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On 31st January I was privileged to be a guest of the Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force’s flying display team. My wife and I had made a winning bid at a Help for Heroes charity auction last year and this was the prize.
Our day started with an introduction to the Red Arrows given by a trainee RAF pilot who was to be our guide for the day. We then met five of the nine pilots from the team and sat in their pre-flight briefing where they went through, in detail, their plan for the training flight they were about to take.

After the briefing, they climbed into their aircraft and prepared for takeoff, while we took our positions on the airfield. We listened on a radio as “Red One”, Squadron Leader Jim Turner, talked them through the manoeuvres and guided them through their agreed flight plan.

After they landed, the sortie was debriefed in minute detail. They took it in turns to feed back their observations and then they watched a video recording of the flight that had been taken from the ground. Each team member picked up their own errors and points for improvement. If they didn’t the others were quick to point them out. They were very critical of themselves and each other, but there was no negativity, it was all about how to improve for next time.

They agreed what they would do and after a quick lunch, headed back out to the airfield to go through it again. Although the display will have nine pilots, they only fly with the full team right at the end of the winter training period and will spend the early part in formations of four or five aircraft. They work on the display routine and build it up piece by piece, practising, improving and perfecting until they get it absolutely perfect and ready for public displays. Each pilot will fly three times a day, five days a week, weather permitting.

To qualify as a Red Arrow pilot, you must have more than 1500 hours of fast jet flight experience and have completed a front-line tour. You also need to complete a very tough interview process. They remain in the team for three years. Three new pilots join the team each year, so as they come in, three leave. They rotate positions too, so they experience what it’s like in the other roles.

I was hugely impressed by their flying skills (who wouldn’t be), but I was also inspired by their team working skills. Criticism was given and taken positively by the team members, all for the benefit of the team and delivery of their objective. They work on the plan together, agreeing what will create a visually impressive display that can be performed safely. Once they’ve agreed the plan, they go out and do it then come back to review and refine it. They consider their past performance and use it to inform them how to improve. Then they go out and do it again.

It’s all about delivery of the objective, a faultless performance and once they reach that stage and deliver a summer season of breath-taking displays, they get to do it all over again. They have set backs and last year was probably the worst in their history since forming in 1965. Two of their pilots were lost in tragic circumstances. Tragedy like that isn’t easy to overcome, but they are dealing with it and are determined to have a successful season in 2012, which, with the Olympics and The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, will be one of their busiest yet.