articles/Sports/flyingwiththeredarrows-page4

Flying with the Red Arrows by Jamie Hunter - part 4 of 1 2 3 4 5

Published 01/02/2009

We are cleared in to a full practice display over the cliffs at Akrotiri. 'Smoke on...go!', 'Coming right...now', 'Holding the bank...now', 'Tightening'. The calls from the leader at the front of the formation are constant and they are vital for the rest of the team who are hanging on his coat tails. The team leader has many factors to take into account to guide the team safely around the routine and ensure accurate positioning and precise timing. For this particular practice he also has a strong on-crowd wind to take into account.

As a photographer passenger it is crucial that the pilot doesn't feel you in the back; you never ever knock the control column by mistake, that could be inviting disaster. The 'tightening' call from the leader signals that G is coming on in the turn, only about 3G but enough to mean I need to brace or stow my Nikon D3 camera up on the instrument panel in front of me. 'Letting it out'. This call means that the leader is relaxing the pull in the turn and the g comes off.

For the first half of the flat display it is a sequence of turns and loops in changing formations, Typhoon, Concorde, Lancaster to name a few.

As previously mentioned, the end of the first half of every display is marked by the team splitting into 'Enid' and 'Gypo' sections ready for the second, more dynamic half of the display. This involves a series of co-ordinated manoeuvres for the two sections including 'Gypo' section's famous 'Synchro' crossing manoeuvres, led by Red 6, the Syncro leader. The work rate for the pilots is extraordinary throughout the entire flight.

The dark helmet visors of the nine pilots mask the immense concentration and workload exerted to stay on the wings of the leader as they paint the sky with red, white and blue smoke in their looping, rolling and breaking manoeuvres. Meanwhile, I am in the back, working hard to capture as many exhilarating moments of the display as possible, punctuated by some aggressive, chest-crushing, flying.

After a sweat-soaked 30 minutes we are running in over the airfield for one last formation break before we all land in turn. One last G-saturated pull and we are ready for landing. A quick check from Greg that my toes are clear of the brakes and we turn finals to grease down on the runway at Akrotiri. The sweat is pouring off me, so goodness knows how the pilots have remained so cool.

As we taxi in I am cleared to replace my ejector seat and canopy safety pins and as we come to a halt we are met by the dedicated groundcrews. As the canopy opens, the engines have already spooled down and Greg is climbing out; 'See you inside', he says, as the engineers swing into action to prepare the jets for the next practice. The pilots immediately go into a detailed team debrief, making full use of the excellent video that is filmed from the ground for every display.

This is a vital tool for the pilots and whilst watching the video they are very hard on themselves; calls of 'short', 'long', 'shallow', 'deep' from various members of the team indicate how they feel their positioning was within each formation. Sitting in the debrief I struggle to see the errors, but these pilots are talking about literally inches of difference in positioning - hence the extraordinary levels of excellence the Red Arrows maintain throughout their display season. For me as a photographer it is a huge privilege and challenge to try to capture this incredible experience and give some insight into the team.

• Flying with the Red Arrows by Jamie Hunter page 1
  
• Flying with the Red Arrows by Jamie Hunter page 2
  
• Flying with the Red Arrows by Jamie Hunter page 3
  
• Flying with the Red Arrows by Jamie Hunter page 4
  
• Flying with the Red Arrows by Jamie Hunter page 5
  

There are 42 days to get ready for The Society of Photographers Convention and Trade Show at The Novotel London West, Hammersmith ...
which starts on Wednesday 15th January 2025