For this reason, a ‘smoke plot’ is worked out extremely carefully to ensure that no aircraft runs out of smoke before the end of the display. Red 6 and Synchro Leader: Flight Lieutenant Si Taylor. Explosions on the ground also produced the effect of bombs being dropped into the stadium by the aeroplanes. However, if the Team Leader, 'Red 1', is unable to fly, then the team does not display at all. 72 Squadron was flying a team of seven. In 2011 the team manager quoted the charge as £9,000.[35]. All of the thousands of pieces of equipment that help the Red Arrows work smoothly – everything from nuts and bolts to aircraft engines – are purchased, stored, managed and distributed by the suppliers. 111 Squadron in 1956, and for the first time, the aircraft had a special colour scheme, which was an all-black finish. "10 amazing Red Arrows facts to impress your friends with", "Death announced of ex-Red Arrows leader Ray Hanna", "Red Arrows 'future safe under David Cameron, "Red Arrows RAF Scampton move plan to be reviewed", "Red Arrows to stay in Lincolnshire when base shuts", "RAF Aerobatic Display Team the Red Arrows Return to Biggin Hill", "Planespotter pays $3.2m for Red Arrows ride", https://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5j5lURBGbDPtBGuU8Ty_BTYv9zHKA?docId=N0892591330839602757A, "Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team - North American Tour 2019 :Written statement - HCWS1264", "Red Arrows Return From Huge North American Tour", "Red Arrows to North American Tour in 2019", https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/55492, "Red Arrows Collide During Greek Training", "Red Arrows pilot dies in Bournemouth Air Festival crash", "Service inquiry: accident involving Red Arrows Hawk T Mk1 XX179 near Bournemouth", "Red Arrows pilot dies after incident at RAF Scampton", "Daredevil Red Arrows pilot dies after 'ejector crash, "Red Arrows pilot death: Ejector seat firm to be prosecuted", "Red Arrows ejector seat firm guilty over RAF Scampton death", "Red Arrow aircraft crashes at RAF Valley", "Red Arrows crash: Cpl Jonathan Bayliss named as victim", "Ex-Red 'Lingy' returns for Red Arrows' 2018 dates", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Arrows&oldid=1014246560, Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force, 1965 establishments in the United Kingdom, Military units and formations established in 1965, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 March 2021, at 00:21. 120 W Morehead St # 400 Charlotte NC 28202 United States Enquiries Line: +1 646 350 0449 Using Internet Explorer 8? Initially, they were equipped with seven Folland Gnat trainers inherited from the RAF Yellowjacks display team. The teamwork shown by the pilots in the air is reflected in the dedication and professionalism of the support staff on the ground. This team became the first team to fly a five-Hunter formation. After performing at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), the team departed across the Atlantic at the end of July. [22], On 13 May 2009, it was announced that the Red Arrows would include their first female display pilot. The exception to this are Reds 6 and 7 (the Synchro Pair), who fly in the 'stem' of the formation - the two positions behind the team leader. On 20 May 2008, months of speculation were ended when it was revealed that the Ministry of Defence were moving the Red Arrows to nearby RAF Waddington. Les Red Arrows (en français : « Flèches rouges ») ... De 1965 à 1969, les Red Arrows eurent comme leader Ray Hanna, qui créa la plupart de leurs figures emblématiques (notamment le fameux « Diamond 9 ») et qui détient le record de longévité en tant que leader de la formation. Justin Hughes: Red Arrows, Mission Excellence and more. Their role is crucial for safety and training purposes and one of the three-strong section videos every manoeuvre of the display from the ground – both during winter training and the summer season. Red Arrows' North American Display list revealed - GOV.UK Responsibility for ensuring spare parts get to the Red Arrows wherever they are operating throughout the world falls upon the five-strong supply team. Pilots must have completed one or more operational tours on a fast jet such as the Tornado, Harrier, or Typhoon, have accumulated at least 1,500 flying hours, and have been assessed as above average in their operational role to be eligible. Since being introduced into service with the Red Arrows, the Hawk has performed with the Red Arrows in 50 countries. The Reds have no reserve pilots, as spare pilots would not perform often enough to fly to the standard required, nor would they be able to learn the intricacies of each position in the formation. