Blue Eagles

Associated sites:
Army Historic Aircraft Flight | The Museum of Army Flying | Army Air Corps Recruiting

Blue Eagles Press Day – Middle Wallop – 26 April 2001

The 2001 Blue Eagles performed in front of an audience for the first time at the Press Day at Middle Wallop, in front of representatives from national and local newspapers, magazines, radio and television. Also present were some of the sponsors of the Team, as well as a group from the Nationwide Building Society. This last group were winners of the competition held by the Nationwide as part of the BBC’s Children in Need charity. The day dawned fine, and the guests gathered at the Museum of Army Flying on the western edge of the airfield, a superb venue to begin the event.

Major Colin Dunscombe and Lt Col Hugh Northam welcome the guests to the Press Day and introduce the 2001 Team.	After the briefing there was time for the Team to chat to the guests over coffee in the superb setting of the Museum of Army Flying.

The new Team display unit from sponsors Mobex was open to display the 2001 memorabilia. Road Manger Phil Costello and the 2001 ground team were delighted with the new unit.	The 2001 display opens with the Gazelles in vertical diamond, with the Lynx flying backwards through it! A superb start manoeuvre that sets the tone for the 2001 display.

The lead pair of Gazelles perform a spectacular off-centre loop in line abreast, another new manoeuvre for 2001.	The Gazelles begin their next new manoeuvre, the 4-ship simultaneous bunt, going from 90 degrees nose up, to 90 degrees nose down in line abreast pairs, having made an opposition cross. Visually stunning, not to mention frightnening to watch!

Richie and Ray in the Lynx lead the Team back in to great applause from the crowd at the end of the first display. To say the 2001 display has impact is the understatement of the year!	On the completion of the display, the Team officially became the Blue Eagles for 2001. Here, Capt Ray Turner receives his coveted blue helmet from Lt Col Hugh Northam….

….as does Sgt Julie Wiles, becoming the first woman pilot of a British Military Aerobatic Team. Lt Col Northam is the Chief Flying Instructor at Middle Wallop.	Having donned their full 2001 flying colours, Team Leader WO2 Richie Robinson took the Team through a briefing for the second display, demonstrating the depth of preparation required each time the Team flies.

The briefing was followed by the traditional walk-through, much to the delight of the guests who had never seen one before, and were amazed and amused by this precision ballet!	A side view of the new opening manoeuvre, with the Lynx backing at 60 knots through the oncoming Gazelle diamond gives a better impression of how close it is, and how little room for error!

In line abreast, the second Gazelle pair pull up for their 90/90 bunts. This really is a remarkable manoeuvre, requiring great precision in flying and timing from all four Gazelle pilots.	The lead Gazelle pair caught in the middle of their simultaneous off-centre loops, giving a good impression of just how close they are as they fly through this manoeuvre!

Display over for today, the 2001 Blue Eagles line up for the classic formal team photo in their new flying clothing.	The grins say it all. Pride and sheer enjoyment in their achievement as a Team shines through. This year is going to be a great season, stay tuned for all the highlights right here!

Blue Eagles Press Day – Colin Dunscombe’s view

What a relief, what a day!!

The Press Day went off almost without a hitch.

The ground crew worked frantically to prepare the Hayward Hall and the conference room at the Museum of Army Flying for the big day. Inevitably with events of this nature, things only come together at the final moment as so many agencies are involved, printers, caterers suppliers, the list is endless. But finally at around 1045 everything was in place for the 1100 hrs launch.

Colonel Nick Caplin, Commandant of the School of Army Aviation, very kindly officiated in welcoming our guests from the press. He impressed upon them that the Blue Eagles are representative of Army Aviation at large and that their tireless training and hard work all contributed to the extremely professional display they were about to witness. The team was then introduced to the assembled press, with the kind help of the CFI, Lt Col Hugh Northam MBE.

There then followed a flurry of interviews, mostly in the rain but most managed to sample the superb buffet lunch. At 1300hrs precisely, the first display practice was flown in immaculate style. As the team landed in front of the museum following this practice they were greeted by tumultuous applause from all present. There then followed a short ceremony in the Hayward Hall for the presentation of the distinctive blue flying helmets, by the CFI.

After a change into this season’s blue flying suit, the now fully-fledged members of the team were briefed by team leader Richie Robinson, for the second practice of the day. Unfortunately the ‘dirt dive’ and the second practice were delayed by about half an hour by a torrential downpour. This failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the press and other guests who were privileged to witness a near prefect display of this year’s routine. All agreed that the inclusion of the ‘four ship bunt’ and synchro pair ‘Elphinstone loops’ were choreographed and flown beautifully, showing that the Gazelle is no slouch as a crowd pleaser. Ray Turner in the Lynx, ably assisted by Richie Robinson showed just how incredible the sight of an aerobatic helicopter could be. Many were heard to remark, "Helicopters can’t do that. Can they??" Not for the first time and certainly not the last.

All in all a wonderfully successful day, followed by two days of exceptionally good coverage in the media. Both Meridian TV and the BBC South Today news programmes featured clips of the team, both displaying and giving interviews. The team were delighted to be joined for the day by their very generous sponsors. All of who in many ways contributed to the highly professional presentation of the Army Air Corps at its best.

A big thank you to you all from the whole team.

What’s next? More training and refinement of the display, prior to the sign off of the display by the Commandant SAAvn and Aviation Standards Branch, presently scheduled for 8th May. The team are then hosting Breitling Dealers for a visit to Middle Wallop on the 10th May and the first of the season’s displays takes place on the weekend of the 12th – 13th May at Siverstone.

A final big thank you to all those who were involved in the day’s activities.

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