Red Arrows video from 1980:

Many years ago, I remembered seeing a short but exciting video of the RAF's Red Arrows demonstration team in action. I believe it was on ABC's news magazine "20/20" as a time fill-in, and there were no details given about the video, as I recall.

I had always wondered whether that video had ever been issued on VHS/DVD, perhaps as part of a longer video, but I never found one. The advent of YouTube has changed things, and somehow I decided today to see if I could find the video, and I did!

It was part of a longer promotional video done by a fellow named Arthur Gibson in 1980, the first full year that the team was flying the BAe Hawk. The clip that I saw on ABC doesn't seem quite that exciting now, but perhaps that is due to the mediocre quality of the video footage. Still, it's worth seeing.

Here is the whole clip. The part that I remember, and the only part that you should watch if you don't have time for the whole thing, runs from 5:12 to 7:33, or just a bit more than 2 minutes, which is about how long I remember the ABC clip running.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk0hyBTa8PI]Arthur Gibson: Red Arrows Promotional Video - Hawk [1980] - YouTube[/ame]

 

Well, the Hawk is still the RAF's primary trainer, so what else would you use? A formation routine by Harriers might have been an interesting alternative, but the noise would have been unacceptably deafening! And Tornados or Typhoons would probably be too expensive.

I'm certain that they've added some new maneuvers or formations over the years, and I know that they've altered the color scheme.

Consider that the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds have been flying their same types of aircraft for nearly as long. (Of course, I have little doubt that they will both, in due course, switch to the F-35.) And I think the Snowbirds have been using the Tutor even longer.

 

It's interesting that few countries use fighters for their air demo teams; trainers have always been preferred, especially in Europe. They prefer larger formations of slower aircraft!