Show Navigation

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
{ 36 images found }

Loading ()...

  • Squadron Leader Spike Jepson, leader of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, demonstrates the Corkscrew manoeuvre to his group of pilots and visitors in the briefing room at their RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire headquarters. Using two scaled model Hawk jet aircraft he shows how their formation is to be flown on their next training flight. Five autumn and winter months are spent teaching new recruits manual aerobatic display flying while the older members (who rotate positions) learn new disciplines within the routine. Their leaning curve is steep, even for these accomplished fast-jet aviators who had already accumulated 1,500 hours in fighters. By Summer they need every aspect of their 25-minute displays honed to perfection. In this meeting room they meet before and after every flight discussing safety, merits and failures.
    Red_Arrows610_RBA.jpg
  • Sheltering from a rain shower at the Kemble Air Day, some pilots of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, gather beneath a full-scale model of a Hawk jet aircraft. Spectators have also gathered in their waterproof wear to make a colourful group. Flight Lieutenant Steve Underwood, who as commentator and Ground Safety Manager worries about the cloud cover and the implications for a safe display. He looks towards the gloomy sky to assess the prospects of a Red Arrows show in a short while. Dressed in red flying suits, the pilots have been signing PR autographs and distributing team brochures to some of their many fans before the deluge which sent the public undercover to seek shelter. The team's main purpose is to forge a link between the RAFand potential recruits plus the general public.
    Red_Arrows204_RBA.jpg
  • In the mid-day heat, Squadron Leader John Green is a member of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. Here he walks out alone to his aircraft, which is lined up with some of the others jets at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus before flying out to Marka in Jordan for the first display of the year. The Red Arrows arrive each April to fine-tune their air show skills in the clear Mediterranean skies and continue their busy display calendar above the skies of the UK and other European show circuit. We see John Green carrying his flight bag and life-vest over his shoulder. He paces confidently across the bright 'apron' dressed in his famous red flying suit that the Red Arrows have made famous since 1965. He is alone and striding confidently towards the matching red eight Hawk airplanes.
    Red_Arrows093_RBA.jpg
  • In the mid-day heat, all members of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, stand at ease and we see the back of one of the squadron's official photographers head, looking into the viewfinder of his camera to record an official photograph immediately on PDA Day at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. PDA (or 'Public Display Authority'), is when they are allowed by senior RAF officers to perform as a military aerobatic show in front of the public - following a special test flight when their every move and mistake is assessed and graded. Until that day arrives, their training and practicing is done in the privacy of their own airfield at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, UK or here in the glare of Akrotiri. The pilots are called reds and their ground crew, the Blues after their summer air show uniforms.
    Red_Arrows092_RBA.jpg
  • Nine pilots of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, stand in the shape of their signature 'Diamond Nine' formation with one of their Hawk jet aircraft at the team's headquarters at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. Today they have reached the all-important milestone of 'first 9-ship' (when all nine aircraft have flown a basic air show display together, after two groups have practiced seperately) and is the culmination of five months rigorous Winter training. They stand proud with beaming smiles on a warm spring day, their flying helmets with those famous arrows pointing towards blue sky and fluffy clouds. Still dressed in green flying suits, they go on to their spring training ground at Akrotiri, Cyprus where they earn the right to wear red suits, known around the world. At the front is team leader, Squadron Leader Spike Jepson...
    Red_Arrows421_RBA.jpg
  • Wearing ear-defenders,military green camouflage and fluorescent tabard, a 'line' engineer from the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, inserts his head into the jet pipe of a Hawk aircraft immediately after a winter training flight at the team's headquarters at a damp RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. The man is a member of the team's support ground crew (called the Blues because of their distinctive blue overalls worn at summer air shows). Checking for irregular blemishes within the aircraft's exhaust is a vital aspect of maintenance jets whose engines need to perform as the highest level, especially if its performance, and that of each pilot's manoeuvres need to be perfect. Power reduction can ruin a display for tens of thousands of spectators but an engine failure could be catastrophic..
