Red Arrows: Inside the Bubble

An iconic team...

in their 50th display season...

prepare for their toughest test yet.

Nine pilots...

-Smoke on.

-'Go.'

The best of the very best.

Right-ah!

Daredevils.

Right-ah!

For the first time, we go inside the bubble

to discover their secrets.

It's the hardest flying I've ever done.

One of the most intense experiences you will ever have.

If a pilot isn't performing in the air, they will be removed.

Two new recruits face the most gruelling six months of their lives.

I felt a little bit sick.

The best tech team in aerobatics keep the whole show on the road.

A clean aircraft is a happy aircraft.

Fear, pressure, guts and glory.

From the heart!

This is what it takes to become part of the

greatest flying team on the planet.

Today, nine men will achieve a boyhood dream...

Roll backs have been nice, just keep chipping away at those. Very nice.

..or they will have their hearts broken.

Everyone senses the pressure that's coming.

I just hope we all do ourselves proud

and produce a couple of really good shows.

I feel for the whole team, quite frankly,

this is a big challenge for them.

A final test of skill to claim the most iconic flying

suit in the world.

You see the Red Arrows. You see them in their red suits.

That's just a little bit different and a bit special.

Today, these nine pilots become the Red Arrows.

Or they don't.

Now they are being put to the test,

so it'll be interesting to see how they get on with this.

60 minutes of flying to claim their prize.

It's taken six months of training to get to this moment.

And this is how they did it.

RAF Scampton, on a crisp Lincolnshire morning.

The Red Arrows report for duty. Winter training is in full swing.

15 weeks to go before the Reds take their final flying exam,

the PDA, in Cyprus.

We've got six serviceable and on the line.

It takes 120 people to keep this elite team in the air.

Shaft, yeah? OK, back down to idle.

Three training flights a day, five days a week,

guarantees a busy back room team.

13 Hawk jets, some over 30 years old,

need constant attention.

And if that wasn't enough, this is the Red Arrows' 50th display season.

2014 will be the busiest flying programme in years.

The Red Arrows are the public face of the RAF,

and represent the UK at events all over the globe.

But everything depends on the pilots passing their PDA.

It's Squadron Leader Jim Turner's job to get them ready.

He is the boss.

Take these points onto the next one and we'll improve.

-2?

-No thanks, Boss.

-3?

-No.

-4?

Nine fast jets 6ft apart, going at about 400mph,

it can be a tense situation, so we need to make sure that's safe.

I have to trust them every day,

that they're on the ball and will perform.

Seven of the pilots have flown for the team before.

But they still have to prove they have what it takes to

fly in this year's display.

If you've got a pilot that isn't performing in the air,

there is no place for him. They will be removed.

In the briefing room, every training sortie is examined

in forensic detail before and after flying.

-Let's run it just a little bit earlier.

-Yeah.

For new recruits Flight Lieutenants Stewart Campbell and Joe Hourston,

this entire process is completely new.

-That one was wide though, remember on the last drop.

-Yep, yep.

We will roll at 08.50. Thanks very much.

For Reds 2 and 3, they have got the pressure of having to learn

the techniques. It's almost like learning to fly all over again.

Joe and Stew both served in Afghanistan as part

of the 617 Dam Busters Squadron.

They are elite pilots

but even they're shocked by the relentless nature of training.

They need to be able to listen to what they've been told

and deliver in the air. It's as simple as that.

Stew, in particular, has struggled.

I really questioned whether I could do this job or not.

I did consider coming to see the boss and saying,

"This maybe isn't for me".

Yeah, it was his Flight Lieutenant in those days.

It's the hardest flying I've ever done.

More pressure than any flying course I've ever been on.

Far more stressful than actually being on operations in Afghanistan.

All you can do is identify what he needs to do to improve

the little areas that he has got to focus on, and then you give him

every opportunity to prove that he can do that.

So that's what happened and he's still on the team.

My life at the moment, and for the next three years, is the Red Arrows.

At the moment, that's pretty much all I think about,

from sunrise to sunset.

For Joe, sunrise to sunset isn't the problem.

It's getting some sleep in between that's most challenging.

He's obviously got a little one at home.

He gets in from work and Hamish obviously wants to play with him,

and he is tired.

There is that pressure, I guess, on family life.

That pressure is heightened by the high-risk nature of Joe's work.

I try not to let it take over my life,

because you would just worry about it all the time.

I know what the job involves,

we will just deal with it if anything happens. I'm sure it won't.

The boss is focusing on a section of the Palm Split.

The ninth move in the 2014 display.

