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I wrote this brief report in October 1996 -
On 29 March 1996, just 40 days after arriving at Cranwell for the first time following the 'closure' of RAF Scampton, the 1996 Red Arrows flew their first nine-
The Team was tasked to appear at the Indonesian Air Show in June 1996. Once again the tour was to be sponsored by Defence Export Services Organisation. I am sure it is true to say that hardly anyone on the Team wanted to trek all the way out to the Far East again and there was criticism in the UK media when the tour details became known although, because of the action of protest groups objecting to the sale of Hawks to Indonesia, there was no official PR about the trip. The main purpose of the Red Arrows' attendance was to assist British Aerospace in their endeavours to get a further contract for Hawk sales. The days spent in Jakarta were quite pleasant for us. The display organisers had gone to enormous trouble with all their arrangements and I have to say the end product was far more efficient than the set up in Singapore.
The Team was invited first to a grand reception 'To Meet the Red Arrows' hosted jointly by British Aerospace, Rolls Royce and Marconi. Dr Habibie, then the Minister for Research and Technology but later to become, for a short while at least, President of Indonesia, and Michael Portillo, then UK Secretary of State for Defence, were both present. Dr Habibie spoke at the Reception for 60 minutes; one of the British Embassy staff next to me commented that this was the short version of a much longer speech that all the diplomats had come to know almost off by heart. Dr Habibie said that in future the Indonesian Air Show would be held biennially. It would be known as the Asia-
Two days later the Red Arrows were guests at a Grand Dinner in the Jakarta Hilton to celebrate Dr Habibie's 60th birthday.
The following is an extract from the official Indonesian government press release issued on the eve of the opening of IAS '96:
Indonesia Air Show 96 (IAS '96), held at Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2230 June 1996, marked a new beginning for Indonesia's aviation business and aerospace technology. The ambitious nine-
IAS '96 is third in size only to the Paris and Farnborough air shows. This major international event attracted key decision makers from the military, government, and private sectors in the Asia-
Opening ceremonies on 22 June began with aerobatics by Indonesian and British squadrons as well as by Indonesian special forces skydivers carrying the flags of the 23 participating countries. Indonesia's "Elang Biru" (Blue Falcons) and Britain's Royal Air Force "Red Arrows" graced the sky for 42 minutes after Indonesia's President Soeharto's opening speech. The demonstration teams fly the F16 and the HAWK 100 aircraft, respectively.
President Soeharto said: "The Indonesia Air Show 1996 will be an event for us to assess the progress that we have made, and through this international show we will be able to appraise the strengths and weaknesses of our aerospace industry. The strengths will be maintained and further developed, while the weaknesses will be corrected and set right immediately."
Indonesians lined the side of the toll road leading from the airport in order to see the wide variety of aircraft and aerobatics demonstrations. For the first four days, the event was limited to business associates. On the fifth day, it was opened to the public for the remainder of the show.
Because of the Red Arrows trip to Indonesia several important UK shows had to be cancelled at quite short notice and the organisers of those shows were not best pleased.
All aircraft landed back at Cranwell on 10 July having flown 18,000 nautical miles, seven public displays and one practice display, 362 Hawk sorties amounting to 492 flying hours, without any major unserviceabilities. The support Hercules used 60 flying hours and remained serviceable throughout.
The on-