Show Navigation
All Galleries
Add to Cart Download

Red Arrows (Full edit)

312 images Created 22 Jun 2010

To the very second, they fly in formation over palace balconies and seaside beaches, over crowds of millions and the sheep in farmers' fields. With millions to entertain and with Concorde now grounded, Britain looks to the Royal Air Force's 'Red Arrows' Aerobatic Team as one remaining symbol to represent a truly great British institution.

Richard Baker has trailed the Red Arrows - also known as the Reds - as they trained at their home airfield, in Cyprus and performing at air shows. Far from a traditional view of an aviation subject - 35mm jets and sky - his medium format cameras make an intimate and sometimes ironic reportage. He flew in formation with the team on 6 occasions shooting from the cockpit canopy while often travelling at 450mph.

His pictures centre mostly on his travels and friendships with the pilots and engineers of the 100-strong team who, without exception, shared their trust and energies during his 10-month reportage. His air show observations also make for surreal side-glances at those fans who follow the patriotic red, white and blue smoke.

The official RAF-sanctioned book appeared in time for the 40th anniversary of the very first Red Arrows display on May 15th 1965.

This full set has until now been exclusive at CORBIS but is now at Photoshelter then Alamy.

From the book 'Red Arrows' by Richard Baker
Published by Dalton Watson and available from Amazon, Waterstones in the UK and publisher daltonwatson.com
ISBN 1-85443-217-6

Signed copies from richard(at)bakerpictures.com

Loading ()...