It requires nine aircraft to execute correctly,

but Jim doesn't think the team are ready for that yet.

Reds 1 to 5 - also called Enid - are on their way to debrief.

In these very intense, very private meetings,

weaknesses are exposed and analysed.

'1, right-ah.

'2, right-ah.'

'3, right-ah.'

To avoid conflict in the briefing room, a clever psychological trick.

Pilots never refer to each other by name.

2, you were trying to correct

-from too many last time, weren't you?

-Yeah.

In here, everyone is a number.

Red 1 through to Red 9.

You were noticeably down. Remember that one, 3.

And the new boys, Joe and Stew, receive special attention.

That's what it looked like in the air. You were very close to me.

-Go further and then come back more.

-OK, yeah.

A spade's a spade in the debrief. But fundamentally,

people are just trying to get the best output for the display

and all we're trying to do is point out errors

and try and correct them.

The team will sit through over 250 of these briefings

before flying their PDA in May.

Thank you.

Effectively, you feel like you're getting flogged three times

a day and then you go back to your house, mull over it all night

and then come back in the morning with a smile ready to crack on

and try to do better.

But again, you get flogged three times a day,

go home, you know, and repeat until it starts to click.

For 50 seasons, the Red Arrows have brought excitement

and joy to millions of people.

But the team has faced dark days, too.

In 2011, the RAF and the country was shocked

when two Reds were killed in separate accidents

within just three months.

NEWS REPORT: 'The thoughts of this community are with the wife

'and family of Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging.'

'Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham, an Arrows pilot, died when

'he was ejected from his Hawk jet

'while on the ground at RAF Scampton.'

A painful period of mourning was followed by

a very public judicial enquiry.

We welcome the conclusion of the coroner,

which confirmed what we knew all along,

which is that Sean was blameless.

We had two tragic deaths in 2011, in short order.

That clearly has had a big effect upon the team

and our thoughts and prayers are still with the families

and friends of those two individuals who were killed.

But the team has had to move on.

This year's Red Arrows are well aware of the dangers involved.

And today, Joe and Stew come face-to-face

with their biggest test to date - roll backs.

I think pilots fear them because they are quite dynamic.

Each pilot has to roll around another aircraft.

If Joe and Stew can master the roll backs,

the team can start to train as a complete nine-ship.

We leave them till last, probably because they are

the most dynamic manoeuvre that the first years do.

To try and understand what it's like to perform the roll back,

Red 8, gives us a step-by-step guide to this remarkable piece of flying.

Flying at 280 knots here

down below about 500ft.

INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER

'8, roll, go.

'Looking ahead. Full power, up, squeeze...'

During the roll back,

Red 8 is experiencing three times the force of gravity.

His heart must now pump harder

to get blood to his brain.

As G increases, blood collects in the lower part of his body.

He squeezes his leg muscles to stem the flow,

and to stop from blacking out.

'..right-hand lane on. Move back into the formation.

'You're just above us now.

'Easing it back down. And we're good. Clear.'

'9, roll, go.'

'He goes. We go full power, squeeze back in there

'to leave him a gap to roll back down into.'

In theory, it sounds all right. In the brief, all right.

Watching other guys, it looks all right, so I don't know.

HE LAUGHS

Find out in about an hour and a half, I reckon.

We're into roll backs, OK. So I'll get us into big five.

I'll call the air brakes out - power, power.

The most important thing to brief yourself before you do them is to...?

Push and keep rolling from an escape.

Don't fear them, at all.

You've got to get the nose up, slight unload, and then roll.

If you unload completely, you end up above.

If you end up in that position, what are you going to do, 3?

I'm going to push, boss.

Yeah, push. And it feels uncomfortable,

you're pushing minus-two,

but your separation is instant. And out you go.

No rush to get on with these, that'll come with experience.

Thank you very much.

The pilots are now in the bubble.

They cannot be disturbed.

Complete focus is required until they return from their flight.

And with their first roll backs coming up,

concentration is particularly vital.

I woke up in the middle of the night

thinking about how I'm going to fly it.

I managed to get back to sleep and it's pretty much the first thing

I thought about this morning, as well.

I spent my weekend deliberately trying to not think about it.

You're always aware that things

have gone wrong during these exercises.

Roll backs have caused a lot of issues in the past,

so...a bit of pressure on.

Red 1 calls Stew into a roll back.

'2, roll - go!'

He takes a very wide line -

safe, but not good enough for a nine-ship.

'Clear.'

'3, roll - go!'

Next up, it's Joe.

Better.

The roll backs continue into the second sortie.

