Save the Red Arrows Petition
 

Hi all,

It would seem that Labour are looking at stopping funding to the Red Arrows.

If you would like to see them still fly, can you please follow the link to the petition on the 10 Downing St website. Thanks.


http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveTheReds/

The only good thing Labour have ever done, get rid of the t@ssers.

J.A.F.O
 

I don't think that it is the red,s that are the T@sser as you so politely put it!

As you wish, A & C, as you wish. We are all entitled to our opinion and mine is outlined above. I am not disputing their aeronautical skill which is at a level I could never hope to acheive it is just that, having met lots of them over the years, they lose no time in telling you all about it. When they leave the team they have any humility they previously had restored to them it's just that while they're wearing those slightly too tight red suits they are, in my opinion, mainly t@ssers.

If I was a member of an elite aerobatic team I'm sure I'd tell just about anyone who'd listen all about it :rolleyes:

JAFO has got a point... There are always two sides to any discussion..

If the Labout to$$ers do want to get rid of the team and spend the funds on a huggy fluffy ethnic diversity project or something equally politically correct, replace the Red Egos with a Tucano 4 ship. At least you'd hear them coming.......:E

Signed, they have my support. We should be getting behind our team...after all they are the pinnacle of UK aviation!!

Tossers or not they still do a wonderful job, I honestly couldn't care about meeting the pilots or who they are - not interested, its the flying that I goto see...guess alot of yous who wanted their autographs got a little bit more than you bargained for! :}

Terrible thing envy!:} ;) :ouch:

I wonder if anybody else thinks like that. I would love to meet one of the reds, I have a million questions that I could ask, I could easily chat away for a few hours with one no problem.


Anyhow, I can't believe the government will allow this.

Perhaps they individuals are a little full of themselves....I've never met any of them so don't know......but I do think having them is an asset to GA.


Anything that shows aviation in a positive light to the general public, anything that gets the general public's interest and gets them to turn up to an airfield, anything that gets them to look skyward and smile (and dream) has got to be beneficial to GA's cause, even if it isn't always directly related.

I read somewhere (don't know if it's true or not) that airshows is the UK's second biggest spectator sport. If that is true then GA must have a good groundswell of support, even if it's a silent support. It's not my tax money that gets spent on the Red Arrows, but if it was, I'd prefer to keep them, no matter that the individuals were like.

dp

I've only met one of them and that a while ago, however asset to GA? No! he wasn't! He thought the skies should be reserved for him and his ilk and GA was a bloody nuisance that got in the way and was dangerous to real aviators. His thoughts on budget airlines are unrepeatable (there would be too many asterisks). I paraphrase him 'cos it was a while ago.

So I'm largely in the to**ers camp.

Gasax,

I don't mean that they are an asset as an individual, but rather that having their displays is.

Imagine Andrew and Aisling who have no connection with aviation. They get a flyer/see an advert for an air show at an airfield close by with the Red Arrows displaying. So they turn up, see the airfield, lots of people, a buzzing place, have a nice day out among all the little airplanes, and leave that evening thinking how great it would be to be able to fly.

They never meet the Red Arrows as individuals....they know nothing of them. But surely they are left with a predisposition towards that airfield? Perhaps when some developer thinks of building houses on it, Andrew and Aisling will realise they will miss their annual air show and object? Perhaps Aisling will buy Andrew a trial lesson for his birthday, because he seems to enjoy the show so much....perhaps Andrew will go on to complete his PPL and become an active member of the GA community?

If the Red Arrows weren't there, then Andrew and Aisling would probably have gone to B&Q to get something for the house that Sunday instead. They'd think of GA as nothing more than annoying noise making machines.

That's what I mean about the RA's being an asset for GA. Not that the individuals are great embassidors....but as a display they have got to foster a good impression towards GA in the public's eye.

dp

Sorry, perhaps I didn't explain myself, I've only ever met them in the aircrew enclosure or at the airshow parties both when I was in the Royal Air Force and afterwards. I'm not an autograph hunter, nor am I envious; I'd never be able to do what they do, never expected to so I'm not envious of them in the same way as I'm not envious of Johnny Wilkinson, I played a bit of rugby but never expected to get chosen to play for England as I've flown a bit but never expected to be in the Red Arrows.

