RAF Red Arrows announce 2019 North American Tour

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Adam
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Post by Adam » Sun Oct 21, 2018 5:55 pm

The Typhoon is the UK's only jet demo and August/early Sept is a very busy time here. I'm sure the Typhoon will stay at home.
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Post by Frenetic Enigma » Sun Oct 21, 2018 7:05 pm

I was very excited to read this, but now must hope the suggestions of a mid-August start on the east coast turn out to be wrong. Would really love to see the Red Arrows perform in Abbotsford. They are definitely the most noteworthy team that I've not seen perform since Abby '86 allowed me to see Patrouille de France and Frecce Tricolori (apologies if spelling is incorrect). Have also seen the Russian Knights at Abby, the Brazilian team, and of course the big three from Canada/USA.
But I've not seen the Red Arrows - have they ever performed in Abbotsford?

Here's hoping they're able to fit Abby into their tour schedule!
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Post by kalamazookid » Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:56 am

This is cool news! I'm not normally big on jet teams, but due to the uniqueness of this, I may have to plan a trip around the closest stop. Looking forward to more details!
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Post by Bingofuel » Mon Oct 22, 2018 4:40 pm

From the Eastbourne Airshow FB page...

"We can confirm the RAF Red Arrows will be missing Airbourne 2019, along with all UK airshows from the end of July through to September due to their largest ever tour of North America. We wish the team well in this exciting new tour, and look forward to welcoming them back to Eastbourne in 2020"

Wow that's longer than I'd thought! None of this confirmed so far of course, but unless they plan to do another "Non-UK" show in early August before coming over to NA, perhaps they're headed over early August?

It'll be interesting to see how they conform to current North American Airshow regulations i.e. Energy directed at the crowd. The Red's typical airshow involves quite a few head-on crowd breaks.
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Post by RyanS » Mon Oct 22, 2018 4:47 pm

Bingofuel wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 4:40 pm From the Eastbourne Airshow FB page...

"We can confirm the RAF Red Arrows will be missing Airbourne 2019, along with all UK airshows from the end of July through to September due to their largest ever tour of North America. We wish the team well in this exciting new tour, and look forward to welcoming them back to Eastbourne in 2020"

Wow that's longer than I'd thought! None of this confirmed so far of course, but unless they plan to do another "Non-UK" show in early August before coming over to NA, perhaps they're headed over early August?

It'll be interesting to see how they conform to current North American Airshow regulations i.e. Energy directed at the crowd. The Red's typical airshow involves quite a few head-on crowd breaks.
The Snowbirds also perform many head on breaks including one where they roll while pointing straight at the crowd. I don't think the Reds will be too different in that respect. I have always wondered how the Snowbirds are not found to violate the rules, but I'm quite happy with the show they're permitted!
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Post by Adam » Mon Oct 22, 2018 5:33 pm

I'm pretty sure the Reds flew a standard routine in 2008, including their famous the Gypo Break, which is pretty similar to that 5-ship opposition break Ryan mentions from the Snowbirds.

However, I noticed last year the Patrouille de France's equivialent manoeuvre had to be massively toned down while in the US and looked very bland in comparison. Usually four jets dive towards show centre, do a very quick series of aileron rolls and pull hard out of those into the break, whereas last year they just approached straight and level, before slowly rolling and pulling very, very gently indeed.

For a direct comparison, go to 13:20 here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2mTBMypZbQ) to see how it should look, and 20:35 here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJnl7WGSNXg) for the US version.

I would hope the Reds can fly their standard show as the routine relies very heavily on manoeuvres with significent energy towards the crowd. Having said that, they change the routine up every year, so we'll have a better idea next spring of what they're planning.
Last edited by Adam on Mon Oct 22, 2018 9:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Flightline Uk » Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:11 am

Bingofuel wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2018 4:40 pm From the Eastbourne Airshow FB page...

