No aerobatics by Red Arrows at Farnborough!

[melmothtw]

Their flat display at Cosford due to weather wasn't half bad , I take it that is what they would intend to be doing at Farnborough.

No display of any sort at Farnborough, Nutloose - flypasts with other aircraft types only.

melmothtw, on the contrary; one aircraft loss in 4,700 public displays is excellent and possibly the best safety record of any of the national teams.

Au contraire yourself Martin, 3 serious accidents in the last 5 years with 2 pilots and 2 aircraft lost. Name me a national aerobatic display team with a worse record.

[Megaton]

Not to mention the Synchro midair in Greece or the air test aircraft that was parked up by ATC at the end of an air test.

[Martin the Martian]

Try looking up the Thunderbirds' accident record, while the Blue Angels have a 10% fatality rate.

[Tourist]

My god, this is pathetic.

You are talking yourselves into believing that the loss of the Red arrows is a good idea for health and safety reasons!!

For at least the last decade there have been threads about losing the reds due to cost etc etc and the get defended to the hilt.

Suddenly, people have decided that they are a serious risk to life and limb and must be stopped......

[PhilipG]

All this talk about displays being cancelled etc, brings up the other question, how many displays, or indeed flypasts a year are necessary for the continued investment in the Red Arrows to be considered worth it?

[melmothtw]

Suddenly, people have decided that they are a serious risk to life and limb and must be stopped......

Not me Tourist. The only reason I brought up the loss rate was to counter an earlier claim (can't remember who made it) that suggested that the Reds were so safe as to negate any risk.

Personally I love watching the Reds, and the 'danger' (real or perceived) certainly adds to the excitement. The only difference between our two standpoints appears to be that I can see why the MoD no longer thinks it is a good idea to performing such routines above populated towns, while you do not.

[Thomas coupling]

the reds are definitely on short finals. The pressure is mounting about running costs and public image and CAA resterictions and where we are in society. They are a magnificent testimony to our patriotic bias ....but......can we afford it any longer.

I'll give them another 2 or 3 years and "boom" they're gone.

[airpolice]

I don't think it's going to take three years.

[NutLoose]

Sadly I tend to agree, it's sort of another nail in their coffin, we do not really build many Hawks for oversees sales these days, so they really are no longer a sales ambassadors for that product.
Coupled with the changes in the Airshow circuit with more and more shows being cancelled and the front line force being decimated on cost grounds, one does wonder how long they can justify their existence on a diminishing budget.
One does wonder if the political fallout of disbanding them is one reason they still exist, if a choice came down to the Reds or the BBMF, one thinks the BBMF would be the survivor, though the RNHF has shown that they can operate as an independent team, free from the military purse strings, so possibly the BBMF could do the same.

[Bob Viking]

Amazing then that the powers that be have lifed the Hawk T1 for a considerable time to come in order to keep the Reds flying.

If they weren't chopped after the awful spell in 2011 then I'd suggest they're safe for a while yet.

BV

[NutLoose]

I wonder if they used the initial showing at Cosford to practice for their flypast at Farnborough, I must admit it was pretty much a none event and took no notice of it after it arrived.

[Finningley Boy]

And with regard to Culdrose, there is a cottage hospital almost directly below the display line, so I do wonder how much longer the air show there wil continue now.

No airfield or possible venue is free of surrounding infrastructure Martin, my point is that there are limits. Shoreham is very small and surrounded by things such as a dual carriageway and a tall church with a spire then houses either side, the problem is just how much there is to avoid and at what proximity to the runway, I'm no display pilot but would have thought that all rest with the amount of roads and buildings versus the amount of open field and airfield over which there is room to manoeuvre. I've thought for a long time that Farnborough and Biggin Hill were events that could be staged elsewhere, if only to avoid the air traffic overhead. Culdrose, I would have thought, was safe enough, within reason.

FB

[The Oberon]

Well, for what it's worth and as a local, it's been abnormally quiet around Scampton this week.