    Red_Arrows389_RBA.jpg
  • Looking out to the Mediterranean Sea from the Akrotiri Peninsular, Cyprus, we see the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, practising their display finale, the Vixen Break, a show-stopping manoeuvre of their 25-minute air show display routine. A rusted and crumbling hulk of a ship lies in the shallow surf and the Hawk jets used by the Red Arrows fan out above it using red, white and blue smoke. It is a calm sea near the shoreline and the shipwreck's remains provide a sad foreground to the dynamic flying beyond making a graphic landscape. 'Datum' is an axis on which the Red Arrows focus their displays, from where the whole show is visible at the crowd's centre. 'The Wreck' is but one of a series of datum points selected by the team leader at short notice to simluate diverse geographical features and wind directions. The wreck is the MV Achaios. Built in 1932, it was on a voyage from Yugoslavia to Jeddah in 1976 with a cargo of timber. She ran aground in a storm at Akrotiri Peninsula, but no lives were lost.
    Red_Arrows337_RBA.jpg
  • Spectators at the The Princess Margaret Hospital (TPMH) on the Akrotiri peninsula, about 4 kilometres from the RAF Station at Akrotiri, admire the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, as they perform one of their first public shows of the year. RAF staff and patients are allowed on to the grass outside the hospital building for this free show, given in honour of local charity fund-raisers of the Cyprus-based RAF Association whose guests form one of the smallest crowds to watch a Red Arrows display. Here, the team perform The Twizzle manoeuvre in front of the small crowd who stand by a green fence, matching tree and palm tree stumps. The bare earth is baked hard by the lack of rain and it almost looks like a desert scene as five of the nine jets speed overhead,
    Red_Arrows136_RBA.jpg
  • Leaping fearlessly across the gaps of high walls, teenage boys practice free-jumping over a stairwell in London's South Bank
    free_jumping01-17-02-2008 .jpg
  • Air show organiser Jock Maitland of the Biggin Hill displays is to be presented with a momento by members of  the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. We look down upon three pilots' backs (known as the Reds) who are lined up in their famous red flying suits during the ceremony and as speeches of thanks are made. A scaled model of a Hawk jet aircraft is hidden from view behind Flight Lieutenant Dave Slow's back before being handed to Mr Maitland as thanks for his contribution to the air show calendar. They stand at ease on the grass of this famous World War II airfield which saw much enemy action during the Batttle of Britain, patiently and relaxed with hands behind backs before leaving to perform their display routine in front of thousands of spectators.
    Red_Arrows727_RBA.jpg
  • A pilot of the French Air Force walks looking down along the fuselage of his C-130 Hercules oblivious to nine Hawk jet aircraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, who come screaming behind and 'breaking to land'. This set procedure prepares them to split up as a group, peel off seperately and land safely at the Payerne Air 04 show, Switzerland. It is a perfect day for aerobatics with blue alpine skies during the teams' two-day visit to the Swiss airfield. Payerne is home of the Swiss Air Force who host the cream of international aerobatic display flying every September to 275,000 spectators over a weekend. European display teams and air forces gathered to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Swiss military aviation. .
    Red_Arrows663_RBA.jpg
  • A large man with a shaved head and hairy back is seen from behind as he watches a display by the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team at Weymouth, England. A heart shape which grows from his bald head has been drawn with red smoke in the sky two Hawk jet aircraft taking part in the town's annual air show along the sea front. Such a tough-looking male specimen contrasts with the romance of this valentine symbol helping to make this picture's quirky juxtaposition touching. The Red Arrows use smoke to emphasize their flight-path, help the spectators see their manoeuvres and to make more of an enjoying spectacle. In blue sky they use white smoke for The Heart and red when overcast. We watch the man from below and see him craning his neck skywards, the skin on his thick neck wrinkling as he looks heavy from this angle.
    Red_Arrows614_RBA.jpg
  • Climbing at sub-sonic speed, a Hawk jet aircraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, is seen from a neighbouring aircraft during an 'In-Season Practice' (ISP), a summer training flight over the farming fields of Lincolnshire. A landscape of agriculture is behind the red airplanes as they loop after a vertical climb. The front-seated pilot and his guest passenger stare through visors towards the wing to keep a perfect 'reference', maintaining an exact formation as seen from the ground. The Red Arrows fly to within 10 feet (3 metres) apart in some formations with speeds of 480 mph (770 kph), keeping in formation is a skill they learn every winter and refine on spare days like this between public air shows. The RAF roundel, (emblem), is on the nearest wing and the other fuselage as the world falls away in perspective.
