The Red Arrows – A Day In The Life

Posted on 16. Jan, 2009 by Rob in Cuttings, Digital Camera, Technology

There’s a lot more to flying in one of the world’s best aerobatic teams than meets the eye

The Red Arrows - aerobatic display team of the RAF

With just 100 public performances a year you could be forgiven for thinking that being a member of the Red Arrows air and ground crew was easy.

In fact, it’s a year-round exercise. From 7.30am every morning until 11pm at night, winter and summer, someone is briefing, fixing, learning, teaching and practising.

The day generally kicks off with the pre-flight checks and routine maintenance by the Red Arrows´ 75-strong ground crew, The Blues (so-called because of the serge uniforms they wear).

The Synchro Pair

By 9am two members of the Red Arrows crew have undergone their briefing and are completing the team’s most thrilling and potentially dangerous manoeuvres. The Synchro Pair fly closer to the ground, pull more loops and experience more G-forces than the rest of the crew combined.

By 9.15am, the Hawker Hawk training craft in red and white livery, are already being refuelled, while at the same time, the rest of the nine-man flight team begins its pre-flight briefing before taking to the air around 9.45am.

Mid-air action

By 1pm the seven-man sortie will have already been in the air twice, and while they stop for lunch, the Synchro Pair takes to the skies again for another 30-minute stint of Opposition Barrel Rolls and Carousels.

One more flight the seven-man team in the afternoon see the manoeuvres, servicing, pre- and post-flight checks concluded for the day.

At 4pm the second engineering shift arrives to carry out major maintenance tasks on the Red Arrows’ ten aircraft, the hangar doors finally closing one hour before the start of a brand new day.

This article originally appeared in the March 2003 issue of Digital Camera Magazine.

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Tags: aerobatics, red arrows, royal air force

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