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams that had been sponsored by RAF commands. The Red Arrows was founded in 1965 but it was far from the first RAF display team. The Red Arrows have a prominent place in British popular culture, with their aerobatic displays a fixture of British summer events. RAF pilots must meet these criteria to apply for selection to the Red Arrows: A shortlist of nine applicants are examined during a thorough selection week, and are put through a gruelling flying test, formal interview and peer assessments. The Red Arrows have a dedicated Dye team who ensure the aircraft are replenished with the correct amount of diesel and dye. [23] Flt Lt Moore was not the first female to apply to become a Red Arrow, but was the first to be taken forward to the intense final selection process. The diesel is stored in the pod on the underside of the plane; it houses three tanks: one 50-imperial-gallon (230 L) tank of pure diesel and two 10-imperial-gallon (45 L) tanks of blue and red dyed diesel. [25], The first display by the Red Arrows was at RAF Little Rissington on 6 May 1965. The team always fill the two colours in the same order to prevent confusion; red then blue. Circus members are each allocated to a specific pilot for the duration of the summer display season. A special, one-off, tailfin was revealed on the team to recognise the anniversary season, with the design incorporating both a Gnat and Hawk jet outline to reflect the two types of aircraft flown by the team in its history. Reds 1 to 5 are known as 'Enid' (named after Enid Blyton, author of the Famous Five books and Reds 6 to 9 are known as 'Gypo' (the nickname of one of the team's pilots back in the 1960s). © 2021 Royal Air Force. Once they have finished their three-year tour with the team they will return to their Royal Air Force duties. The summer 2019 display season took the team on a tour of North America, known as Western Hawk 19. This gives the pilot five minutes of white smoke, and one minute each of red and blue smoke. If the cloud base is less than 2,500-foot (760 m) the Team will fly the Flat Display, which consists of a series of fly-pasts and steep turns. After a tough selection process, the Red Arrows have selected a new Team Leader for 2021. Flight Lieutenant Thomas Bould was born and raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The engineering team that supports the Red Arrows is known as "The Blues" and consists of 85 members drawn from various technical (and support) trades in the RAF. The team permanently increased to nine display aircraft in 1968 and the Diamond Nine became the Red Arrows’ trademark formation. Red 7 and Synchro Two: Flight Lieutenant Toby Keeley. Engineering Support Flight (ESF) is responsible for maintaining quality assurance, standards, support, records and training. Leadership – Every member of the Red Arrows is a leader. 5) Recruitment and selection. There are three in the team. It is the hard work of the team’s support personnel that keep the Red Arrows flying. One technician operates the flow buttons on the dye rig, one connects the pipe to the valve at the front of the pod and one checks for the level at the rear of the pod. A decade later, the Red Arrows performed another series of flypasts over the capital, for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony – seen by a global television audience in excess of one billion people – and the Athlete’s Parade. 66 Squadron developing a formation team of six aircraft. They sometimes gave co-ordinated displays with the Blue Diamonds. The support team’s success results from their Royal Air Force training, the pride they take in their work, and their determination, motivation, and, very often, sheer hard work. In that first year The Red Arrows … During the team’s world tour of October 1995 to February 1996, the Red Arrows performed to nearly a million people in Sydney on Australia Day. As you can imagine, the job of replenishing the dye and diesel can be a messy one! Circus members fly in the back seats of the jets during transit flights. In the first season of 1965, the team – flying seven aircraft in a display and based at RAF Fairford – performed 65 shows. After a demonstration in France, they were hailed as "Les Fleches Noires" and from then on known as the Black Arrows. It was available for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Acorn Electron, BBC Micro and Atari. [8], In 1968, the then team leader (Sqn Ldr Ray Hanna) expanded the team from seven to nine jets, as he wanted to expand the team's capabilities and the permutations of formation patterns. 