    Red_Arrows575_RBA.jpg
  • Ending France's Bastille Day parade, the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, streak over the pyramid peak of the Louvre art museum in the centre of Paris. Leaving vapour trails of red, white and blue smoke to mark the 100th anniversary of the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale. They were chosen by the French authorities to close the fly-pasts. British armed forces paraded in the historic parade for the first time. Under blue skies on a perfect summer day, the squadron lined up in their classic fly-past 'V-shape' called 'Big Battle', following the straight line of the Champs Elysees then eastwards over the Parisian suburbs. Personnel from four British military units were present and French Air Force jets performed their own fly-past to open the parade, while the British Hawk jets of the Red Arrows had the honour of completing it. .
    Red_Arrows462_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
  • Seen from a hillside opposite, with the clear blue backdrop of the snow-covered Himalayan mountain peaks, a Nepalese family crouch on the hilltop to rest during a family walk from their community village near Gorkha, Central Nepal. In the middle of the picture, a young girl twirls and dances across the clearing as her parents and siblings watch, drawfed by the powerfully- dominant range of natural features that form part of the highest altitudes on earth although Gorkha is only 3281 feet (about 1000 meters) above sea level. These peoples' homes cling to the sides of impressive mountains that draw tens of thousands of travellers to this region to trek the paths and conservation sanctuaries of this fast-developing Buddhist and Hindu Kingdom.
    RB_051-10-11-1996.jpg
  • Flight Lieutenant Antony Parkinson a pilot with the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, signs posters on arriving at the team's home base at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire from his last ever display. Flt Lt Parkinson has served on the Red Arrows for four years and is to leave for a Typhoon squadron - from a relatively simple aircraft to one of the most sophisticated. Press and PR is one of the team's main purposes, acting as ambassadors for the UK and as recruiting tool for tomorrow's RAF officers and autographing publicity material is a routine chore. Traditionally, photographs are designed to allow pilots a space to sign their names alongside their respective position in the display formation. In high-spirits after a stressfully long year, he is in the crew room to wind down, with a tomato in his mouth. .  . .
    Red_Arrows747_RBA.jpg
  • With the runways and former nuclear silos of RAF Scampton below, Lincolnshire, the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team swoop down to their home airfield during an In-Season Practice (ISP) training flight. Trailing white organic smoke before reforming in front of a local crowd they work through a 25-minute series of display manoeuvres that are loved by thousands at summer air shows. They curve round in a similar trajectory as seen on the bending taxi-way. Freshly-ploughed English fields with properties, roads, hedgerows and cold war nuclear solios are seen below on a perfect day for aerobatic displaying. 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_Arrows732_RBA.jpg
  • Banking slowly left over the agricultural Lincolnshire countryside are the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, who have commenced an In-Season Practice (ISP) training flight near their base at RAF Scampton. They turn at a gentle angle trailing white organic smoke  before reforming in front of a local crowd at the airfield and working through a 25-minute series of display manoeuvres that are loved by thousands at summer air shows. Their objective is to appear perfectly spaced from a ground perspective. Freshly-ploughed English fields with properties, roads and hedgerows 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_Arrows682_RBA.jpg
  • Craning their necks skyward, both a pilot and support ground engineers of elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, gaze up to view an air display directly overhead at the Payerne Air 04 show, Switzerland. It is a perfect day for aerobatics with blue skies and during the team's two-day visit to the Swiss airfield at Payerne. Pilot Squadron Leader John Green is one of nine aviators who are collectively known as the Reds because of their famous red flying suits. The ground crew are obviously called the Blues. Payerne is home of the Swiss Air Force who host the cream of international aerobatic display flying every September to 275,000 spectators over a weekend. The picture is full of humour because John Green is looking one way and the two others look in the opposite direction, while standing next to the aircraft.   .
    Red_Arrows660_RBA.jpg
  • The elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, fly over an area known as the Cliffs on the Akrotiri peninsular of southern Cyprus. We see a barren scene of scrub and in the air, the team are in their signature 'Diamond Nine' formation, climbing up in a long arc through the blue sky and traversing above the dusty, featureless landscape where a naval Transit marker in the shape of a giant red arrow aids coastal shipping to safely navigate but which is missing some panels. The nine Hawk jets pass-by as a tight 'nine-ship' (the term used to describe nine aircraft in close formation) during a training flight in the clear Mediterranean skies. They return to this stretch of Cypriot coast each Spring to complete their rigorous winter schedule before the UK's air show display season.
