A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE RED ARROWS
Ahead of their display at Scotland’s National Airshow on Saturday, squadron leader Martin Pert tells Laura Smith the Honest Truth about life in the cockpit with the Royal Air Force’s legendary Red Arrows – and why flying a fast jet upside down at 300ft becomes perfectly normal
How long have you flown with the Red Arrows?
I’ve been in the RAF for 18 years and first joined the Red Arrows in 2011 as a pilot on the wing of the formation. The Reds had always been the pinnacle of military aviation to me, so it was too good an opportunity to miss. I left in 2014 and was invited back as Red 1 for the 2018-2020 seasons.
What does the role of Red 1 involve?
Red 1 develops and leads the nine-aircraft display at a wide variety of venues. I’m responsible for designing the display and training my fellow pilots to make sure we perform the display safely. I lead the formation, other pilots follow my jet and use military formation flying techniques to stay in the exact position relative to my aircraft.
What does it take to be a Red Arrow pilot?
Flying with the Reds requires absolute concentration from the moment pilots get in the aircraft. A lot of our training is built on trust. The ability to know what a colleague is going to do, sometimes before he’s done it, marks Red Arrows pilots apart from regular fast-jet pilots.
What does the training involve?
We train for six months before we are allowed anywhere near the public. Each pilot flies three sorties a day, five times a week.
We start with the easier manoeuvres, basic loops and wing-overs with three or four aircraft, before slowly building the complexity of manoeuvres and adding more aircraft to the formation. It will be several months before we fly as nine aircraft.
What’s the toughest manoeuvre to perform?
The most physically demanding is the synchronised pair manoeuvres, where two aircraft pass each other no closer than 100ft apart. To ensure they cross right in the middle of the display site, the aircraft pull up to 8 g-force, their maximum capability, and that places a huge strain on the pilots. The carousel manoeuvre, which sees two aircraft fly in opposing circles towards one another at a closing speed of 800mph, also gets the heart racing.
What’s it like to fly in the Red Arrows?
We’re often asked if being in the Red Arrows is anything like Top Gun. Most of us laugh at the suggestion. There’s no doubt we’re doing a job that is one in a million, many would give their right arm to do it but like any job it becomes routine and “normal” to fly upside down at 300ft.
Given the cockpit is relatively cramped, we wear heavy equipment and most of our displays are in summer, the hot, sweaty reality of flying with the Red Arrows is probably not what most people would imagine.
How important are the Red Arrows?
The Red Arrows, based at RAF Scampton, were formed in
What can we expect from your display at Scotland’s National Airshow?
Spectators can expect a thrilling 20 minutes of graceful, elegant nine-ship formation shape changes, and also more dynamic, opposition manoeuvres. The unique emblem of red, white and blue smoke will mark our presence for a spectacular display that is professional, safe and, above all, inspirational.
Scotland’s National Airshow is at the National Museum of Flight, East Lothian, on Saturday, July 28, 10-5pm. Tickets via www.nms. ac.uk/airshow or 0300 123 6789.