The Aerialbots were a gestalt team of Autobots added to the Transformers toy line in 1986. Following the success of the Constructicons the previous year, gestalt teams were added to both Autobots and Decepticons. The Aerialbots were a team of jets, all based on real-life aircraft; their counterparts were the Stunticons, a team of Decepticon cars.
In the Transformers cartoon, the Aerialbots were created in the two-part episode "The Key to Vector Sigma" to oppose the Stunticons. Their bodies were made by a few Autobots from old Cybertronian rockets and infused with personalities by Vector Sigma. (The Autobots had apparently learned this lesson after trying to make the Dinobots intelligent on their own.) The team consisted of Slingshot, Air Raid, Skydive, Fireflight, and the leader Silverbolt. Together, they combined to form the super-robot Superion.
The Aerialbots were used fairly widely in the cartoon, since they were the Autobots' primary source of air support. Even after the movie they continued to appear, right up through the final "Rebirth" storyline.