32 Squadron RAF flew an air display six nights a week entitled "London Defended" at the British Empire Exhibition. All 11 Red Arrows display pilots are fast jet pilots from front line Royal Air Force squadrons. Red 10's duties include co-ordination of all practices and displays and acting as the team's ground safety officer. The team was equipped with a total of ten Gnats although they continued to display seven until 1968. In 1958, the Black Arrows performed a loop and barrel roll of 22 Hunters, a world record for the greatest number of aircraft looped in formation. In 1966, the team was increased to nine members, enabling them to develop their Diamond Nine formation. [18] The Red Arrows will continue to use airspace above RAF Scampton for their training. [22] Each season nine members of the Blues are selected to be members of the 'Circus'. [7], The first team, led by Squadron Leader Lee Jones, had seven display pilots and flew the Folland Gnat T1 jet trainer. During this season, the 'Diamond Nine' pattern was formed and it has remained the team's trademark pattern ever since. The vapour trails allow Red 1 to judge wind speed and direction, and allow the aircraft to locate each other in the second half of the show when different sections of the formation are frequently several miles apart. In July 2004, speculation surfaced in the British media that the Red Arrows would be disbanded, after a defence spending review, due to running costs between £5 million and £6 million. Red 4: Flight Lieutenant Chris Lyndon-Smith. There are no indicators to show when the diesel section of the pod is full – a technician is stationed at the rear of the pod to watch carefully for white vapour emitting from the vent pipe. A media event at RAF Little Rissington on May 6 was the team’s first official display, with the first public performance in the UK on May 15 at Biggin Hill Air Fair. Without them, the Red Arrows could not function. This Union flag-inspired design features flowing red, white and blue lines and emphasises the Red Arrows’ role as national ambassadors for the United Kingdom. Vampires were replaced by Gloster Meteors, No. Replenishing the coloured dye/diesel mix is supervised particularly carefully to ensure the right colour mix is fed into the correct section of the pod. Yet another aerobatics team was formed in 1960 by No. The unique experience of flying regularly in a fast-jet means that these are some of the most sought-after engineering and technical jobs in the Royal Air Force. The Red Arrows 100 engineering technicians and engineering support staff are headed by a Senior Engineering Officer, who along with his management team of two Flight Lieutenants, a Warrant Officer and a Flight Sergeant, are responsible for ensuring that the correct number of aircraft are available for the pilots during both the display and training seasons, and that the aircraft undergo the appropriate servicing and maintenance. During displays, the aircraft do not fly directly over the crowd apart from entering the display area by flying over the crowd from behind; any manoeuvres in front of and parallel to the audience can be as low as 300 feet (91 m), the 'synchro pair' can go as low as 100-foot (30 m) straight and level, or 150-foot (46 m) when in inverted flight. [29] The 4,000th display was at RAF Leuchars during the Battle of Britain Airshow in September 2006. 1956–1958: Roger Topp; 1958–1960: Peter Latham; Notes and references The mechanics look after the complete range of mechanical components and structure of the aircraft including the engines, gearboxes, flying controls, landing gear, hydraulics, air conditioning, anti-icing and fuel systems – everything from the smallest nut and bolt to the wings. The official RAF team was provided by No. The Red Arrows perform to the British public for the first time at Biggin Hill Air Fair. In 2002, the Red Arrows flew with a British Airways Concorde over London to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Excellence – The Red Arrows aim is not just to be better than the competition but so much better that they are irrelevant. Red 5: Flight Lieutenant Dan Lowes. The call goes out “Red On”, followed by “Pumping Red”, at which point the dye rig operator presses the button to start the replenishment process. The RAF Events Team - rather than the Red Arrows - collate bids from airshow organisers and task the Service's display assets. In 1964, the Red Pelicans, flying six BAC Jet Provost T Mk 4s, assumed the role of the RAF's leading display team. Replenishing the diesel/dye mixture is done in two separate operations. They also ensure that the team’s transport, whether it is an RAF Airbus A400M Atlas aircraft or an articulated lorry, are correctly loaded. Also that year, permission was given for the team to have the motto Eclat – meaning excellence. As their experience and proficiency improve, they move to positions further back in the formation in their second and third seasons. Since 1966, the team has had nine display pilots each year, all volunteers. An RAF pageant was held at Hendon in 1920 with teams from front-line biplane squadrons. Once the display season is over, they return to their normal team duties. Every team member has undergone intensive training in their particular specialisation throughout their Royal Air Force career. During the second half of each display, the Red Arrows split into two sections. Flt Lt Kirsty Moore (née Stewart) joined for the 2010 season. The Red Arrows were the main feature and theme of the year’s airshows. This team became known as the Yellowjacks after Flight Lieutenant Lee Jones's call sign, "Yellowjack". Each pilot always flies the same position in the formation during a season.