For Eunice and Sarah:
I was a member of the Red Arrows Groundcrew for some ten years - from 1967 to 1977, when I left the Gnat Team to learn about the Hawk.
The working premise for the Team was set by Ray Hanna and was followed religiously by subsequent leaders ; Denis Hazell, Bill Loverseed, Ian 'Widgie' Dick, Dickie Duckett, Frank Hoare and finally (for the Gnat), Brian Hoskins.
When I was asked why I had stayed with the Team for ten years, my reply was that I was doing the job I had been trained to do and that I had learned from Ray the value of being a team player. He knew personally who all his (groundcrew) Team were and what they were capable of. We managed the 10 Gnats of the Team with a travelling party of some seventeen airmen - when we met with the USAF's Thunderbirds - flying (I think six aircraft), they had some ninety-eight groundcrew!
I met Mark Hanna while I was Line Controller at RAF Valley. When I asked him how his father was, the following day he came to see me to pass on Ray's best wishes. He had remembered me, and asked, by name, how my family were.
As we used to say in the RAF - When they made Ray Hanna, they broke the mould. He will be sadly missed.
Goodchap