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  • With great concentration, Flight Lieutenant Dan Simmons and Squadron Leader David Thomas of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team, meticulously brief themselves for their forthcoming air display at the RAF College at Cranwell, Lincolnshire. The two pilots, dressed in their famous red flying suits, stand out from a small group of Ministry of Defence (MoD) drivers who stand around with time to spare, some looking skyward at other overhead aerobatics. The 'Synchro Pair' (Reds 6 and 7) are the two pilots whose aircraft make the most dynamic of the manoeuvres including a cross called the Opposition Barrel Roll where both pilots aim at each other at closing speeds of 760 mph.Since 1965 the Red Arrows have flown over 4,000 such shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows181_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team let off steam after passing their display authority 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_Arrows152_RBA.jpg
  • Wing Commander ill Ramsey congratulates pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team 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_Arrows144_RBA.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
  • With great concentration, Flight Lieutenant Dan Simmons and Squadron Leader David Thomas of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team, meticulously brief themselves for their next training sortie over RAF Akrotiri. The 'Synchro Pair' (Reds 6 and 7) are the two pilots whose aircraft make the most dynamic of the manoeuvres including a cross called the Opposition Barrel Roll where both pilots aim at each other at closing speeds of 760 mph.Since 1965 the Red Arrows have flown over 4,000 such shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows309_RBA.jpg
  • Officer pilots of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, lean aginst a wing of their Hawk jet in a pre-flight briefing while a member of their ground crew positions some wheel chocks. The highly-skilled engineer is known as a 'Blue' but the 'Reds' discuss  flight plans. Eleven trades skills are imported from some sixty that the RAF employs and teaches. It is mid-day and only their flying boots and red legs are seen with the RAF roundel emblem is on the underside of the wing. The better-educated officers in the armed forces enjoy a more privileged lifestyle than their support staff. In the aerobatic squadron, the Blues outnumber the pilots 8:1. Without them, the Red Arrows couldn't fly. SOme of the team's Hawks are 25 years old and their air frames require constant attention, with increasingly frequent major overhauls due.
    Red_Arrows174_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_Arrows159_RBA.jpg
  • In the mid-day heat, all members of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, stand on the wings of a Hawk aircraft as the official photograph is taken 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. Since 1965 the team has flown over 4,000 air shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows154_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team let off steam after passing their display authority 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_Arrows153_RBA.jpg
  • A half-eaten bar of chocolate has been left on an armchair supplied by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is seen in a crew room at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Much of the facilities at RAF and MoD outposts are basic and spartan leaving small luxuries to be imported by visiting air and ground crew. In this case, the 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, are occupying this building while on their detachment to the British Mediterranean base while putting the finishing touches to their air display routines ready for PDA (or 'Public Display Authority'). After passing this test, they are then 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. Since 1965 the team has flown over 4,000 air shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows134_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team let off steam after passing their display authority 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_Arrows157_RBA.jpg
  • With a look of delight on her face, a four year-old girl stamps through fallen snow in a field near her home in Bielefeld, Germany. Wearing a vibrant red bobble hat and matching coat, she smiles towards the viewer with the pleasure of any child enjoying the excitement of fresh snow. Ski or sledge tracks can be seen at her feet but she is the only person in this empty landscape, as if she's walking on her own through the snowy hills. It is the winter of 1967 and the reds are very vibrant and dominant from the Kodachrome film used which also has a wonderful muted blue colour cast in the mid-tones giving the picture a chilly, wintry feel reminiscent of the classic days of early photography when shifts in color gave a faded and dated look.
    family_archive2820-12_1967.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
  • 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
  • Pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team exchange green flying suits for famous red ones 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_Arrows149_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team exchange green flying suits for famous red ones 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_Arrows148_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team exchange green flying suits for famous red ones 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_Arrows147_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
  • Wing Commander ill Ramsey congratulates pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team 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_Arrows142_RBA.jpg
  • A lady wearing a red dress with black polka dots locks her bike near a red public telephone kiosk.
    red_cyclist01-25-04-2013.jpg
  • Nine 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 will safely pass within feet of each other.
    Red_Arrows338_RBA.jpg
  • New first year pilots of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team try on their new red flying suits for size.
    Red_Arrows434_RBA.jpg
  • The Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team, perform their public display over an embankment landscape with crowds below.
    Red_Arrows528_RBA.jpg
  • Resting Blues ground staff engineers await return of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team.
    Red_Arrows115_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team pace out to aircraft before Cyprus training flight.
    Red_Arrows298_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team take shelter under a scale model of Hawk jet during airshow
    Red_Arrows201_RBA.jpg
  • Member of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team handshakes his helicopter ride's pilot after landing.
    Red_Arrows717_RBA.jpg
  • Engineering ground staff of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team, load flight spares before annual trip to Cyprus.
