It was in 1964 when the Royal Air Force amalgamated its display teams
into one, premier unit – The Red Arrows. The name was taken from
the
Black Arrows display team and the colour scheme as a tribute to the Red
Pelicans display team who flew the Jet Provost, while the aircraft chosen to be flown,
was the Folland Gnat,
which
had been used
by the Yellowjacks.
RAF Aerobatic Display Team Aircraft
In the first season of 1965, the team – flying seven aircraft in a
display and based at RAF Fairford – performed 65 shows. A media event at
RAF Little Rissington onThursday
May 6th
was the team’s first official display,
However, the first public display was on
Sunday 9th May 1965 in France, at the French National Air Day in
Clermont-Ferrand.With
the first public performance in the UK on
Saturday May
15th
at Biggin Hill Air Fair. The team permanently increased to nine
display aircraft in 1968 and the Diamond Nine became the Red Arrows’
trademark formation.
The Gnat, which had flown 1,292 displays, was replaced by the BAE
Systems Hawk, a modified version of the RAF’s fast jet and weapons
trainer, for the 1980 season. Also that year, permission was given for
the team to have the motto Eclat,
meaning excellence.
RAF Scampton – the station famous for its role in the 1943 Dambusters
raid – became the team’s new home in 1983, moving from RAF Kemble – its
base since 1966. Apart from a period at RAF College Cranwell between
1995 and 2000, the Lincolnshire station has been the Red Arrows’
permanent home ever since.
We have a devoted passion for flight simulators
and aerobatics. The team was founded in 2005 and performed the first 9
ship formation display LIVE at the Virtual Festival of Aerobatic Teams
in December 2009. Our shows are tailored as closely as possible to the
RAF Red Arrows show routines in respect to their dedication and
unrivalled skills.
Training Schedule
It’s mandatory that all our
pilots attend 2 of 3 training sessions each week.
Live streamed air displays must
be attended by the entire VRA organisation.
We clock well over
1700
combined training hours each year (excluding events) to
ensure we stay one of the top virtual aerobatic teams on
the internet.
Training Times
(BST)
Tuesday | Thursday | Sunday
18:30-19.00 – Members join Teamspeak before practice
starts 18:30-18:45 – Briefing ————————————- 19:00 – First Practice starts 19:45
– First Practice ends 19:45-20:00 – Small break
————————————- 20:00 – Second Practice starts
20:45 – Second Practice ends 20:45-21:00 – Debriefing
