Tony Cunnane's RAF Years

‘Danish pastries with tea or coffee will be served as soon as we’re airborne’.

Those were the final words of Cpl Carl Morgan’s pre-flight briefing to the passengers on ZD621, the British Aerospace 125 executive jet of No 32 Squadron which was to lead the formation of 10 Red Arrows’ Hawks throughout the historic six-day tour of the Soviet Union and Hungary.

The date was 20th June 1990; the time 8.10 am. On board was Air Commodore Bruce Latton, the Commandant of the RAF’s Central Flying School, Squadron Leader Roger Matthews, Senior Medical Officer at RAF Scampton, Squadron Leader Mick George, formerly Senior Air Traffic Control Officer at RAF Scampton but now travelling as official Russian interpreter, Warrant Officer Roy Fleckney, Red Arrows Adjutant and Cash Imprest Holder and a crew of three, two pilots and Carl Morgan. Finally there was me, the Scampton Community Relations Officer and a Russian speaker - but nowhere near as good as Mick George.

Roger carried mysterious bagsful of potions and pills designed to ease the queasiest of stomachs and to purify the foulest of waters. Roy carried a bagful of hard currency sufficient, hopefully, to finance the entire detachment. I carried a simple automatic camera with a bagful of films and quires of notepaper. Mick carried everything he needed in his head while the Air Commodore kept his thoughts to himself.

But why was an executive jet to lead the Red Arrows? The principle was straightforward, but never practised before. Because of the limited navigation aids in the Hawk and the need to have a Russian speaker somewhere within the formation in case of difficulty with the Soviet air traffic controllers, the BAe 125 was to lead the formation on the transit flights to Leningrad, Kiev, Budapest and then back to Scampton via RAF Wildenrath.

Whenever the Red Arrows operate away from base they take one of their own technicians in the back seat of each of the Hawks. These technicians are known as the Circus and, like all Red Arrows' groundcrew, they wear smart blue flying suits. The Circus' job is to service the aircraft as soon as it lands, which is usually before the support party arrives by road or in the accompanying Hercules transport aircraft. Being part of the Circus is what most of the ground crew aspire to: apart from the pride they get from the job, it guarantees them flights in the Hawks.

However, for this tour some changes would have to be made to the normal routine. After the first leg, a refuelling stop at Uppsala in Sweden, Squadron Leader George would fly in the back seat of Red l’s Hawk while the Circus technician would transfer to the BAe 125. This way the two Russian speakers would be in different aircraft, which might be helpful if the formation had to split up for any reason.

Above: Wating on the dispersal at Scampton while the faults on the Hercules and one of the Red Arrows' Hawks were rectified. Warrant Officer Roy Fleckney, Red Arrows' Adjutant is sitting on the aircraft steps while on the right Squadron Leader Mick George, the official Russian interpreter, watches me taking photographs.

Below: Mid-morning refreshments at Uppsala while all the aircraft were refuelled and negotiations were in hand with Soviet ATC authorities about penetration of Soviet airspace, negotiations greatly complicated because of communications and language difficulties. It almost seemed as though the Soviets did not know we were coming! Arthur Gibson, well-known photographer and film-maker is on the left, talking to Squadron Leader Roger Matthews, the RAF Scampton Senior Medical Officer.

Red Arrows Team Leader, Squadron Leader Miller had already practised flying in formation with the BAe 125 and had discussed speeds, heights and rates of climb and descent with Flight Lieutenant Paul Mulkern, the Captain. It turned out that the performance of the two types of aircraft was compatible so no problems were envisaged.

Cpl Morgan had barely completed his briefing before everyone was invited to disembark from their aircraft. We were told there was a minor snag with one of the Hawks. In fact the canopy of one of the Hawks had been jettisoned accidentally during the pre-flight procedures causing minor injuries to the pilot. Resolving that problem delayed take off by 98 minutes during which time our Danish pastries were returned to the BAe 125’s cold store.

The support Hercules from Number 30 Squadron at RAF Lyneham, parked at the side of the Red Arrows hangar and loaded to the gunnels with technical equipment, food, bottled water, and additional Red Arrows' ground-crew, was also having its own problems as evinced by the sight of an airman clinging precariously to the top of the rudder. That aircraft, airframe XV199 and variously known as Ascot, the Bomber, and Albert, would be carrying out its regular Red Arrows role of following on behind but not far behind. No Red Arrows major detachment is complete without Albert. There is something of the hare and tortoise about it. Although the Hawk is a fast jet, Albert turns up, regular as clockwork, down the route almost before the Red Arrows pilots have had time to board their coach to the next hotel.