    Red_Arrows288_RBA.jpg
  • The Hawk jet aircraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, are lined up at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus as members of the team's ground crew step away from the aircraft that they respectively look after. From a low angle we see a wide landscape looking over the taxi-way markings that direct military airplanes. The Red Arrows aircraft are a deep red colour that stand out against the horizon in an identical line. It is a wide expanse of road surface, the yellow centre-lines are for the benefit of pilots who need guidance for parking areas after landing, or leaving towards the departing runway on the southern part of the Cypriot Mediterranean island. With the Red Arrows, the nine taxiing jets all peel off in unison to and from the parking area and these lines are vital for this technique.
    Red_Arrows281_RBA.jpg
  • A model from the Alion Couture fashion house takes part in a street parade with horses for the benefit of the media in Kensington, central London UK. We see the lower section of a horse ramp and another horse is in the background. Seen from a low angle, both the horses hoof and her foot in red high heel shoes appear to be askew in a postural echo, when two mannerisms or body language are similar.  The light is blue because of the shadow both subjects are in but her shoes and matching short red dress appear vibrant in saturation and hue.
    RB-0014.jpg
  • A boy stands leaning on a hand rail near the top steps at Paignton sea front. At the bottom of the steps and floating face down in the clear, unpolluted  water, his arms outstretched, is a diver wearing a wet suit who appears lifeless. It is a scene of ambiguity and the viewer might be confused over whether the diver is in fact dead. It looks as if the diver has drowned but he is only enjoying the buoyancy of the salt sea water. It is a sunny afternoon and the shadows of the steps' rail which zigzags down the concrete steps.
    paignton_diver01-21-07-993.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
  • Banking hard right over the agricultural Lincolnshire countryside are the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, who have commenced an In-Season Practice (ISP) training flight near their base at RAF Scampton. They turn at a ninety degree angle, two trailing white organic smoke before reforming in front of a local crowd at the airfield and working through a 25-minute series of display manoeuvres that are loved by thousands at summer air shows. Their objective is to appear perfectly spaced from a ground perspective. Freshly-ploughed English fields with properties, roads and hedgerows 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_Arrows731_RBA.jpg
  • Joining with the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team on the far left, are the smoke trails of forty leading European display aircraft: Spanish Patrulla Aguila; Italian Frecce Tricolori; French Breitling Jet Team and the Swiss Patrouille Suisse. All flew together in the clear, blue alpine skies on a spectacular fly-past at the Payerne Air 04 show, Switzerland. The two-day festival at the Swiss airfield is home of the Swiss Air Force who host the cream of international aerobatic display flying every September to 275,000 spectators over a weekend. European display teams and air forces gathered to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Swiss military aviation. Flying on the far left here, the Red Arrows have performed over 4,000 shows in 52 countries since 1965. .
    Red_Arrows673_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, walk in line from their parked Hawk jet aircraft during their two-day visit to the airfield at the Payerne Air 04 show, Switzerland. It is a perfect day for aerobatics with blue alpine skies during the teams' two-day visit to the Swiss airfield. Payerne is home of the Swiss Air Force who host the cream of international aerobatic display flying every September to 275,000 spectators over a weekend. European display teams and air forces gathered to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Swiss military aviation. The team walk towards waiting transport wearing the red flying suits, synonymous with an ambassadorial role for the UK and recruiting tool for the RAF's pilots of the future. SInce their birth in 1965, they have performed over 4,000 shows in 52 countries. .
