Red Arrows Stories
In response to emails and other messages from many visitors to my site in the last several years, I’ve been
persuaded to include some of the stories about my 11 years as the Red Arrows
Public Relations Officer (1989-2001). Until the Red Arrows moved to Cranwell in
1995 I was also the press officer for the whole of RAF Scampton which
included, amongst other units, the HQ of the RAF Central Flying School.
I've included, therefore, some anecdotes about the history of Scampton
that I gleaned from the Air Historical Branch and other, out of copyright,
sources. Stories of the Red Arrows tour to the Soviet Union and Hungary
start here
Until I retired in 2001 my web site was mainly devoted to Red Arrows'
matters because the RAF was very slow on the uptake when it came to
putting information on line. Here I would like to pay tribute to Tim
Callaway of DeltaWeb International
who started an unofficial Red Arrows web site as part of his much larger
on-line operation back in 1997 and who did a really excellent job for me
and for the Red Arrows until he was mysteriously ousted in the early
2000s when, belatedly it seems, the RAF decided to do the job
themselves.
I removed most of my Red Arrows stories
back in 2001 as soon as
I'd retired from that job (from all jobs actually!). My reason for removing
them then was that I wanted to leave my successor a clear field to promote the Team
as she wished – or as the MoD(RAF) wished.
For most of my 11 years I was left to my own devices to publicise the Red
Arrows stories as I wished without bothering to consult 'higher authority'. I write ‘my own devices’ advisedly because for my
entire 11 years I provided, at my own expense, all my own computers, printers, scanners and
software, and did all my own typing, because the RAF would not, or could not,
provide them. In the early years I personally did many radio and TV
interviews myself, not for personal aggrandisement but because members of the
Team were either not available at the required time or did not want to do them.
I have been back to the Red Arrows only once since retiring (my own
decision) so when reading these pages please note that there is nothing about the Royal Air
Force, the Red Arrows, RAF Scampton or the RAF College Cranwell that is more up
to date than March 2001. The stories are based on my diaries and my own research
and include some extracts from some of my previously published material.
Any opinions expressed, controversial or otherwise, are mine alone except
where I specify otherwise. I have occasionally changed names or omitted them
altogether, where to include them might have caused embarrassment to individuals.
There are many places on the Internet these days (2008) to read about the Red Arrows but I
will mention just two. The official MOD site is here.
A fantastic site for pictures
of the Team, and most other world-famous aerobatic teams, is
here.
Having read all that please explore by clicking on the links on the left. If you
wish to contact me please see the way to do so on my Home Page.
