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RED ARROWS

T

tripleweber

pfm Member
Saw The Red Arrows this evening at the Swanage carnival in Dorset.
Absolutely amazing performance from these guys. Nothing but admiration for their nerve and skill.
Anyone know how you apply for a job ???? & would they take me if I wear my varifocals ???
 
They were up here at Sunderland at the weekend, whilst I didn't go I watched a live feed including new manoeuvres at some 5 feet between each aircraft. Big respect.
 
I think they are back on form this year. The Black Eagles showed them up big time last year so maybe they realised they'd have to up their game :)
 
Tony Lockhart said:
Oh well. They bore me to tears. They're ok, but there's far far better out there.
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I'm really not bothered about Formation Aeros any more because I have seen them so many times. I've also flown enough Formation such that I do appreciate what goes into achieving what the Reds do.

Who do you reckon is better out there?

For me there are Teams that are more 'thrilling' ie The Frecce; there are Teams that do better (if boring) tight formation flypasts ie The Thunderbirds. However in terms of Formation Aeros and technical brilliance, for me the only Team that has ever come close is the Patrouille.
 
Black Eagles blew me away last year they did a bit of everything and I like their aircraft too (I want one!)....stunning. :)
 
One of the Black Arrows Hunters is being restored at the Wattisham museum. One day soon it should be ready for visitors.
 
Tony Lockhart said:
One of the Black Arrows Hunters is being restored at the Wattisham museum. One day soon it should be ready for visitors.
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It is ready.

I was down at Wattisham in May and it was on display.

A quite gorgeous job they have done in restoring the airframe, especially considering that it was used as a decoy at RAF North Luffenham for so many years (where it was mocked up to look like a MiG 19 by having its nose cut off).

The airframe is XG194 and was the actual aircraft used by Sqn Ldr (later Air Cdre) Roger Topp to lead the famous 22 Hunter loop.


See: http://www.wattishamairfieldmuseum.org/ and click on 'Operation Blackjack'
 
400 MPH at 5 feet distance wing tip to wing tip then they fly vertically up through the clouds, how do they see each other ?
 
I assume it would be possible these days to have some kind of electronic communication set up between the aircraft so they could perform extremely close formation manoeuvres by letting computers control it. (As we sometimes see now with RC drones) but I take it they aren't yet using anything like that?
 
tripleweber said:
400 MPH at 5 feet distance wing tip to wing tip then they fly vertically up through the clouds, how do they see each other ?
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You look out of the window and hold the aspect of the aircraft you are formating upon. Cloud itself usually isn't a problem - it's rarely as thick as you might think.

Indeed, pairs departures / recoveries through cloud are relatively commonplace and taught quite early on in Flying Training. Where it get's trick is if you loose sight of your leader - then you are into a breakaway situation (which will have been pre-briefed).

The airspeed itself is immaterial - what counts is closure speed (if any).
 
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