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RED ARROWS: SMOKE ON - GO!

by Karl Schwarz

"Big Vixen ... go! ... Smoke on ... go! ... Diamond ... go! ... pulling up": with concise and precise commands, Squadron Leader Simon Meade ("Red 1") leads the nine Hawk trainers of the Royal Air Force aerobatic team into another display. The full show program lasts 23 minutes and includes no fewer than 21 elements this year. As in previous years the choreography has been chosen to render the audience breathless: Big formations alternate in quick succession with spectacular "crossovers" of the two aircraft of the synchro pair.

What looks so perfect and simple to the audience is hard work for the pilots. The highest degree of concentration is needed, because even small mistakes can be dangerous. The Hawks very often fly only two to three meters apart. Squadron Leader Andy Cubin is certain that "flying with the Red Arrows is the ultimate challenge. For one's own self-esteem and the image if the team absolute perfection is what counts."

Squadron Leader Gary Waterfall can only agree with this: "A Harrier display, which I used to do before joining the Red Arrows, only lasted eight to ten minutes, and you were always able to snatch a few moments to relax. Flying with the Red Arrows is far more tiring, since there are many manoeuvres with high g-forces in our program. Apart from this we very often fly two shows per day and have representative duties afterwards."

During the season, life can get very hectic. This makes meticulous preparation even more necessary. This starts in the autumn of the previous year, after the last display, often at the end of September. This is when two or three new pilots join the team, as was the case this year with Flight Lieutenant Dicky Edwards and Mark Cutmore.

They were among the 30 to 40 volunteers from which a strict selection was made in the spring of 1998. The prerequisite for an application is adequate experience with jets like Tornado, Harrier or Jaguar as well as above average aircraft control. About nine pilots will finally be invited to Cranwell, where they are back seat passengers in a Hawk and are interviewed. The team members and the Commander of the Central Flying School will then make their final selection.

Because of the integration of the new "Reds", the experienced pilotsí changes in position and the introduction of new manoeuvres, the team will not fly big formations at the beginning of their training. On the contrary, practise commences in small groups of two and four, while the synchro pair also practises separately.

During the winter months the mechanics find time to overhaul the teamís red Hawks thoroughly. If required aircraft from different squadrons might be borrowed. Meanwhile the so-called Participation Committee of the Royal Air Force ploughs through hundreds of applications requesting the appearance of the Red Arrows during air shows or other events.

As the perfect image carriers of the RAF the ìRedsî are used wherever positive publicity and a favourable outcome for recruiting is to be expected. The economy measures during the last few years have led to an increased cost effectiveness. When the team is asked to perform abroad there is always the question: ìWho is going to pay?î Big tours for instance to South Africa and Australia have been sponsored by the British Aviation Industry.

However, the pilots do not have to concern themselves with matters like these. When the first formation with all nine Hawks is airborne at the beginning of March, the last phase of the seasonís preparation will commence. At the beginning of April there will be six weeks' training on the RAF Base Akrotiri, Cyprus. Far away from the unsettled British weather one can concentrate on fine tuning the new program.

To be precise, the Red Arrows have not only one, but three programs ready, which can be flown depending on the weather. For a Full Display the lower cloud base needs to be 4,500 ft, to prevent the aircraft from getting into clouds during a loop. If there are clouds at a height between 2,500 and 4,500 ft, the so-called Rolling Display will be flown. There are no loops in this display. If the clouds are even lower, the team has to be limited to some flypasts of the audience and some steep curves.

The big day is in the middle of May when "Public Display Authorisation" will be awarded after a final test and demonstration flight. It is only then that the pilots are officially issued with their red flight overalls. A new season can start, during which millions of air show visitors will cheer the "Reds" again.

From page 10 of FLUG REVUE 1/99