At the time when I was going
initially five and then seven aircraft,
on a separate base
when in late 1965
it was announced that they were thinking
and whether any volunteers who might be
on the possibility of that being extended
And of course I was very fortunate
I had the experience on the Gnat much more
and I had a reasonable degree
of pedigree on flying capability,
let alone on the Gnat
So I was very fortunate that way.
And that was
for the new potential members of the red
and my name came
During a
period before it was
which wasn't until the late
I had joined the team in February
and it had four months of just flying
when they were doing their ordinary
And you're learning to fly
So your whole formation was in a V,
whether I was either as a pilot in command
And you'd have a wing tip that was sort of
and so it was all very close knit
and you needed A practice and B
telling you in advance
So you could adapt because if he started
the chaps on the outside
because of the amplification
So it was all good practice
when you actually information
you got quite
pitch of the jet pipe of the aircraft
might have been five, six
so you'd want to stay out of the jet,
Practice is the big thing.
Everything was practice.
We practiced at least two,
and that was
because I wasn't the only new boy
had only had one season of flying
But for all that, it was
it was all pretty much stuff where
once you got
the Gnat it really was very sensitive
That was the thing that really mattered.
And then it's a matter just practice and
The Red Arrows had already
got quite a reputation,
and there were lots of invitations
I suppose we can't have done more.
I think my logbook shows
so it was of that order, I suppose.
A less than glorious event,
when the final maneuver of the Arrows
when you were going to land somewhere
was you get, you do a loop in this,
and the eight and nine
And what happened as you came down
what eight and nine and seven and six
And so I was the first one to land.
Now the one thing you didn't want
the aircraft behind you
because that can be extremely embarrassing
So I was concentrating on getting my speed
and so busy was I doing it
that as the runway hove into view
I was
going quite fast without the wheels down.
And I was so concentrating
on then slowing down
I suddenly realized they weren't there
and they had to wait and see
I had three greens, as it's called,
and I have to go around again.
So I was I applied the power and selected
just managed to get down in time to stop
which was fine, except the leader
insisted over the intercom
and announced that he wished to stress
He was the last to land.
It was another member of the team
without in any way
