sparrows") in 1956, I appreciated the magnitude of the Jordanians' accomplishment!