Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team
The RAF’s Death Defying Flying Display Crew – the Red Arrows
Jun 27, 2009
Currently based at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, in England, the Red Arrows flew their first display in 1965 using Gnat jet trainers. The Gnat was replaced by the BAE Systems Hawk T1 aircraft in 1979 and, after practising using the new aircraft during that winter, the Hawk trainers were first used in the 1980 flying season. They have been used ever since. The Hawks are mainly bright red in colour and the pilots wear bright red flying suits.
Each year, up to three pilots leave and the FNGs are selected. The NG stands for New Guy and the F is an adjective which is probably best left to the reader’s imagination. The pilots are all serving RAF personnel and volunteer to do a three-year tour. They are selected by the team themselves and judged on their personality as well as their flying skill. It is vital the team can work together.
The Red Arrows Circus
The pilots are backed by a large support team known as The Blues who ensure the aircraft are kept in tip top condition. They get their name from their bright blue flying suits. Nine of The Blues form the Red Arrows Circus. They are specially selected RAF engineers and are allocated to a particular pilot for the duration of the display season. They prep their particular aircraft before each display and service it afterwards.
There is also a Dye Team, the personnel of which wear silver suits, protective goggles and gloves. It is the Dye Team’s job to top up the diesel and dye pods between displays. This diesel and dye mixture is used to make the red and blue smoke (or vapour) trails which form an integral part of several display manoeuvres.
Flying Display Manoeuvres and Weather Conditions
The team has three types of display to cater for different weather conditions – the full display, the rolling display and the ratty flatty. The full display is piloted when the sky is blue, there is little cloud and the wind not too fierce. The rolling display is piloted when cloud is present but it is not too low and the flat display when there is low cloud or strong winds.
Manoeuvres which can be flown in a full display include the ever popular Heart where two planes create a heart-shaped smoke trail in the sky which is then pierced by a third Hawk also trailing smoke. In a flat display, the synchro pair will be given prominence. Their low level, extremely fast and almost head on crossover passes are breathtaking to watch.
The Red Arrows Display Season
The display season runs from May until September each year. The team will fly up to two displays a day in various locations around the UK and overseas. Each display lasts up to 21 enthralling minutes. Whilst the display is in progress a temporary restricted airspace of six miles wide and up to 8,000 feet high is put in place to avoid any possible danger to and from other aircraft.
If one of the pilots takes ill or an aircraft goes out of service, the remaining eight will fly. Display sequences then have to be adjusted to ensure that the eight ship display formation is just as thrilling as the standard nine ship one. There are no spare pilots because the training required for one flyer to be able to step in and substitute for any one of the nine pilots would be too great.
First Female Pilot Joins Elite RAF Team in 2010
The Royal Air Force has recently announced that the first ever female pilot has been selected to fly with the team in 2010. Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Moore, a Lincolnshire born Hawk instructor and Tornado GR4 pilot, will begin practising for her new position as a flyer in the team’s trade mark Diamond Nine formation in the autumn of 2009.
Sources:
- Eclat - The Red Arrows Thirty Years of Brilliance - edited by Michael Bonello, 1995
- Red Arrows A Year in the Life, Tony Cunnane, 1997
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