Sorry if you don't like the fact that the ones that I've bumped into while they've been on the team seemed like to$$ers but it's just my impression.

I've met some incredibly talented and dedicated pilots who were also nice blokes so I don't think that it's an excuse, personally.

I think that their flying is quite impressive, that was never in question.

Soooooo, would I be right in thinking there was a banner headline in the Daily Mail recently, something along the lines of.....

'BLAIR PLANS TO DITCH RED ARROWS!'

with an 'article' below, maybe, one paragraph, along the lines of......

'one of our journalists brothers mates, you know the one, used to hang around with Smiffy a lot down the Red Lion, well, his sisters husband reckons that he may have heard down the Dog and Duck a while back that her mates brother might have reckoned that perhaps Labout were maybe thinking that one day it might save a bit of money by getting rid of the Red Arrows, maybe, perhaps.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, it's just that they do it on a daily basis, that's all. :D :rolleyes:

So the only question, JAFO, is whether you think we should all be deprived of the displays because some of the guys who fly them have questionable personalities ?

FF :ok:

BRL, my statement was used without too much thought, just trying to put a bit of emphasis that your supporting the team and not the pilots...As an aviator I probably would be interested..so yes, my statement was probably a little bit too strong than I intended.

My point was really who cares whether the pilots are tossers or not....

Jafo, I see your point! but not all of them will be tossers...truth be told if we were red arrows pilots we would probably think we could walk on water too! :E

Didn't mean to get dragged into anything, it was just meant as a bit of light hearted banter such as:

They are.

I honestly doubt you'd get a word in.

How do you know if there's a Red Arrows pilot in the bar?
Don't worry, he'll tell you.

Perhaps I should have used a ;)

I really didn't know that the feeling was so strong about the Red Arrows and wouldn't wish for anyone to be deprived of something that is apparently enjoyed so much by so many. I should point out that a few of the Reds that I've met and nearly all ex-Reds that I've known have been sterling fellows with a fine line in self-deprecating humour and an all encompassing humility which belies their outstanding talents and achievements; it's just while they were in the team they were to$$ers.

;)

All the pilots so far recruited to the Virgin SpaceFlight project are ex Red Arrows Pilots, if they are all Tossers, at least they'd be doing it where us mere mortals couldn't see them at it.....:=

'BLAIR PLANS TO DITCH RED ARROWS!
Shouldn't it be the other way round?:ugh:

The current leader of the RA is a freind's brother, so I've met hime at a few parties. He came across as a very polite and CONFIDENT individual, and his conversation was not entirely limited to RAF-speak, although as a newly qualified PPL I was certainly pleased to meet him in such an informal environment.
My point is that these guys are inevitably going to be a little arrogant, in the same way that rock stars are, because everyone puts them on a pedastal, and I suspect that all of us would be the same given the chance!
As for banning the show, it's symbolic of ths governments persistant attempts to undermine everything in this country that might represent something to which an individual might aspire.
"when I grow up I want to be a Red Arrows Pilot"
"Sorry son, they've been scrapped"
"OK, when I grow up I want to be an airline pilot."
"Sorry son, we've paid so much in council tax that we can't afford to sponsor you."
"Alrigt then, I'll get an airline to sponsor me!"
"Ever since the introduction of aviation taxes, all the airlines have based themselves abroad, and that includes their recruitment policies"
"Well, if I can't fly, I gues I'd like to be the captain of a big cruise liner"
"All foreign now son!"
"OK, I'll be a racing driver"
"Only if you like driving electric cars son!"
"A huntsman?"
"Forget it, son"
"A marksman?"
"Nope"
"Well, Dad, what can I be when I grow up?"
"A number, son, just a number"