Red Arrows
The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force. Based at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, UK, they are soon to move to RAF Waddington. They were 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 badge shows the aircraft in their trademark diamond nine formation, with the motto Éclat, a French word meaning "brilliance" or "excellence".
Initially, they were equipped with seven Folland Gnat trainers inherited from the RAF Yellowjacks display team. This aircraft was chosen because it was less expensive to operate than front-line fighters. In their first season, they flew at 65 shows across Europe. In 1966, the team was increased to nine members, enabling them to develop their Diamond Nine formation. In late 1979, they switched to the BAE Hawk trainer. The Red Arrows have performed over 4,000 displays worldwide in 53 countries.
The Red Arrows are widely regarded as one of the best aerial acrobatics teams in the world.
At a charity auction, a British woman paid £1,500,000 to fly with them.
The Red Arrows were not the first RAF aerobatics team. An RAF biplane pageant was held at Hendon in 1920 with biplane teams from front-line squadrons. In 1938, three Gladiators flew with their wing-tips tied together. The Second World War largely stopped formation aerobatics, as planes were needed elsewhere.
In 1947, the first jet team of three Vampires came from Odiham Fighter Wing. Various teams flew the Vampire, and in 1950, No. 72 Squadron was flying a team of seven. No. 54 Squadron RAF became the first RAF jet formation team to use smoke trails. Vampires were replaced by Meteors, No 66 Squadron developing a formation team of six aircraft. Hunter aircraft were first used for aerobatics teams in 1955, when No 54 Squadron flew a formation of four.
The official RAF team was provided by No. 111 Squadron RAF ('Treblers' or 'Treble-One') in 1956, and for the first time the aircraft had a special colour scheme, which was an all-black finish. After a demonstration in France, they were hailed as 'Les Fleches Noires' and from then on known as The Black Arrows. This team became the first team to fly a five-Hunter formation. The Black Arrows' greatest moment was the loop and barrel roll of 22 Hunters during the 1958 Farnborough Airshow. This was a world record for the greatest number of aircraft looped in formation, and remains unbroken to this day. The Black Arrows were the premier team until 1961, when The Blue Diamonds (No. 92 Squadron RAF) continued their role, flying sixteen blue Hunters.
Red One: Squadron Leader Ben Murphy
Red Two: Flight Lieutenant Chris Lyndon-Smith
Red Three: Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham
Red Four: Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging
Red Five: Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Moore
Red Six: Flight Lieutenant David Montenegro (Synchro Leader)
Red Seven: Flight Lieutenant Ben Plank
Red Eight (and executive officer): Flight Lieutenant Dave Davies
Red Nine: Flight Lieutenant Zane Sennett
Red Ten (Road Manager): Squadron Leader Graeme Bagnall
The Red Arrows do not use front-line aircraft because of operating costs. The team uses the RAF's advanced jet trainer, the BAE Hawk T1A, built at Brough in the East Riding of Yorkshire. While the Hawk is very basic compared to the much more modern Eurofighter Typhoon, it is still fast enough and very manoeuvrable, ideal for low-altitude aerobatics. The plane does not have a sat nav, radar or onboard computer. The Red Arrows normally cruise at 360 knots (one nautical mile every 10 seconds).
Specifications
Wing span: 9.39 m
Length: 11.85 m
Height: 4.0 m
Maximum speed sea level: 800 mph (1,037 km/h)
Maximum altitude: 48,000 ft (15,900 m)
Empty weight: 8,000 lb (3,630 kg)
Maximum weight: 18,390 lb (8,330 kg)
Powerplant: one Rolls-Royce Adour Mk 151
Thrust: 5,200 lbf (23 kN)
The first display by the Red Arrows was at RAF Little Rissington on 6 May 1965. The display was to introduce the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team to the media. However, the first public display was on 9 May 1965 in France, at the French National Air Day in Clermont-Ferrand. The first public display in the UK was on 15 May 1965 at the International Air Fair at Biggin Hill. The first display with nine aircraft was on 8 July 1966 at RAF Little Rissington.
The first display in Germany was at RAF Laarbruch on 6 August 1965, and since then the Red Arrows have performed in Germany 170 times. However, the Red Arrows' last display in Germany was on 22 August 1988 after formation aerobatics were banned in Germany following the Italian Air Force Frecce Tricolori accident on 28 August 1988 in Ramstein.
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, the 'synchro pair' can go as low as 100 feet straight and level, or 150 feet when in inverted flight. To carry out a full display, the cloud base must be above 4,500 feet; if it is below 2,500 feet then they will perform a 'flat' display, which consists of fly-pasts and steep turns.
One of the biggest crowds to see the Red Arrows was in Lisbon on 13 June 1973, when there was a crowd of 650,000 people, a statistic exceeded in 1996 in Sydney.
The greatest number of displays flown in any year was in 1995, when the Red Arrows performed 136 times. The smallest number of displays in one year was in 1975, after the 1973 oil crisis limited their appearances.
In 1977, a charge of £200 was introduced by the MOD for a Red Arrows display. By 2000, the charge had risen to £2,000 (including VAT and insurance). In a BBC documentary in 2011 the team manager quoted the charge as £9,000. To date, the Red Arrows have performed over 4,000 displays (the 4,000th being performed at RAF Leuchars in Scotland in September 2006).