  • RAF support admin man belonging to the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team.
    Red_Arrows446_RBA.jpg
  • Trails of white smoke left in the sky by Hawk jet aircraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. Completing their off-season training, the team put the finishing touches to their display routine every Spring on the Mediterranean island where they perfect new manoeuvres. The sky is empty but as the light wind blows across the airfield, the remainder of the tapering coloured smoke (a mixture of vegetable dye and 'derv' - diesel fuel), blends together like a patriotic ribbon to make a haze of soft spectrum in the correct order of the United Kingdom's flag, and which becomes ever-sharper as the viewer looks towards the distant aircraft. They fly past, bend to the left and climb to a higher altitude, ready for their next formation.
    Red_Arrows478_RBA.jpg
  • Stored temporarily in a storeroom shelf, are the front and rear sections of a Hawk jet aircraft smoke pod belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. Grubby and old, like museum artifacts, the two items are attached to the ageing aircrafts' belly accessory that provides the team with their distinctive red, white and blue smoke (a vegetable dye and diesel fuel mixture) during their air show display routines. This version of the BAE Systems Hawks are primitive pieces of equipment, without computers or fly-by-wire technology. Nevertheless, the team's aircraft are in some cases over 20 years old and their air-frames require constant attention with increasingly frequent major overhauls due. Here the parts are separated from the middle section which are receiving a winter modification.
    Red_Arrows393_RBA.jpg
  • Two Hawk jets from the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, almost touch in mid-air at an altitude of approximately 4,100 feet in the Mediterranean skies above Cyprus. The texture of mottled cirrus cloud provides a soft background for the  aircraft which approach each other at a combined air speed of approximately 800 miles per hour (1,200 kph). The Opposition Loop is flown by the two pilot partners known as the Synchro Pair who fly independently of the other seven in the second-half of their 25-minute show. The two jets have vegetable dye and derv (diesel fuel) smoke mixture coloured red, blue or white. Here it traces the paths of both airplanes which curve from the edges of the frame to the centre (center). To the crowds far below, both look as if they are on collision course but wil safely pass within feet of each other.
    Red_Arrows094_RBA.jpg
  • Two RAF pilots listen to flight-briefing by 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team for whom they want to join after the candidate process.
    Red_Arrows299_RBA.jpg
  • Contract cleaner hoovers pilots' crew room of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team.
    Red_Arrows320_RBA.jpg
  • Detail of a Hawk aircraft of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team.
    Red_Arrows765_RBA.jpg
  • Blue and red dye stains on the 'line' at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, home base of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. The spilled dye provides the team with their distinctive red, white and blue smoke (a vegetable dye and diesel fuel mixture) during their air show display routines. While on the ground, this non-toxic derv/vegetable dye is injected into a vacuum under pressure into the jets' modified belly-pod which in varying amounts of concentrate, gives off a smoke via three nozzles that point down into the jet's efflux, the exhaust that exits the jet pipe at 500°C. For a display, the pods hold enough dye for 5 minutes of white smoke, 1 of blue and 1 of red while the Synchro pair uses slightly more. 7,200 gallons of dye during the entire 2004 season and since 1965 they have flown over 4,000 such shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows698_RBA.jpg
  • Stored in their respective wooden boxes are the flying helmets and miscellaneous equipment belonging to two pilots of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, at their headquarters RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. All ten pilots have their own storage space for gear. We see the place names of Reds One and Two: Squadron Leader Spike Jepson and Flight Lieutenant Matt Jarvis, whose visors are protected by soft cloths preventing scratches protective face screen. Squadron Leader Jepson is team leader and Flight Lieutenant Jarvis flies slightly behind and to the right in the Red Arrows Diamond Nine formation. On an average winter training day at Scampton, the crews will collect their kit up to six times a day in readiness for the forthcoming summer air show season. Flight Lieutenant Jarvis died of cancer one year later in March 2005. .
    Red_Arrows021_RBA.jpg
  • Whilst one spectator cranes her neck skyward, another is oblivious to an air show spectacle above their heads. One looks up into the sun, shielding her eyes with a hand and outstretched fingers but the other concentrates on lighting her cigarette with a match. Unseen in this picture, the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, are performing high in the blue skies above the public on West Greensward, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. In front of the seaside town's brightly coloured red and yellow Lifeguard Station, the two ladies have different interests in the aerobatic manoeuvres. The Red Arrows' 25-minute display either captivates some or bores others although they can be seen upwards of 90-plus shows and fly-pasts each year in front of several millions live or on TV. They have flown over 4,000 shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows618_RBA.jpg
  • Sqn Ldr Spike Jepson, leader of 'Red Arrows', Royal Air Force aerobatic team strides to his waiting aircraft for training sortie
    Red_Arrows275_RBA.jpg
  • Fans of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team await their favourite disaplay in Jersey.
    Red_Arrows718_RBA.jpg
  • A flying helmet belonging to a member of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is cradled in the highly-polished open Plexiglass  canopy of a team Hawk jet aircraft. With the arrow pointing downwards we see it from below along with the airplane's red fuselage and the words Royal Air Force stencilled in blue lettering on the side within a white stripe. There are strong angles with clear blue space on the top right. The colours that dominate this image are red, white and blue - the colors of the Union Jack, United Kingdom's flag. This scene is at RAF Akrotiri, Cypus where the Red Arrows put the finishing touches to their display sequences before starting the gruelling air show calendar in the UK and Europe. The squadron represents all that is perfect with aerobatic flying, about teamwork and discipline.
    Red_Arrows102_RBA.jpg
  • Looking down vertically upon the Hawk jet aicraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, the team loop over agricultural countryside during an In-Season Practice (ISP) training flight near their base at RAF Scampton. Roman Ermine Street road is a diagonal line through the centre, dissecting wisps of organic white smoke left hanging in the air. Reforming in front of a local crowd at the airfield they work through a 25-minute series of display manoeuvres that are loved by thousands at summer air shows. Freshly-ploughed English fields with properties, roads, hedgerows plus former nuclear silos are seen below. After some time off, spare days like this are used to hone their manual aerobatic and piloting skills before re-joining the air show circuit. Since 1965 they've flown over 4,000 shows in 52 countries.   .
    Red_Arrows733_RBA.jpg
  • Members of the the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, spend hours aboard a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft during a two-day journey from RAF Scampton to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. The interior is basic with sharp corners but the walls are padded.  Ward wears a heavy camouflaged coat to counteract the cold and ear-plugs from the droning engines. The Red Arrows pilots fly their Hawk jet aircraft to air shows but on long journeys requiring the support of ground crew borrow RAF transporters that fly behind the main airborne squadron shipping 10 tons of spares and personal effects for their six-week winter training stay.
    Red_Arrows051_RBA.jpg
  • Ground crew members of Red Arrows Royal Air Force aerobatic team refuel the team's Hawks between training flights,
    Red_Arrows427_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team zip themselves into their g-pants before training flight. G-pants counteract the effects of high gravity stresses that jet-fighters impose on the human body, automatically inflating and squeezing blood back to the thorax and head when blood drains towards the legs.
    Red_Arrows488_RBA.jpg
  • BAE Systems Hawk tail belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, forms part of the team's highly-skilled group of support ground crew who outnumber the pilots 8:1. The team's aircraft are in some cases 25 years old and their airframes require constant attention, with frequent overhauls needed. In these shelters were housed the Lancaster bombers 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. The Red Arrows nearby offices as their administrative nerve-centre for the 90-plus displays they perform a year. .
    Red_Arrows064_RBA.jpg
  • A red Hawk jet aircraft belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is parked in the hangar at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, the home base for the squadron. Night is falling with only blue daylight remaining in the western sky and the warm light from the hangar spills out of the giant open doors on to the concrete. The aircraft awaits attention from the engineer's night-shift who service and maintain all 11 of the famous red aerobatic jets before flying the next morning. The hangaran original World War 2 shelter for the Lancaster bombers of 617 Dambusters squadron who attacked the damns of the German Ruhr valley on 16th May 1943 using the Bouncing Bomb. The Red Arrows use this and nearby offices administrative nerve-centre for the 90-plus displays they perform a year. .
    Red_Arrows007_RBA.jpg
  • Small AIr Force cadet peers into ex-Gnat of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team at RAF Scampton.
    Red_Arrows360_RBA.jpg
  • Senior RAF officers assess 'Red Arrows' Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team and grant them authority to fly public displays
    Red_Arrows130_RBA.jpg
  • Equipment supplier checks flying pilots' survival vests of 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team.
    Red_Arrows444_RBA.jpg
  • RAF creman watches through open door of Sea King helicopter.
    Red_Arrows711_RBA.jpg
  • Parking places for participating military aircraft have been mapped out with aerosol spray at the Royal International Air tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershirewhere a single nosewheel belonging to a Hawk jet of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is pressed onto chocks, on a yellow taxi-way centre-line stripe. Since 1965 the Red Arrows have flown over 4,000 such shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows495_RBA.jpg
  • Sign showing visitors to offices and hangar of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team at RAF Scampton
    Red_Arrows410_RBA.jpg
Next
View: 25 | All
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Richard Baker Photography

  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Contact
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Blog