Team Manager, Squadron Leader Ginge Paige

Squadron Leader John Paige, known by all as ‘Ginge’ because of the colour of his former hair, is the non-flying Team Manager. He joined the Team at the beginning of the 1999 display season. He was born in Birkenhead, but moved to Surbiton in Surrey at a very young age. He was educated at the City of London School and was a chorister at the Temple Church under the leadership of Dr George Thalben-Ball. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1977 as a Ground Equipment Fitter but soon found himself manning a Green Goddess fire engine in the City of Cardiff and fighting fires whilst the civilian Fire Service was on strike.

Following a tour at Odiham Ginge was commissioned into the Air Traffic Control (ATC) Branch and was posted to RAF Leuchars. Then, just before the Falklands crisis, he was posted to Belize in Central America later to return to Scotland, this time to Lossiemouth. He then served for a tour as an instructor on the Air Traffic Control School at Shawbury before undertaking the Area Radar Course and a posting to Border Radar, first at Boulmer, then moving with the Unit to Watton. He then undertook full-time study in the Russian language for a year before moving to Berlin to manage the Main Frame ATC computer systems and a team of German programmers at Tempelhof Centre. Whilst serving in Berlin he was promoted to the rank of squadron leader and sent to Valley in North Wales as the Deputy Senior Air Traffic Control Officer (DSATCO). His language skills were later put to the test once more when at the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina he was sent to develop an Air Head at Banja Luka airfield, Northern Bosnia, ably assisted by a team of local Serbs. He returned to Valley 6 months later to take up the post of SATCO for a tour before joining the Red Arrows.

Ginge is married to Karen who has three young children and he has two children now living with his former wife in Scotland. He is a very keen motorbiker and has a love of Adventurous Training of all sorts but canoeing in particular.

Adjutant, Warrant Officer John May

Warrant Officer John May, the Adjutant, is responsible for the administration of the Squadron and is also the Display Coordinator, dealing with all the show organisers.

John was born in Dundee and educated at St Vincent’s Primary and Lawside Academy. He was a member of 1232 (City of Dundee) Sqn and was also a founder member of 2400 (Lawside) Sqn of the Air Training Corps. John joined the Royal Air Force in 1966 and did his initial square bashing at Swinderby in Lincolnshire. He has served quite a lot of time overseas, at Muharraq (Bahrain), Holland (AFCENT) and four tours in Germany Rheindahlen, Ramstein, Bruggen and Laarbruch. John came to the Red Arrows from Germany after a very busy tour helping with the run-down and final closure of Laarbruch.

John is married to Pat. He plays golf off an 11 handicap and will be in great demand for the other sort of Red Arrows’ displays.

PRO, Squadron Leader Tony Cunnane

Squadron Leader Tony Cunnane, the Red Arrows’ full time Public Relations Officer, author, BOF, and writer of these web pages, is a Retired Officer, a grade which requires him to wear uniform but also allows him to continue in post without moving jobs until the age of 65 in September 2000 when he must retire. ‘I keep promising the Team that I will write another book when I retire – unlike my first book, this one will tell the real inside story of the Red Arrows. I wonder why they are all being so nice to me?’

‘I was born in Leeds and joined the RAF as a basic airman in 1953 and so I have already served for more than half the total life of the Royal Air Force. I have had a fascinating and really enjoyable career: wireless mechanic and fitter (serving in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka); Air Signaller (flying on Shackletons mainly from Malta); Air Electronics Officer (flying on Valiant V bombers); and finally pilot. Whilst I was in Malta I was the island’s only licensed radio ham (ZB1LQ) and I was one of the very first people in the world to pick up signals (bleeps) from the world’s first artificial satellite (Sputnik) on 19999.5Khz barely one hour after launch. I claim to be the RAF’s oldest ever pilot student – I started at the age of 31. How that came about will have to wait for my next book. My first pilot tour was in 1967 when I was a flying instructor on Jet Provosts at Cranwell (and had a flight with the legendary Ray Hanna on a Red Arrows’ practice out of Kemble). I then moved to Pakistan for an exchange posting teaching basic flying on Cessna T-37s. On return to the UK I flew Victor tankers and on successive tours served as Squadron QFI on No 214 Squadron; Flight Commander on No 55 Squadron and finally Officer Commanding the Victor Standardisation Unit, all at RAF Marham.

‘After posting from Marham, I spent 15 months learning Russian at the RAFs language school at North Luffenham in Rutland followed by a ground tour of duty in what was then West Berlin. After Berlin, I was posted to the Joint Services Intelligence School at Ashford in Kent in time for the Falklands War which sadly meant that could not fly as a pilot – although I did make a mysterious journey to Montevideo in Uruguay and spent three days under armed guard in a city centre hotel. My final tour was at RAF Digby in Lincolnshire.

‘I have been the Red Arrows’ PRO since 1989. In many ways this is the most satisfying job I have ever had. I enjoy writing and talking about the Red Arrows and, unlike most PROs who have to work very hard to publicise their company, I find clients queuing up to talk to the Team. It makes my job very easy.’