Red Arrows 'future safe under Cameron'

[AlanM]

I hope this isn't the football equivalent of the manager having the backing of the chairman.

BBC News - Red Arrows 'future safe under David Cameron' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21514999)

Good news for the reds?? Let's hope so.

[5aday]

Good news indeed.
The other side of the coin is Cameron attaching his proviso to this announcement.

[622]

..Perhaps they will now be flying out of a call centre in Mumbai! :}

[CoffmanStarter]

Led by "Wayne" from Mumbai and sponsored by Kingfisher Beer :}

[Wander00]

And Cameron's future as PM is guaranteed until when?

[ColdCollation]

Cameron has Tony Blair's full backing. :}

[Wander00]

Is that in the same category as "Bloggs (minister about to be found out for some misdemeanour) has my full confidence"

[ColdCollation]

Pretty much...

[Pure Pursuit]

As long as Ed Milliband is leader of the opposition, Cameron's job is safe. Milliband has the same leadership qualities as most senior RAF officers these days. And as for having Balls as COE.... Really?

[Madbob]

The real test of Cameron's commitment to his pledge would be to order (during this term of office i.e. before any election in 2016) a new fleet of ac for the team.

It might then be too embarrassing for any future leader to cancel the order much in the same way as GB left us with two carriers on order (white elephants, with no aircraft for several years :sad::sad:) and a commitment to F35B at a huge flyaway cost.......

The boys at Brough would be glad of the work unless of course we opt for something better such as the T50 which the Black Eagles use or M346 which the Isreali, Italian and Singapore air forces have all opted for.

Perhaps we ought to go Dutch with the Indian air force who are going to re-equip their display team with new Hawks - it might even offer an exchange tour with the Sury Kiran Aerobatic Team for a Red mate.

MB

[mike-wsm]

Didn't we capture some of those nice little South American planes a while back? Couldn't we use them? Pity to waste them...

[Pontius Navigator]

Oh goody, a vote winner, should swing the Eastleigh by-election.

[Bill Macgillivray]

So that's it then - the "Reds" are to go !! :sad::sad::sad:

[Navy_Adversary]

Flying spare AW101s no doubt:rolleyes:

[Tashengurt]

Seems that he's given their airships a great bargaining tool every time funds are short.


Posted from Pprune.org App for Android

[air pig]

We're doomed I tell ye Captain Mainwaring according Pte Fraser.

[Just This Once...]

Great, if the MoD's economic disarray gets to a true 'guns vs butter' decision we now know that 'butter' will be the order of the day.

[Will Hung]

Don't forget this is the same as***le who is so in love with Clegg and the Lib-Dems, and will undoubtedly defecate on them eventually !

[Genstabler]

Stupid boy!

[stickmonkeytamer]

Rollbacks this morning over Scampton to celebrate!

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo116/sband/200213rearrollbacksca_zps9201febe.jpg

SMT

[jimgriff]

Been discussed on BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine show just now.

[Fox Four]

See other thread!

http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/508180-jp5s-up-sale-nine-them.html

;)

[ShyTorque]

I hope he didn't actually use the phrase: "They have my full confidence".

Especially as they're spending a bit of money doing up Scampton.

Or they might find themselves "spending more time with their families"..... ;)

[cuefaye]

And what an exceptionally crass piece it was jimgriff. The Tory MP's comments were particularly cringeworthy. Vine's programme is increasingly histrionic and laughable.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

call me a cynic, but the 'Reds to go' story might just have come from a Cameron supporter.

[Willard Whyte]

Vine's programme is increasingly histrionic and laughable.

Hard to imagine that's possible.

[CoffmanStarter]

Forget the PM ... Blue Peter to the rescue :E

http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/rafcms/mediafiles/A9A2327E_5056_A318_A840357D53D97088.jpg

http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/rafcms/mediafiles/A9E05605_5056_A318_A8D14398478E2999.jpg

Red Arrows Red Nose Challenge Blue Peter (http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/teamnews/index.cfm?storyid=A92A5259-5056-A318-A80AD2AB2F4BA1E4&rss=true&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter)

[Courtney Mil]

Yey! Put a pretty celeb in the back of every Arrow and the future's assured. Mind you:

“After Helen passed her medical, she was taken through various tests and safety briefings, including survival equipment procedures, which the team face daily.”

