Red Arrows present female pilot

[Colin1]

BBC NEWS | UK | Red Arrows present female pilot

[BikerBabe]

Someone's gotta be the first.
You go, miss!
Thanks for sharing.

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool.

[Gnomey]

Cool! I'm sure she will do a good job.

[davebender]

Why do they fly a training aircraft rather then the high performance EuroFighter?

[RabidAlien]

[Colin1]

Why do they fly a training aircraft rather then the high performance EuroFighter?

I'm only guessing
but I bet expense comes into it somewhere
We seem to be having trouble paying for our existing front-line requirements, let alone lavishing funds on state-of-the-art fighters whose principal commitment would be the show circuit.

I can't imagine a contract order for 9 x Typhoons plus whatever in the way of spare aircraft being rubber-stamped in the current UK military budgetary climate.

[davebender]

Why have a national acrobatic team with second rate aircraft? That sends the wrong message to the public and especially to foreigners who are watching. You want people to think the RAF has crack pilots flying the best aircraft in the world.

[Colin1]

Why have a national acrobatic team with second rate aircraft? That sends the wrong message to the public and especially to foreigners who are watching. You want people to think the RAF has crack pilots flying the best aircraft in the world.

Again, I'm only guessing
but I don't think the British public have got anything like the wrong message as a result of the Red Arrows using 'second-rate aircraft'. As for foreigners, I was always under the impression that our aerobatics team was one of the most widely-admired out there.

For all you or I know, the Hawk could well have aerobatic properties favourable over the Typhoon's for that kind of work.

[RabidAlien]

Small, agile, and streamlined, probably very forgiving (considering that students will be flying them)....and I doubt they just go to the nearest training base and snag a couple at random out of some hangar. The birds they're flying are probably modded and souped up a wee bit. Just a guess on my part, though. And, as a "dam furriner" me-self, I can honestly say I wouldn't have guessed those were trainers until someone brought it up here. I just thought they were smaller fighters.

[Butters]

I remember seeing a female member of the Canadian Snowbirds team a few years ago. At the same show, there were a couple of USMC Hornets in the static display that took part in the flight display. One of the Marine pilots was a young blonde woman. I yelled out, "Semper Fi, Marine!", while she was getting into the cockpit, and she turned and gave me a big smile and a thumbs-up I've got some good shots of her around here somewhere...

The air force demo teams are more about showcasing the skills of their people than their aircraft. Having seen the Blue Angels in both A-4's and F/A-18's, I can say that while the Hornets definitely add to the display,esp in the vertical element, the Scooter pilots also put on a fantastic show.

The combat a/c demo teams are the ones that serve to showcase the front-line combat machines. Of course, having a real master at the controls is necessary to show the full abilities of the particular jet...

Does anyone recall seeing Capt. Dale Snodgrass putting the F-14D Super Tomcat thru its paces? I had the good luck to be watching a show where there was a delay in the schedule while he was performing. He happily agreed to an impromptu extension of his routine, and then he and his big cat put on the single most thrilling display of pure flying ability that I've ever seen. That boy can fly!

JL

PS: Snodgrass now flies a P-51 on the airshow circuit. Has anyone here seen his show?

[Airframes]

I can just hear the in-flight chatter..."...and rolling left...lipstick on, GO!"
The RAF traditionally had front-line fighter squadrons as display teams, going back to before World War Two. Douglas Bader flew the Bulldog in such a team, and it was in one of these that he crashed and lost his legs during an 'unofficial' singleton display at a flying club visit.
In the 1950's, the famous 'Black Arrows' of 111 Squadron carried on this traditon for a couple of years, flying black-painted Hunters, and 92 Squadron followed with all-blue Hunters. When the Lightning became the front-line fighter, both 111 and 56 Squadrons fielded display teams, 56's Lightnings carrying a striking red livery on the fuselage spine and fins, with the 'Firebird' motif and red and white Squadron checkers prominent.
There was then a move to free the squadrons from this task, in order to allow them to fully perform their true tasks as Air Defence of Great Britain, as the training and peparation for the 'display season' took a lot of time and, of course, the expense associated with keeping a number of service aircraft tied up with what was, essentially, PR work.
The role fell on the Central Flying School, with a number of teams formed from top-class instructors, flying the Jet Provost (The Pelicans) and also the then new Folland Gnat trainer, the latter team known as 'The Yellow Jacks', due to the overall yellow colour scheme then used on this tiny jet. Eventually, the team became the official Aerobatic Team of the RAF and, with overall red-painted Gnats, the title of 'The Red Arrows' was born. When the BAe Hawk replaced the Gnat in the advanced trainer role, the 'Arrows' of course converted to this type, which they have used ever since, still flown by very experienced instructors, or high-hours pilots, who normally have a three year tour, the first year being spent as a sort of 'apprentice'.
Front-line aircarft are still displayed in the RAF, with one, or sometimes a pair of fighters from a particular squadron carrying out that role for a year or two. These would include, for example, a Tornado GR variant, and, as with 56 squadron before being disbanded and re-forming in the ECM role, the Tornado F3 representing the fighter variant. These are/were flown by squadron crews, as a secondary duty, meaning they had very little, if any, free time during their tenure as display crews. This is also true of the pilots in the BBMF, who are drawn from the OCU or Squadrons for the Spits and Hurricanes, and from multi-engined aircraft squadrons for the Lancaster and Dakota, with only the OC BBMF being a full-time posting as far as air crew are concerned.