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Springhawk 2007 |
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RAF Akrotiri
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"Smoke on" heading in to start a display with the town of Limassol has a back drop
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Two months on the Island of Cyprus would be seen by most to be an ideal way to unwind from the stresses and strains of your previous years work, for most a welcome break, but for the Red Arrows the detachment to Akrotiri is no relaxing wind down, in fact, quite the opposite. This is the place where the team come to after a winter maintenance period. They bring with them their three new pilots, as they begin to ramp up their rigorous training schedule and hone their flying skills in the almost guaranteed clear skies above the RAF’s base at Akrotiri. |
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The three successful
candidates from last year joined the team when the display
season finished at the end of September. Their training then
began by
flying in
small formations of three & four aircraft, gradually introducing
more aircraft into the formations until all nine Hawks are
flying together. Once the basics of the display team are in
place the Red Arrows Team are detached to Akrotiri along with
their support trades Airframe, Avionics, Electrical, Propulsion,
Weapons, Supply, Transport, Survival Equipment, Painters,
Photographers and finally Administration staff. Plenty of
stamina is required by all during the detachment to Akrotiri as
three sorties per day are performed. This means no let up on the
Pilots and even less for the ground crews who have to get the
jets
ready after each sortie and before the next practice
display. When the days flying is complete, the night shift take
over making sure that any problems on the aircraft are dealt
with so that the Team have nine serviceable aircraft ready for
the next days flying.
Each year around nine candidates are chosen from
numerous applicants to undertake a
series of flying tests at Akrotiri. This is
part of the process to choose three new pilots,
who will join the Team next season. After assessing the
candidates during a
gruelling week of flying, interviews, and activities, the
nine candidates are then flown home, while the
final chose of which three pilots are to become new members is
made in a meeting of the Teams current pilots and chaired by the
Team Leader the candidates aren't told the results
until sometime after they have returned to the UK.
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Joining the Red’s this year in Akrotiri were five pilots of the Royal Saudi Arabia Air Force Hawk display team, who are based at Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. Along with former Red Arrow pilot Sqn Ldr Mark Cutmore who is acting as an advisor to them, the Saudi team pilots joined the Red’s pilots and sat in the back seat of most of the display sorties with the team. They sat in during the teams briefs and debriefs and both teams swapped experiences and skills during their visit to Akrotiri. When the training is complete the team will perform one more full display on Akrotiri in front of their Commander-in-Chief who will make an assessment of their safety and professionalism so as to attain their display validation, once this is given the pilots get their Red flying suits and the Technicians get their Blue overalls. They are now officially The Red Arrows 2007.
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Red 1
Sqn
Ldr Jas Hawker
Red 2 Flt Lt Ben Murphy Red 3 Flt Lt Andrew Keith Red 4 Flt Lt Greg Perilleux Red 5 Flt Lt Damian Ellacott Red 6 Flt Lt Jim Turner Red 7 Flt Lt Paul O’Grady Red 8 Sqn Ldr Scott Morley Red 9 Sqn Ldr Martin Higgins Red 10 Flt Lt Andy Robins (Road Manager & Commentator) Many thanks to all concerned |
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