    Red_Arrows265_RBA.jpg
  • The Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team, perform their public display over a landscape of the Thames estuary mud.
    Red_Arrows179_RBA.jpg
  • Propulsion engine specialist inspects internal Hawk of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team.
    Red_Arrows385_RBA.jpg
  • Senior Machinist Supervisor, Tricia Randle finishes a red flying suit of Squadron Leader David Thomas, a pilot of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. Tricia is a bespoke seamstress at Dale Techniche, Nelson, Lancashire. Every Winter, the Red Arrows place about 40 pilot suit orders and 180 blue (support ground crew) suits. Tricia adjusts her thread while the suit is complete on her work bench. The clothing factory also designs the Red Arrows badges, each requiring 15,000 stitches. All suits are made from Nomex by the Du Pont corporation, containing 5% Kevlar. Flame-retardant, they fit exactly each team member. Fouteen different measurements are taken before the first suit is cut, each one requiring approximately three metres of dyed cloth. When a suit is complete, each one is signed inside by the machinist.
    Red_Arrows084_RBA.jpg
  • In the mid-day heat, Flt. Lt. Anthony Parkinson 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_Arrows699_RBA.jpg
  • An old fashioned pair of public address speakers have been attached to a no access sign overlooking the Northumberland countryside at the Kielder Air Show. Here, the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, are to perform and the squadron's commentator - known as Red 10 - will be describing the 25-minute routine performed in front of a few hundred people, probably the smallest of the Red Arrows audiences. The Hawk aircraft will be flying over the borderland between England and Scotland during this display which has attracted a local crowd to this pretty landscape. This primitive method of amplification makes for it charmingly quirky. Tangled electrical wires and an extension reel is low-tech and makeshift, vastly different to other shows where digital sound quality reproduces audio to many of thousands of spectators.
    Red_Arrows542_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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Squadron Leader David Thomas of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, sits on the wing of his Hawk jet aircraft and concentrates on the air display at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) RAF Fairford, UK. The pressures on the pilots are enormous when thousands of people scruntinise the team's every move. Squadron Leader Thomas is Synchro Leader - the prime flyer in a partnership of two who perform some of the most spectacular manoeuvres in the Red Arrows routine, including the most physically demanding high 'G' (gravity) turns. Leaning back on the fuselage, he replays the manoeuvres through his mind. The psyching-up process mentally prepares him for the intensive show. Thomas wears his anti-g pants which squeeze blood back to his thorax and head during the turns and loops, also wearing the famous red flying suit. .
    Red_Arrows507_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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Specialist Corporal Mal Faulder is an armourer engineer (qualified to handle ejection seats and weaponry on military jets) but here in the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team he is seen polishing the aircraft's flying surfaces using wool and cleaning fluid on the morning of the team's PDA Day. PDA (or 'Public Display Authority'), is a special test flight when their every move and mistake is assessed and graded. Corporal Faulder is to buff up the airplane for an extra special shine on such an important day and we see the UK's Union Jack flag on the side of the diagonal stripes of the tail fin. The Red Arrows ground crew take enormous pride in their role as supporting the aviators whose air displays are known around the world. Blues like Mal outnumber the pilots 8:1. Without them, the Red Arrows couldn't fly.
    Red_Arrows129_RBA.jpg
  • A tailor cuts red material for flying suits of of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. The man is a bespoke tailor at Dale Techniche, Nelson, Lancashire. Every Winter, the Red Arrows place about 40 pilot suit orders and 180 blue (support ground crew) suits. Tricia adjusts her thread while the suit is complete on her work bench. The clothing factory also designs the Red Arrows badges, each requiring 15,000 stitches. All suits are made from Nomex by the Du Pont corporation, containing 5% Kevlar. Flame-retardant, they fit exactly each team member. Fouteen different measurements are taken before the first suit is cut, each one requiring approximately three metres of dyed cloth. When a suit is complete, each one is signed inside by the machinist.
    Red_Arrows455_RBA.jpg
  • Darren Budziszewski is a Junior Technician engineer in the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. He is seen carefully standing in the cockpit of a Hawk jet closely inspecting the Plexiglass canopy for smears and scratches. Stooping at the open surface while keeping back flat and his knees bent, its posture that the RAF teaches its employees. Darren polishes the aircraft before its pilot emerges from the building at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. The Red Arrows ground crew take enormous pride in their role as supporting the team whose air displays are known around the world, cleaning the red airplanes on their day off, so particular are they. The image is backlit and both canopy and man are bottom-weighted to allow us to see space and sky. Specialists like Darren outnumber the pilots 8:1 and without them, the Red Arrows couldn't fly.
