I have known a few of the team members over the years and have had a bit of an insight into what the guys do. I have also flown with them on a number of occasions. I can assure you that the flying they do is very exhillarating and also very very impressive from inside the cockpit. The training regime is extremely tough and the boys work very hard, particularly in their first year. I have been very impressed with they way that the team deals with the admiring public, they are always very welcoming to all. It makes me proud that all the work they put in during their traing season as well as the time away they endure during the display season pays off and that hundreds of thousands of people want to go and see them. They remind people that the RAF is still there - we get very little publicity otherwise.
I believe that the need to slag them off is probably just jealousy. They are just a bunch of normal aircrew mates albeit selected to do they job from a large pool of us who would jump at the chance. Give them a break and perhaps take the time to say well done. They certainly took the time to congratulate the GR4 boys in Cyprus as they returned from the Gulf!!