Make believe.
The Red Arrows, whilst a truly fantastic flying wonder and still something many in the country is undoubtedly proud of are an.... what's the word...anachronism (yep I had to look it up) - I remember now.. it means a thing that fits in the past and not the present.
As is Scampton. Its just plain silly to keep on with it ....its from another rapidly departing age. Its an unnecessary expense. Wake up.
Look - I could never get my head around the RAF at times. In Basra, in the COB when we were rocketed at night etc by those lads downtown, invariably the planes that to provide cover for us were American, I used to read the I-net reports the next day to confirm. F16s or F15s or sometimes USN or USMC F18s. I appreciated those American men and women. Where were the RAF then when we needed our real planes? (ok I know they were on a rota and sometimes Tornado used to come in as well but.......) they missed a trick there, for me. It was the major Brit base FFS.
They continue to miss the trick in many ways.
Its no good barrel rolling around over Scarborough or Margate when in the real world the RAF lacks so much. Emperor/clothes. Cloth/cut.
*While we are on about the Reds someone answer me this. I've locked my diary away but I'm sure from memory, January or very early February 2003. Off the beach at Cyprus (well I was). In the morning the Red arrows taxied and flew just as we were starting a planned flying/boating/everything we had practice assault with RM and the whole shebang timed to the second. The whole thing seemed to ground to a shuddering stop because the RA were flying a display thing at the same time.
Did the RAF man in charge get sacked on the spot and sent home for this? That was the rumour I heard later. Anyway thanks for that Red Arrows - we did re-schedule and get the thing just about back on track later.
I just want to know if that rumour was true?