    Red_Arrows099_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
  • Corporal Chris Ward, one of the photographers belonging to the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, reads a novel while wrapped up in sleeping bag and hammock aboard a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft during a two-day journey from RAF Scampton to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. Corporal Ward has established for himself a comfortable nest in the rear section at the loading ramp. The interior is basic with sharp corners but the walls are padded.  Ward wears a heavy camoulflaged 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_Arrows050_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
  • 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
  • Flight Lieutenant Dan Simmons of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, zips up his g-pants before climbing into his Hawk jet. G-pants counterac 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. As he attaches the zipper, he rests his straight right leg on a retractable step which helps him and his ground crew engineers to gain access to the cockpit, high above the ground. Hanging from another part of his airplane is his life-vest which he will wear around his neck, whilst in flight. Flight Lieutenant Simmons wears heavy-duty black boots which are regulation footwear for flying personnel and dressed in his red flying suit that is famous around the world.
    Red_Arrows173_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_Arrows672_RBA.jpg
  • Automated stitching machine works on badges for the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team at Dale Techniche, Nelson, Lancashire. Every Winter, the Red Arrows place about 40 pilot suit orders and 180 blue (support ground crew) suits. Tricia adjusts her thread while the suit is complete on her work bench. The clothing factory also designs the Red Arrows badges, each requiring 15,000 stitches. All suits are made from Nomex by the Du Pont corporation, containing 5% Kevlar. Flame-retardant, they fit exactly each team member. Fouteen different measurements are taken before the first suit is cut, each one requiring approximately three metres of dyed cloth. When a suit is complete, each one is signed inside by the machinist.
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  • 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 tailor cuts red material for flying suits of of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. The man is a bespoke tailor at Dale Techniche, Nelson, Lancashire. Every Winter, the Red Arrows place about 40 pilot suit orders and 180 blue (support ground crew) suits. Tricia adjusts her thread while the suit is complete on her work bench. The clothing factory also designs the Red Arrows badges, each requiring 15,000 stitches. All suits are made from Nomex by the Du Pont corporation, containing 5% Kevlar. Flame-retardant, they fit exactly each team member. Fouteen different measurements are taken before the first suit is cut, each one requiring approximately three metres of dyed cloth. When a suit is complete, each one is signed inside by the machinist.
    Red_Arrows012_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..
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  • Squadron Leader Duncan Mason of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, strides out across a gloomy, rainswept 'apron' at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. Squadron Leader Mason will fly up to 6 times daily during winter training ,when weather permits, learning new manoeuvres. Wearing winter green flying suits, their day is spent flying and de-briefing. Mason  wears a green flying suit with anti-g pants and helmet on with its pilot number. He is being greeted by a member of the team's support ground crew who outnumber the pilots 8:1.  The engineer wears a fluorescent yellow tabard and stands politely by the waiting aircraft on the 'line'. He has already prepared it for flight and helps with any technical issues that may arise.
    Red_Arrows015_RBA.jpg
  • White smoke left in summer skies by the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team.
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  • Flight Lieutenant Simon Stevens, a pilot in the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team, makes a pre-flight check of his Hawk jet aircraft before a practice flight at RAF Scampton. Stevens and his fellow-aviators fly up to 6 times in winter training, learning new manoeuvres. The dangers of high-speed close formation flight makes health and safety precuations vital; the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Royal Air Force take working environments of their personnel seriously so pre-flight examination of aircraft happens before every sortie (flight). Performing the brief safety walk-around, Stevens bends at the waste to avoid the aeroplane's low aileron despite wearing a helmet, full flying suit, boots, life-vest and anti-g-pants. Flying still continues despite rainclouds in the gloomy Lincolnshire sky.
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  • Joystick controller at BAE Systems Hawk jet aircraft simulator test a Red Arrows pilot at the fast-jet flying training centre, RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales. All fast-jet pilots are required to complete an emergency drill every six months. The pilot is seated in his ejector seat as if in a real jet using back-projected computer graphics representing a generic landscape below. Each aviator proves they can cope with a series of failures that operators select: Engine, hydraulic failure or bird strike.  Apart from the aircraft fuselage, the high-tech facility loads malfunctions on a pilot that he could experience in reality. The version of Hawk that the Red Arrows fly is actually a primitive piece of equipment, without computers or fly-by-wire technology.
    Red_Arrows256_RBA.jpg
  • BAE Systems Hawk wing 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_Arrows065_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team sign autograpohs before their display at Eastborne.
    Red_Arrows594_RBA.jpg
  • A partner of a member of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team 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_Arrows262_RBA.jpg
  • Red construction safety hoarding and young men in a central London street.
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  • Safety poster in the supplies office of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team.
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  • Anonymous chef prepares BBQ burgers and sausages as a pilot of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team walks past.
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  • Squadron Leader Spike Jepson, leader of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team memorises manoeuvres.