'2, roll - go!'

'Clear.

3, roll - go!'

Then...it clicks.

'2 and 3 - roll. Go.'

Joe and Stew complete their first synchronised roll back.

'Clear. Clear.'

The two of us going at the same time, it's probably the most

enjoyable, satisfying thing I think I've done in the work up.

How was that?

-Yeah, better.

-Yeah, good learning stuff, so it was all right.

We're just trying to correct the little bits we worked on last time.

And of course, different little bits happened this time.

What did he have to say? Did he say he was good, did he?

Oh, he said he was absolutely amazing.

HE SCOFFS

General points? 8?

Every single one of those roll backs were safe and controlled,

which is exactly what we're looking for, as far as roll backs go.

So, yeah, I'm really pleased.

-10?

-All were absolutely safe, and they're nice shapes.

The good thing is, you're recognising how to fly the shapes.

Yeah, safe, mellow, controlled. That's what we are looking for.

Really good effort. Well done.

Good stuff. That's all I've got. 2?

-No, boss.

-3?

-No.

-4?

-No.

-8?

-Good effort.

-9?

-No, boss.

-10?

-No.

Good stuff. Thank you. Well done.

'You just play the scenarios in your mind, don't you?

'You don't want to get there and find yourself in a situation

'you hadn't thought about on the ground before you went,'

cos there's no excuse for that.

You've got plenty of time to think it through.

He's good at being kind of calm. I felt a little bit sick!

I just didn't want to be upside down, over the top of 4.

Once that happened, I stopped feeling quite as sick.

Joe and Stew have mastered the roll back - it's a huge moment.

Massive sense of relief. That's the last manoeuvre.

Big day. Big relief.

Mmmmmm!

HAMISH CHORTLES

-Do you want another tickle?

-Yeah!

-OK! Mmmm!

HAMISH LAUGHS

You can practise something and think you've got it

and the very next day, you've forgotten it again.

Or the next week, you've forgotten it again.

Hopefully, the recurring mistakes are getting smaller and smaller.

JAUNTY JAZZ MUSIC

The Red Arrows have cut a dash through our skies at every

big bash since the swinging '60s.

Over 4,500 displays in more than 55 countries.

'The Red Arrows fly the Gnat trainer.

'It's so small, the pilots say you don't so much climb into it

'as put it on!'

Flying ambassadors roaring in and out of our imagination...

Vroom!

..always making their mark...

..never revealing their secrets.

Until now.

At RAF Scampton, Red 1's training regime continues apace.

He knows the more they train, the better and safer his team will be.

But even the boss can't control the weather.

We just landed off slot three. The weather is picking up now.

It's gusting at 25. The boss will now make the call.

Does he then send up another trip or does he not?

We've just been gusting up to 28. It is getting a bit crossy, yeah.

It was 25 across.

There's too great a risk of the wind getting out of limits later.

It's not worth the risk going flying. So I'll have to cancel.

During a very British winter,

the flying schedule is under constant review.

It's Flight Lieutenant Jen Lavender's job to make sure

the squadron is kept in the loop.

Ops is like the jack of trades and the master of none,

in the sense that we get all the information,

we just have to disseminate it, make sure everyone's aware.

Make sure the engineers are in the picture,

and the air traffic are in the picture.

We're always very calm and in control. But it can occasionally

get a little hectic with the changes, just to keep on top of.

Joe and Stew have now proved they can execute the individual

manoeuvres of this year's display.

Now comes the tough part...

putting it all together.

The first major hurdle they have to jump through is the first nine-ship.

It's actually putting everything they've learnt together safely,

and once I'm content that it's safe, we'll do that.

If the team can convince the boss that they're ready,

then he will move the entire Red Arrows operation

to RAF Akrotiri, in Cyprus.

Mediterranean weather means the team can rack up their sorties

in advance of their final flying test on May 27.

It's Red 1's call.

But even the boss has a boss.

We've just got some senior officers from the Air Force,

D-Com Ops and the AOC - Air Marshall Lloyd.

He's definitely one you would stand to attention to!

11 weeks from now, Air Vice Marshall Mike Lloyd will pass or fail

the 2014 team at their PDA exam.

He is the Air Officer Commanding for the Red Arrows.

They can't fly in public without his approval.

Operations as normal - we still run a flying programme.

There's no added pressure, really.

Today he wants to see how they're progressing in advance

of their Springhawk training camp in RAF Akrotiri.

Pac come in at 2.0. 1200 take off.

Runway 0-4-0-8-0-10.

But for Joe and Stew,

a bad performance could jeopardise their place on the team

and throw preparations for the 50th display season into disarray.