"We can confirm the RAF Red Arrows will be missing Airbourne 2019, along with all UK airshows from the end of July through to September due to their largest ever tour of North America. We wish the team well in this exciting new tour, and look forward to welcoming them back to Eastbourne in 2020"
Not quite - their last display in the UK is expected to be RIAT which is 19th-21st July. They may well depart the UK during July but the actual tour will only begin in August.
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Post by TekRon1 » Tue Oct 23, 2018 7:16 pm

Greetings:

I am hoping that the RAF Red Arrows will perform on 24 & 25 August 2019 at SWF (Stewart Airbase, NY) alongside our US Navy Blue Angels.
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Post by Adam » Tue Oct 23, 2018 8:37 pm

A very revealing article interview with the organisers of the Jersey International Air Display: https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2018 ... r-display/

It seems clear, from a number of statements they've put out, that the organisers were completely in the dark about this tour until a couple of days ago. This, to me, is astonishing, especially as the Guernsey Airshow, which runs in cooperation with the simultanious Jersey display, did know, and bid for a one-off Red Arrows display in June at least a month ago. Hell, even I had an inkling this tour might be coming up, someone Facebooked about it back in July!

Strangely, even today, after Guernsey said the Reds would absolutely definitely not be coming, the Jersey organisers are still using very conditional language and still suggesting that the Reds might, just possibly, be able to get to their September 2019 show. "We are monitoring the situation ... if the Red Arrows are not able to visit ... I am now going to work on the basis that they are not coming - but if they do then that will be great."

Curiously, it was Jersey Airshow organisers who ended up prematurely announcing the Red Arrows' 2017 tour several months early by telling ITV they would be away in the Middle East - over three months months before the tour was officially revealed by the MoD. An interesting coincidence.

The Jersey organisers also said they are looking at alternatives are hoping to book the Patrouille de France if the Reds can't make it, and will be inviting other military teams if the French decline. But Mike Higgins, the air display organiser, says: "The Red Arrows do not do many air shows in Europe and so the European display teams do not tend to do many air shows in Britain, so it might be difficult". People in certain circles have been saying for a while that the Red Arrows' scheduling fails to properly reciprocate for the massive support UK airshows enjoy from European air arms. This, I guess, is the result.

With reference to earlier points about smaller events where the Red Arrows are the main (sometimes only) attraction, I notice the Cromer Carnival, which often features the Red Arrows, have just announced The Blades as this year's substitute. The Yakovlevs, meanwhile, are engaging in some shameless Twitter promotion, tweeting to the Bournemouth Air Festival: "there's always the locally based 6-ship." They're a great team, don't get me wrong, but it's a crying shame that neither they, nor any other act on the UK circuit, can come anywhere close to matching the appeal, spectacle or prestige of the Red Arrows.
Last edited by Adam on Tue Oct 23, 2018 8:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Flightline Uk » Wed Oct 24, 2018 11:30 am

I wouldn't read too much into Jersey's comments. Even if you take the nine weeks from RIAT, the tour runs past the Channel Islands airshow week. Add in the traditional mid season leave and I can see it being late September/early October before the team return.

Replacing the Red Arrows at Jersey or UK shows with similar military acts will be very difficult. The lack of availability from European teams is not just a case of reciprocation. While that can play a part, it is also a matter of support available which is more and more likely to be road based rather than with a support aircraft.

It is not the RAF who have cut back. For instance, Il Frecce Tricolori hardly left Italy at all last year only supporting major air force anniversary events in Spain, the UK and Poland. Similarly the La Patrouille de France only visited the UK, Belgium, Spain and Slovakia. All of those visits were tied to major military anniversaries or in the case of the PdF's visit to Duxford - a specific theme and ties to the venue. A good example of what looks like for a VERY MAJOR AIRSHOW without a major military anniversary is Belgian Air Force Days at Kleine Brogel which only had one big military team on one day with the PdF.

Military fast jets are also increasingly restricted by their own air force requirements to the point most civilian airfields and even some military airfield cannot support types that were once commonplace. (for instance the Belgian Air Force F-16 had to use RAF Brize Norton this year to support Cosford's RAF100 show rather than the usual and much closer fast jet support base of RAF Shawbury)
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