    Red_Arrows295_RBA.jpg
  • Pilot of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team signs publicity brochures for the public during airshow.
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  • Ground commentator pilot of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team watches training flight from air conditioned car.
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  • A detailed view of a Mark 1 Hawk jet belonging to 'Synchro Leader' of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's prestigious Royal Air Force aerobatic team. We see the flight controls and instrument panels looking grubby and worn with grey paint rubbed or flaking off. This version of the BAE Systems Hawk is low-tech without computers nor fly-by-wire technology it is one of the most user-friendly modern jets to fly and serves as a first step trainer for pilots to accumulate fast-jet flying hours and who are destined for the most sophisticated of fast military fighters in the future. Their aerobatic displays demands that their workhorse machine must have phenomenal turning circle ability and rate of climb. The team's aircraft are in some cases over 25 years old and their airframes require constant attention, with frequent engineering overhauls needed..
    Red_Arrows689_RBA.jpg
  • Rain grounded BAE Systems Hawk wing of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team at RAF Scmapton
    Red_Arrows471_RBA.jpg
  • Pilot's shadow of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team walking out to aircraft for training flight.
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  • Lady groupies collect autographs to pilots the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team during air show.
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  • Red Hawk jets of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team perform during winter training at RAF Scampton home.
    Red_Arrows098_RBA.jpg
  • Red construction safety hoarding and phone man in a central Covent Garden Piazza.
    red_hoarding06-22-06-2012.jpg
  • Young aviation fan of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team, holds up an RAF merchandise brolley during airshow.
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  • Members of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team gaze out of respective windows during helicopter ride.
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  • Engineering ground staff of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team, rest in the shade before working on their Hawk jets.
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  • Pilots of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team climb the steps in the Squadron Building's crew room at RAF Akrotiri.
    Red_Arrows284_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team shelter under Hawk wing during airshow rain shower.
    Red_Arrows203_RBA.jpg
  • In corridor used by the Red Arrows, UK's RAF aerobatic team, bottles of vital water bottles and tea cups during Cyprus training.
    Red_Arrows151_RBA.jpg
  • Engineering ground staff member of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team, tests red smoke canister in regular procedure.
    Red_Arrows006_RBA.jpg
  • Fans of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team await their favourite disaplay in Jersey.
    Red_Arrows718_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_Arrows681_RBA.jpg
  • Pilots of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team after another hard day's winter training flights.
    Red_Arrows611_RBA.jpg
  • Sign showing visitors to offices and hangar of the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team at RAF Scampton
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  • Five 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 will safely pass within feet of each other.
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  • Young lad shows interest in Airfix models incl the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team.
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  • Young spectators watch display by the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team at RAF Kemble.
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  • A Hawk jet aircraft is towed by tractor from its hangar early on a January morning at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire. It is the start of another training day for the 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team who spend five months who have been using this aircraft type sine 1980,  A towing tractor is pulling the air frame from the warm glow of the shelter out into the drizzle and wind of bleak English weather. Since 1965 the Red Arrows have flown over 4,000 air shows shows in 52 countries.
    Red_Arrows008_RBA.jpg
  • Member of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team with airfield markings during airshow weekend.
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  • New first year pilots of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team discuss new manoeuvres at RAF Scampton.
    Red_Arrows608_RBA.jpg
  • Engineering ground staff of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team, make repairs between training flights.
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  • Squadron Leader Dunc Mason of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team instructs new manoeuvres to others.
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  • Pilot of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team relaxes in hotel after their Bastille Day flypast over Paris.
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  • BAE System Hawks of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team and airfield mist landscape.
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  • Survival Equippers (squippers) of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team, fits a guest's helmet in the supplies office.
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  • Engineering ground staff of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team, during turnarounds of training flights.
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  • Engineering ground staff of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team during winter training turnaround.
    Red_Arrows248_RBA.jpg
  • Trays of spilled dye derv he hangar that makes the coloured smoke of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team.
    Red_Arrows227_RBA.jpg
  • Squadron Leader Spike Jepson of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team signs publicity brochures for boy during airshow.
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  • BAE System Hawks of the Red Arrows, Britain's RAF aerobatic team and airfield signs landscape.
    Red_Arrows126_RBA.jpg
  • Seen from the cockpit of another Hawk of the elite 'Red Arrows', Britain's Royal Air Force aerobatic team during an In-Season Practice (ISP) training flight near their base at RAF Scampton. Seen through the explosive Plexiglass cockpit of a tenth plane, we see forward into deep blue sky as two sets of aerobatic pilots steer their machines from a crossover manoeuvre, their organic white smoke pouring from their jet pipes to emphasize their paths through the air. In front of a local crowd at the airfield the team work their way through a 25-minute series of display manoeuvres that are loved by thousands at summer air shows. 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_Arrows686_RBA.jpg
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