Transits
UK residents may occasionally see the Red Arrows on a "transit flight" (getting to the display location). On these transit flights, the team flies at the relatively low altitude of 1,000 feet. This avoids the complication of moving though the cloud base in formation, and also avoids much controlled air space. Jets are more efficient at higher altitude, so longer flights are made at 35,000 to 42,000 feet. On these transit flights, they may fly as a formation of 10 or occasionally 11 planes, including spare planes. Sometimes a C-130 Hercules accompanies them, carrying spare parts.
Smoke
The smoke trails left by the team are made by releasing diesel into the exhaust; this oxidises straight away, leaving a white smoke trail. Dyes can be added to produce the red and blue colour. The diesel is stored in the pod on the underside of the plane; designed to carry a 30 mm ADEN cannon, it now houses three tanks: one 50-gallon tank of pure diesel and two 10-gallon tanks of blue- and red-dyed diesel. The smoke system uses ten gallons per minute; therefore each plane can trail smoke for a total of seven minutes – 5 minutes of white smoke, 1 minute of blue and 1 minute of red.
Flying between displays
As the fuel tank capacity of the Hawk sets a limit to nonstop flight distance, very long flights between display sites may need landings on the way to refuel. For example, a flight from RAF Scampton to Quebec for an international air display team competition had to be done in seven hops: RAF Scampton, RAF Kinloss (Scotland), Keflavík (Iceland), Kangerlussuaq (west Greenland), Narsarsuaq (south tip of Greenland), Goose Bay (Newfoundland), Bagotville, Quebec.
Red Arrows
Le Red Arrows (in italiano: frecce rosse) ufficialmente note come Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (Gruppo acrobatico della Royal Air Force) sono la squadriglia acrobatica della Royal Air Force con sede Scampton, in Lincolnshire, Inghilterra. Le Red Arrows sono state fondate nel 1964 ed hanno partecipate a più di 4000 manifestazioni in 53 nazioni differenti. Le Red Arrows hanno i dotazione nove BAE Hawk. Le Red Arrows sono riconosciute a livello mondiale come una delle migliori pattuglie acrobatiche.
Le Red Arrows non furono la prima pattuglia acrobatica inglese. Infatti nel 1920 a Hendon un gruppo di biplani Gloster Gladiator fecero un esibizione per la RAF. Quando iniziò la seconda guerra mondiale, il settore acrobatico si fermò poiché i velivoli venivano destinati ad uso bellico. Nel 1947, il 72º Squadrone creò una formazione acrobatica di sette de Havilland DH.100 Vampire. In questo periodo si iniziarono ad usare le strisce di fumo colorato durante le manifestazioni. Nel 1955 vennero adottati quattro Hawker Hunter nel No. 54 Squadron. Venne poi istituita nel 1956 una squadriglia che per la prima volta aveva una colorazione particolare, simile al nero, e per questo diventarono note come le Frecce Nere. Le frecce nere volavano con cinque Hawker Hunter e fino al 1961 vennero ritenute una delle migliori pattuglie acrobatiche della RAF fino alla creazione dei Blue Diamonds un'altra pattuglia acrobatica che operava con sedici Hawker Hunter.
La Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, le frecce rosse, si stanziò a RAF Kemble, quando però il quartiere generale della Central Flying School si spostò a Scampton le Red Arrows lo seguirono. Nel 1968, l'allora Team Leader (Sqn. Ldr. Ray Hanna) ha ampliato la pattuglia acrobatica da sette a nove velivoli. Dopo 1,292 manifestazioni delle Red Arrows con il Folland Gnat nell'inverno del 1979 entrarono in servizio presso le Red Arrows nove BAE Hawk. Nel 2004 ci fu una speculazione mediatica secondo la quale le Red Arrows si sarebbero dovute sciogliere a causa degli eccessivi costi di mantenimento. Più tardi le spese furono giustificate al governo per il servizio e l'immagine che questa pattuglia acrobatica offre alla Gran Bretagna, tanto che l'allora primo ministro Tony Blair nel 2007 confermò che è altamente improbabile che le Red Arrows smettano di partecipare alle manifestazioni in giro per il mondo.
Dal 1966, i piloti volontari delle Red Arrows dovevano aver superato i test su aerei militari come Tornado, Harrier o Jaguar ed aver accumulato più di 1.500 ore di volo e le loro abilità devono essere valutate sopra la media. Le Red Arrows non hanno piloti di riserva e quindi se un pilota non è in grado di volare la pattuglia si esibirà solo con otto velivoli, ma se invece è il leader della formazione a non essere in grado di volare la pattuglia non prenderà parte alla manifestazione.
Le strisce di fumo che la pattuglia usa nelle manifestazioni vengono create rilasciando nello scarico del diesel, che si ossida subito. Per creare le strisce colorate viene rilasciato anche del colorante blu o rosso a seconda delle richieste. In totale ogni aereo ha un'autonomia di fumo di sette minuti, cinque minuti di fumo bianco, un minuto di fumo rosso e uno di fumo blu.
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