I never realised they had it so tough. The stuff the Team face daily. Goodness.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

The Reds are sticking little pins in your doll now, Courtney

[cuefaye]

Fox3

Don't you dare call them pricks ;)

[CoffmanStarter]

I'm thinking the Red's need more glitz ... Nicole Schiesinger would get my vote for the Back Seat :ok:

http://imagebox.cz.osobnosti.cz/foto/nicole-scherzinger/nicole-scherzinger.jpg

That's in a Hawk Fox3 and Courtney before you hit the keyboard :suspect:

[airsound]

Second-hand report via defense-aerospace.com
Red Arrows' Help Offered to India (http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?prod=142875&shop=dae&modele=release)

Mind you, there may be slightly less to this than meets the eye. If I understand it right, the help is restricted to fitting smoke pods with orange, green and white

airsound

[Genstabler]

The Blue Peter item aired this afternoon was very positive, excellent PR and good recruiting material. Well done all involved.

[Winco]

genstabler

That might be so but em..........we 'aint recruiting!

I'm not too proud to say that I love the Arrows a lot. I am proud to support them whenever and stand up for them, but it does hack me off when I see personalities, especially 'lumpy jumpers' constantly getting a jolly with them.

I wish they would offer the same to the boys and girls who are serving and would give anything for the same.

Winco

[muppetofthenorth]

That might be so but em..........we 'aint recruiting!

Blue Peter is typically watched by kids of up to around 13yrs old. If we're still in the "not recruiting" mood in 5+ yrs time then something's gone badly wrong.

Just because the 'now' is bleak, doesn't mean we should ignore that there will be a 'next'.

[Genstabler]

Wingco
1. The lumpy jumper in this case was a TV minor celebrity doing a major charitable fund raising effort which will be very popular and attract millions of viewers. A no brainer from the Services PR perspective. Your remark seems to imply that the team constantly fly bimbos for their own pleasure. I am sure that is not the case.
2. The RAF and other services are still recruiting as far as I am aware and will continue to do so. The fewer numbers should give rise to higher quality of recruits if played cleverly.
3. As far as I know the serving boys and girls get plenty of rides all the time during the training season. Your criticism is unfounded.

[Winco]

Muppet,
thanks for stating the obvious as far as the Blue Peter audience is concerned. The thing is, things won't get better as far as recruiting is concerned, certainly not as far as pilots and aircrew in general are concerned. Those 13 year olds will need to be at university aswell if they want to fly.

Gentstabler
I regret to inform you that you are 100% incorrect as far as your last statement (3) goes. And even if you were remotely correct, their chances of flying with the team are almost nil. Even as a Sqn Cdr pilot, I was told in no uncertain terms that there was no chance of me going for a jolly with them. As for my lumpy jumper remark, I didn't say that the choice of backseaters was down to the team. I know how it works and I know that in the main, they have little, if any say. It is the constant 'good PR seeking at any cost' attotude of those at the top that I dislike.

[Genstabler]

Winco
On the contrary, I believe my 3rd statement to be accurate. I have no idea why you were not allowed a jolly with them. Perhaps your timing was out. However, many other serving boys and girls do get to fly in the back seat of the experienced team members during training sorties.

[artyhug]

It's not often I feel the need to comment but in this case Winco you are so wide of the mark it is almost comical.

Unless I and more colleagues than I can begin to recall imagined our most enjoyable backseats with the team.

Perhaps they just didn't like you...

[TURIN]

Careful what you say about "our Helen".
She is a national treasure and has probably achieved more in her twenty-odd years than most will in a lifetime.
A better roll model you will not find.
She does also fill a red flying suit rather well though...



Posted from Pprune.org App for Android

[mike-wsm]

roll model

Ah ha ha ha, good one! :ok:

[Nopax,thanx]

Surely it was all thanks to the Sunday Express campaign that the Reds were saved.........wasn't it??? :p

[overstress]

artyhug beat me to it:

Even as a Sqn Cdr pilot, I was told in no uncertain terms that there was no chance of me going for a jolly with them.

The team did a display at a Valley families day and offered the back seats to the instructing staff, my name came out of the hat. Eight of us flew with them that Saturday.

So perhaps they didn't like you Winco?

[Easy Street]

I have back-seated with the Reds during their pre-season training on 5 occasions (usually 2 or 3 trips per visit!). They really are very accommodating and it's not limited to potential team members or anything like that. Plenty of WSOs have had a go too. Best to go as late as possible before they go to Cyprus because you might get lucky and get a full 9-ship practice; the early ones tend to be 4 or 5-ships only. Once they've started displaying then the in-season practices are really the only chances - I think their rules restrict the carrying of pax on 'live' displays.