    Red_Arrows667_RBA.jpg
  • Flying overhead into the distance, Hawk jet aircraft of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, leave behind a trail of red, white and blue smoke in the clear skies above RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. 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_Arrows485_RBA.jpg
  • A 40th anniversary celebration cake has been baked for the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team who are soon to appear. Displayed in a hospitality tent at the Kemble Air Show, the iced gateau has a red ribbon and an image of nine aircraft in mid-flight. A bouquet of flowers and assorted cutlery for the forthcoming lunch is alongside. Blue paper is draped over the top adding to the patriotic red, white and blue colours. After several identities, the Red Arrows started life near this location in 1964 at RAF Little Rissington in Gloucesterhire. Their name originates from the French 'Fleches Noirs', or Black Arrows, so in England, a new team was established flying black Hawker Hunters in the colour of their Squadron 111. As the Red Arrows diaplay team, they have since flown over 4,000 shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows188_RBA.jpg
  • In the mid-day heat, Squadron Leader Spike Jepson, leader of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, informally addresses the team's highly-skilled ground crew at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus after the whole team's success of passing PDA (or 'Public Display Authority'). The Red Arrows are then allowed by senior RAF officers to perform as a military aerobatic show in front of the general public - following a special test flight when their every move and mistake is assessed and graded. Until that day arrives, their training and practicing is done in the privacy of their own airfield at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, UK. Squadron Leader Jepson has gathered his engineers and support crew known as the Blues to congratulate and encourage them. Specialists like these outnumber the pilots 8:1 and without them, the Red Arrows couldn't fly.
    Red_Arrows162_RBA.jpg
  • Flight Lieutenants Steve Underwood and Anthony Parkinson and Wing Commander Bill Ramsey of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, discuss logistics beneath the emblems of long-disbanded fighter squadrons which decorate the squadron building at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. They sit in faded pink armchairs supplied by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that are seen in many RAF stations and airfields with the same drab blue paint on the walls. Painted by hand are circular badges  with bold colours (colors) and illustrations of birds of prey, fighter-jets, swords and shields which all symbolise  warfare. The three pilots are relaxed wearing their red flying suits with their sunglasses dangling in the regulation loop, they are holding a bottle of mineral water and a coffee cup.
    Red_Arrows155_RBA.jpg
  • Taking a break from the London Marathon, a young runner dressed as Superman emerges from a Portaloo after a quick toilet stop. Located at the London Fire Brigade's station on Lower Thames Street in City of London in the capital's historic financial district, their empty fire hose snakes across the ground. The young man wears trainers, a red skirt, a Super-hero top with the Superman emblem on his chest and he walks out of the portable convenience adjusting a green frizzy wig. Disgarded mineral water bottles have been thrown on the ground by other passing athletes but this is a theatrical pun, that Superman changes personality, name and powers when leaving a telephone box. Apart from the colour (color) of the toilet, the runner and the hose, the background is drab and overcast.  The City of London has a resident population of under 10,000 but a daily working population of 311,000. The City of London is a geographically-small City within Greater London, England. The City as it is known, is the historic core of London from which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew. The City's boundaries have remained constant since the Middle Ages but  it is now only a tiny part of Greater London. The City of London is a major financial centre, often referred to as just the City or as the Square Mile, as it is approximately one square mile (2.6 km) in area. London Bridge's history stretches back to the first crossing over Roman Londinium, close to this site and subsequent wooden and stone bridges have helped modern London become a financial success.
    RB-0133.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
  • Squadron Leader John Green the executive officer of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, instructs a group of RAF fighter pilots in the art of manual close-formation aerobatic flying. Explaining how to line up their aircraft with their nearest neighbour using a system called 'referencing', he shows them with his fingers the margin of error that is tolerated when only 12ft (3-4m) apart and flying at 400mph (650kph).  The recruits all hope to be selected for next year's team and have travelled to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus where the Red Arrows complete their pre-season training. Seen from beneath the Hawk jet aircraft's nose on the 'line' Squadron Leader Green kneels by the trailing wing edge to demonstrate what he will expect from their upcoming flying test.
    Red_Arrows305_RBA.jpg
  • A young boy wearing ear-defenders and dressed in a child's miniature red flying suit is perched on a metal crate of flight spares belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. Joshua Lewis is the son of one of the team's electricians Corporal Dave Lewis, and they are both at RAF Scampton in Lincolshire to wave goodbye to the departing Hawk jet aircraft who are leaving for their winter training ground at Akrotiri, Cyprus. Other team-member families have come along to see these famous red aircaft. Most of the team leave the UK for a six-week stint, refining their evolving air display routines and manoeuvres in the clear Mediteranean skies. Pilots and ground support crew will be away from loved-ones and their absence is one of the toughest aspects of RAF frontline personnel - and aerobatic squadrons.
    Red_Arrows260_RBA.jpg
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Richard Baker Photography

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