I saw the Red Arrows last year and was expecting the usual cheesy display.

I came away with a different impression, it was one of the best displays I've ever seen. Maybe not as low & loud as the blue angels, but definitely the best reds display I've witnessed.

I hope they can sort things out and get flying again.

Yep, the removal of fuse 13.

Oh hang on, no, that was on the Gnat! :p

Quote:
it took BAeS many months to plan, manufacture and fit the pipework associated with the smoke system.
Have you done some Red Arrows smoke mod conversions then Gainsey ??

you forgot the cupholder and installed rapid deploy set of golf bats:E

How is busted shoulder stick monkey doing??? (banter, I'm an ex sootie with a chip or two)
Hope he's up and about - he needs to be fixing a jet:},

Seriously, I do hope he'll be back to turning avtur into noise and overtime very very soon.

Still, look on the bright side - both crew survived, can't ask for more than that.

A Hawk left Scampton this morning and routed out via Dover/Koksijde....presume this is a replacement/extra spare for the Reds being delivered

I'm guessing so since they tend to take 11 Hawks to Cyprus but only took 10 to Crete. Also they need a spare aircraft anyway following the accident. Any news on what's happening with the team? It's all gone very quiet on the news front.

No flying atm.
Meet & greet next Monday at Aki mess.

I can't imagine there's any way you could draft in a replacement synchro leader; surely it's the most demanding position on the team after number 1? Given that some people have mentioned that Lingy's been advised to rest his shoulder for 6 weeks, I'd guess it'd take longer than that to train a replacement.

Total wild guessing here, but I'd say if anything was going to happen it'd be a delay to the start of the season while he recovers?

Unless a recent ex-Synchro lead can be drafted back?

6 Sqn Ldr B D Murphy (2009)
6 Flt Lt P O’Grady (2008)
6 Sqn Ldr J H Turner (2007)
6 Flt Lt S D Stevens (2006)

Well last years synchro leader is this years team leader whicj throws a big spanner in the works! Any of the others listed above are probably too much out of practice (and busy!?) to warrant asking them back especially if Red 6 is only going to be out for 6 weeks. Granted he will be behind on training but this can be caught up with OSP's at Scampton. They train to fly 8-ship formations anyway incase of illnesses, bereavements or injury so the first part of the season will probably just be flown with the 8, with Red 7 doing some solo passes. All IMHO of course and we can all speculate until we hear something.

Wouldn't the Board of Inquiry (or whatever it's called) have to come to a conclusion about the accident before synchro can resume training?

Think you'll find a new Red 6 is being worked up ready to join the team as we speak. All round good effort, but I hope Lingy gets back in the air where he clearly belongs ASAP! :D

Just out of interest from a purely piloting technique - how do they plan to miss during the synchro cross (chopped at Valley here!)?

TVM

6 flies a predictable path with 7 being responsible for remaining clear.


Not all all suggesting that Monty was to blame, that is just the normal state of play & I have no idea what went wrong on the day. They both walked away so I'm sure they've thrashed it out & will overcome the issue.

Who can be on the team?
 

Regardless of BoI findings, actual blame or cause, there was a time where a Red Arrow member could not return to the team if they were involved in an accident. Has this policy changed?

In the past, accidents led to smaller display teams for the rest of the season. Wasn't the Red Arrow display season even cancelled back in the late 80's after a string of unfortunate incidents?

Only asking...:confused:

PP thank you

reaction times
 

On a slightly more serious note, i watched the video of the collision and it appears to me that the pilot of the crashed aircraft did a remarkable job of ejecting before it hit the ground. I would have time to go oh sh**, before the earth came up to meet me!! This got me thinking, does time slow down for fast jet pilots when flying in close formation? Has any research been done into whether the brain physically changes ie: neuro-, transmitters reacting faster etc, be interesting to see brain scans to compare with airline pilots say on a long haul flight. Bit too difficult to get the scanners into a Hawk i guess but an interesting concept.

On the large amount of long haul flying I've done, my brain activity could be measured using the Glasgow Coma Scale. ;)

Hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror ;)

Update scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday 14th April). Stay tuned to official website.