The Red Arrows : A Pilots’ Perspective

Displaying since 1965, for many decades the RAF’s Red Arrows have entertained and amazed millions of people around the world with their breathtaking formation aerobatic skills. Familiarly known as the Reds, during those years the team has risen to the pinnacle of excellence and has gained universal acclaim. Officially called the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows have performed their combination of close formations and precision flying, often with their trademark Diamond Nine shape, thousands of times across the globe. Indeed, by the beginning of the 2023 season, the Red Arrows had flown almost 5,000 displays in a staggering fifty-seven countries. Not for nothing is their motto the French word Éclat, meaning ‘brilliance’ or ‘excellence’. In The Red Arrows: A Pilot's Perspective, the renowned aviation author Jarrod Cotter brings together former pilots to write about what it is like flying precision close formation aerobatics in a fast jet. Featured in this book are pilots from the Red Arrows’ home county of Lincolnshire to lands as far away as New Zealand. There are also contributions from a former Red Arrows pilot who flew on the last year of the Folland Gnats and the first year of the BAE Systems Hawk. Another pilot whose stories are related here was on the team for the glamourous 50th display season, but who remembers only too painfully the tragedy of the accidents in which several members of the team died. The Red Arrows: A Pilot's Perspective is packed with scores of contemporary and historic images from both inside and outside the cockpit, including many dramatic air-to-air scenes. It also features team portraits of the pilots.