2 and 3, it's the first time I've really met them, personally,

and they're very professional pilots.

And of course they have been selected because of

their professionalism and skills, and also their teamwork.

As before, I'll roll out, I'll come right - in diamond -

and then we'll punch out towards Five Mile Lake.

9 Arrow, go. 8, 9.

Trim complete prime, pyramid go.

2, 3.

To the uninitiated, it's almost impossible

to understand the briefings.

Right now, the pilots are rehearsing call signs for the Palm Split.

Rolling out, smoke on go. Pulling up.

1, right-ah.

Instructions are always issued

from the pilot on the right of the formation.

By breaking the word "right" into two syllables,

their opposite number has a moment to prepare.

2, right-ah.

He will not move until he hears the second syllable.

3, right-ah.

Good, let's go and have a good show, all right. Any questions?

-2?

-No.

-3?

-No.

-4?

-No.

-5?

-No.

-6?

-No.

-7?

-No.

-8?

-No.

-9?

-No.

-10?

-No.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

Up here, Sir.

Both Stew and I, we like working together to make the grade there

and we'll encourage each other on as much as we possibly can

to prove to each other that we can make it.

What we're most looking forward to is putting a red suit on together

come the end of May.

The AOC takes up his position...

..while the pilots make their way to the jets.

From outside air traffic control, every error will be obvious.

In the iconic diamond formation, there is only 6ft between the jets.

Any wobble now could threaten the lives of the pilots.

There are certainly times when you get a bit closer to

some of the aeroplanes than you would ideally like to.

To get close is to get too close.

It would bring a tear to most people's eyes, I would say.

The Reds use their air brakes to control

the distance between their jets.

A tiny movement of the stick in a Hawk,

the jet's going to move a significant distance.

I have a box of air space. It's probably only a couple of feet.

If I come outside that box,

it's going to cause Number 4 issues,

and probably cause him to move his jet and react.

Once he's happy I can stay in that box, he'll come in close.

Then generally, he then tries to ignore me completely.

Even if I have a wobble, he trusts that I'll stay there.

The Big Cheese. The Grand Fromage.

A pre-look from him. Hopefully in two and a half months,

when we see him next, it'll be coming together. We'll see.

Hopefully.

At this stage, we have perhaps got a reasonable first half,

more work to do in the second half.

So overall, in terms of progression to PDA,

I'm quite pleased with what I've seen today.

Winter training is over.

The Red Arrows are leaving RAF Scampton for two months

of intensive training, called Springhawk, in Cyprus.

But once again, the British weather is having the last laugh.

They're probably better off going where they're going.

The sun awaits them, I think.

The pilots will fly the 2,000 mile trip to Cyprus in formation,

stopping off to refuel in France, Italy and Greece.

We look to get airborne at 10.00. Checking in for 8.00.

That's all I've got. Have a good one.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

Joe and Stew know that this is a significant moment for them.

If the boss didn't think they could make the grade,

he wouldn't be taking them to Springhawk.

But right now, for Joe, for once,

there are more important things on his mind than the Red Arrows.

Cuddles for teddy. That's it.

Ooh!

We have another baby on the way.

SHE LAUGHS

Due at the end of August.

So, yeah, that was a bit of a shock.

But, yeah, it's good news and it's good for Hamish.

He'll like to have a little playmate. So, yeah.

That's good. That's our news.

SHE LAUGHS

In the military they do go away,

they go on courses, they go abroad, they go...

It's quite a regular thing, so...

I guess I'm used to it, really.

You kind of prepare yourself, really, for it. You have to.

You can't just sit at home and, you know, wait for them to come home.

RAF Akrotiri. Cyprus.

The Red Arrows have been coming here for the last 35 years.

Reliable weather means Red 1 can schedule three

nine-ship training flights a day,

five days a week.

There is now three weeks to go before Air Vice Marshall Lloyd

arrives on the island to decide whether to grant them

their public display licence.

'Here we go. Smoke on...go... Ahhh!

'Roll, go. Hold it.

'Oh, he's all over this. Wicked.'

If they don't pass their PDA, they cannot perform in public

and all their work will be in vain.

The pilots will train at four datums around the island.

The datum is a fixed point, on land, that the nine aircraft display to.

Each one offers a different challenge, depending on the weather.

But it is here, at datum Cliffs,

where the final flying test will take place.

It's also here that the Reds have chosen to remember their

two fallen brothers -

Jon Egging and Sean Cunningham.

The Red Arrows technical team are also here,

working around the clock to keep the 12 Hawk jets in the air.

