RED ARROWS Question

[pax britanica]

I live near Camberley in Surrey and hence close to Farnborough. With the airshow ina couple of weeks we are approaching the period when 'the sound of Freedom' as the USAF refered to its fighters in the fifties is common.

However Iwas very surprised today when the gentle whine of airbusses in and out of LHR was replaced arround noon by 15 mins of military turbojet noise (great )

I couldnt figure out what this was as the cloud was so low that nothing at all could be seen until close to the end of the spell one of the red arrows hurtled past 500 ft agl? (I know its hard to tell but anyway pretty low) and literaly just skiimming the bottom of the cloud.

Now every show year we see the Reds practice beforehand and some of their routines have singles or pairs arcing back over Camberley and thats not new but Iwas amazed at them trying display flying in what seemed awful weather with rain and very low clouds.

Of course I am not suggesting for a second anyone was taking any risks and I know they have a different routine for low cloud base days. Today however I only saw one plane inside twenty odd mins and any pull up type routine must have had them in cloud in secomds so not much to see if any spectators. So I was left admiring the guys flying but wondering how realistic practice is in such awful conditions as today and indeed what the reds 'minimums' actually are.

Interested in any replies-thanks in advance and hoping for sunnier skies in a couple of weeks 'cos we always get a great free show several times in the showweek.
PB

[Gingerbread Man]

Can't clear that question up for you i'm afraid, but you've just explained why they all went over my house at 0945 this morning . Certainly brightened up my Friday.

Ginger

[Clockwork Mouse]

They were checking out the venue ready for the Farnborough Airshow on the 20 - 22 July.

[The Helpful Stacker]

Aye, they were hammering the air above my married quarter a fair bit at lunchtime.

Blooming noisey buggers, don't they know some of us are sleeping off nights.

[refplus20]

Watched the display from FSI at FAB and they never entered cloud at all from my vantage point. Did see three or four of them go around at the end of their display.

[vmv2]

They were not checking out the venue - rather the venue was checking them out. Farnborough is the only venue in the world which insists on validating the Reds display before allowing them to perform before the public.

[saudipc-9]

Why doesn't a Farnborough rep just go to a previous airshow and have a look. Cheeky buggers

[Wycombe]

I think that's all to do with the very constrained area for some aspects of display flying at Farnborough these days.

[SirToppamHat]

I think we should tell them to get stuffed!

STH

[hoodie]

Will Blackbushe be insisting on validating the B-52 display for this year?

[Tartan Giant]

I cannot imagine the stupidity of the clowns who have the arrogance to insist each year on this 'validation'. Cheeky sods
Is there one man among them who would dare say, ooh dear, can't have that here guv - too precise and far too professional for the crowds here
If the Pope visits I suppose they will want some sort of proof he is 'the man'.

the venue was checking them out. Farnborough is the only venue in the world which insists on validating the Reds display

Somebody should tell Farnborough to waken up to reality and be thankfull the REDS darken their airspace.
TG

[vecvechookattack]

I suppose if you atre paying a lot of money for a team/aircraft to conduct a display you want to get your monies worth. Is the Farnborough validation a CAA reg ?

[ehwatezedoing]

Originally Posted by pax britanica

So I was left admiring the guys flying but wondering how realistic practice is in such awful conditions as today

And this is supposed to be "a validation" flight !?

[Zoom]

They have had the odd prang at the show over the years and are entitled to protect the viewers. Good for them, I say. It's probably in their insurance small print anyway.

[saudipc-9]

They have had the odd prang at the show over the years and are entitled to protect the viewers

That is why there are regulations governing what can and cannot be done at air shows and the distances, which must be maintained depending on what manoeuvre is being flown. All air shows must abide by the same rules and regulations

[chevvron]

It's a hard & fast rule that EVERY display at Farnborough has to be approved at Farnborough, the only exception ever made being for some BBMF aircraft which have limited airframe life. And yes, they have been 'pulled' for an unsafe manouevre in the past; that was when CFCC was a serving Group Captain, and he 'interviewed' the culprit.

[BEagle]

Was that the moustachioed CFCC who wears that Kwik-Fit fitter's overall on his TV appearances?

[chevvron]

Can't actually remember 'cos COEF used to change every two years!