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30 Things you didn’t know about the Red ArrowsThe very first display by the Red Arrows was on 6 May 1965 at RAF Little Rissington, near Cirencester. The display was laid on to introduce the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team to the media. The weather was poor; a flat display was flown.
The first display for the public was in France, at the French National Air Day at Clermont Ferrand on 9 May 65.
The first public display for the UK public was at the International Air Fair at Biggin Hill on 15 May 65 (and again on 16 May).
The very first display in Germany was at RAF Laarbruch on 6 August 1965.
The first public display in Germany was at Geilenkirchen 7 August 1965.
There were only 7 display pilots in 1965, 1966 and 1971.
There were 2 reserve pilots for the 1966 Team but they were rarely, if ever, used.
Within hours of a Red Arrows display in Amman, Jordan, in 1966, a British businessman received an order from a Jordanian company for 1 million Christmas cards featuring the Red Arrows.
The Red Arrows received a bill for the petrol used in a hire car during their stay at Turin, Italy, in 1966. The bill amounted to 17s 3d (approximately 85p).
The first authorised display with 9 aircraft was on 8 July 1966 at RAF Little Risisngton. HRH The Duke of Edinburgh watched the display.
9 ship displays were seen in Pescara, Italy (10 July 1966), and Wiesbaden, Germany (31 July 1966) before the British public were able to watch a 9 ship display, on 6 August 1966 at Brawdy in South Wales.
In 1968, the RAF’s 50th Anniversary, every single display (98 in total) were flown with 9 aircraft – no drop outs.
The C-130 Hercules was first used as support aircraft for the Red Arrows in 1970. Before that the Argosy had been used.
The black and white cine film used by the Team to record displays in the early years was available only from the USA. In 1971 a postal strike in USA deprived the Team of any film and so most of the work up period was flown without the benefit of film for debriefings. It was recommended that video replace film in future. Video was introduced in 1972 and has been used ever since.
Fuse 13 was the item removed from the standard Gnat aircraft to permit the aircraft to carry out the extremely fast aileron rolls. The Team was forced to replace this fuse for the 1972 season with the result that fast aileron rolls were not possible.
1972 was the first year that a week’s leave in August for the Team was introduced even though it meant cancelling a number of shows. A week’s leave in August is now seen as an essential break and display organisers try to plan around it.
In 1972 a planned display at Florennes in Belgium had to be cancelled because a transport aircraft for the ground crew and technical equipment could not be provided. This was the first, but not the last, time a display had to be cancelled because of lack of transport support.
An authenticated crowd of 650,000 people watched the Red Arrows’ display at Lisbon on 13 June 1973, a figure that was not exceeded until Sydney in 1996.
The world-wide fuel crisis of 1974 meant that the Red Arrows flew only 59 displays, then the lowest since the Team was formed. The fuel crisis continued and only 56 displays were flown in 1975.
In 17 years out of the 35, the Team has flown more than 100 displays.
The most number of displays flown in any one calendar year was 136 in 1995. That total included the autumn tour of Africa, Middle East and Far East.
A bid for £20 to provide tailoring facilities for the white suits worn by the ground crew when they appear in public was rejected by the Ministry of Defence.
Until early 1976 the Red Arrows operated from RAF Kemble as a detachment of the Central Flying School (CFS) based at RAF Little Rissington. CFS moved to Cranwell in April 1976 and, thereafter, the Red Arrows were parented by RAF Brize Norton although they continued to fly from Kemble.
A standard charge to display organisers for a Red Arrows’ display was introduced for the first time in 1977 – £200. In 2000 the standard charge is £2,000 including VAT and mandatory insurance. The money does not, and never did, come to the Red Arrows! It goes into MOD funds.
The Team moved from Kemble to Scampton in the Spring of 1983. Mail addressed to the Red Arrows at Kemble is still being received by the Postmaster at Cirencester and faithfully forwarded to RAF Cranwell in 2000.
For a while during the summer of 1983 the Red Arrows operated from RAF Barkston Heath near Grantham while their new accommodation at Scampton was being built.
6 of the 12 aircraft currently used by the Red Arrows have been used by the Team every year since the Hawk was introduced in 1980.
The famous photograph of the Red Arrows flying in formation with Concorde over the QE2 was taken by Arthur Gibson in 1985.
The first time the Red Arrows deployed to Cyprus in the Spring was in 1980. The intention was, and is, to find good weather for the concentrated work up period. The first time the detachment was called Springhawk was in 1985 but the detachment was still arranged on an ‘as required’ basis. It was not until 1986 that Springhawk was officially recognised as a necessary annual training detachment.
The Red Arrows have performed in Germany 170 times. The Red Arrows last display in Germany was on 22 August 1988 at RAF Wildenrath. Formation aerobatics were banned by Germany after the Italian Air Force Frecce Tricolori accident at Ramstein on 28 August 1988.
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