That needs to go on the top of there.

And that goes in between that lever.

Jets must be maintained, re-fuelled, and re-stocked with

the famous red, white and blue dye that is synonymous with the Arrows.

THEY CHEER

Down on the line, the SEngO calls the shots.

The Senior Engineering Officer has responsibility for all

logistical and engineering matters for the Red Arrows.

It's the first sortie of the day.

The nine-ship is at the Wreck.

Wing Commander Neil Fraser is watching from the beach.

Suddenly, a problem.

This is a critical moment for the remaining eight pilots.

They are travelling at more than 400mph.

Making hundreds of split-second calculations.

Now they must adjust and react to their new flying environment.

While executing the rest of the display safely and confidently.

It's called their 'loser strategy'.

Back on the line, SEngO is briefing his team -

he doesn't know Red 4 is coming in to land.

We're going to have to stop this briefing.

JET ENGINE ROARS

Looks like we've got an aircraft returned, and I'm unsure why that is.

But the pilot has obviously got a snag of sorts.

A technical fault now is the last thing the team need.

'2 and 3, go.'

At Wrecks, the display might not be pretty

but Joe, Stew and the rest of the team have stuck to the "loser plan".

On the line, Red 4 is briefing SEngO.

He saw the lower step was coming out.

-So he thought it was proud?

-Yeah.

I can't tell from inside the cockpit.

Your canopy was obviously down and locked.

Everything was normal, this footstep was up, so he didn't mis-ID that.

And there was no comms issue, so...

Definitely said it was the main footstep.

At the speed they're flying, any change to the aerodynamics

of the aircraft could have disastrous consequences.

If the guys are checking it's secure,

they've got to make sure they're not flicking that catch,

cos that will loosen it, if you see what I mean.

Thanks, guys.

The pilots head for their debrief.

They have to trust the engineers to investigate and solve the problem.

That's the canopy shut ready to go, onset of G.

There's some resistance on it with the air flow,

he's going at 300 knots,

pushing that backwards, that's why it's staying down.

-Some guys come along and they go...

-HE TAPS PLANE

They just give it a tap.

That's not locked, but it's looking like it's up and done.

OK, we'll go away and have a think about this,

can you brief all of the linies?

Get them all together now, give them a brief...

out at the jet. Show them exactly what we've just seen.

The mechanism is examined. Everything seems to be working.

But from now on, the manual checks on the ground will be changed.

For you guys now,

just give it a tug and make sure

that it doesn't come down and it is physically locked.

Because a hand sweep may not necessarily get it home

when you're doing your walk rounds.

Our fun never stops!

On the line, the most coveted position of all is in the Circus.

The Circus is the travelling circus, in essence.

So every season, we will choose

ten of the best engineers,

and then it will be their privilege to be allocated to one of the pilots.

They will fly in the back of their jet

all around the world, jumping out at whatever airfield you land at.

You will service your jet and make sure it is good for the next sortie.

A clean aircraft is a happy aircraft, shall we say.

From the day anybody joins the Red Arrows,

they really want to become a part of the service,

so it is highly prized and highly cherished by those

that are fortunate enough to get selected for it.

Keep them nice and shiny. Or as best you can.

A few hundred yards away from the line is Delta Ops.

Just like in Scampton,

the Ops Room runs the schedule to the boss' strict instructions.

Probably about a 10.20 takeoff.

Stew is in charge of keeping the boss up to date with the weather.

That's a cross-section for today.

You can basically rule out all the low cloud this morning,

so a cracking day for us.

He's also responsible for ringing the bell before briefings,

which isn't as straightforward as it might sound.

Ding-a-ling!

Nine.

I don't mind about little bits of error there,

-if you can just hold that.

-Yeah.

The pressure on the pilots is increased

with each completed sortie.

-2.

-3.

-And I smoke...

-Yeah.

-Smoke off.

As well as running out of time to practise for PDA,

they are also entering the period

where any mistake or injury could be a disaster for the team.

The Red Arrows don't have substitute pilots.

They wouldn't have the time or budget to train them.

So the last thing they need right now are any distractions.

But that's exactly what they're about to get.

Today is the start of the shortlist.

These pilots have been chosen to take part in a series

of tasks to see if they have what it takes to join the team next year.

There are only three places on offer.

A Red Arrow pilot is a fast jet pilot who usually has some

sort of operational experience.

He has over 1,500 hours flying fast jets.

He is the best that we have.

I am very, very happy that I've been selected for the shortlist.

I think it's quite a privilege

that I've been selected to get to this stage.

That this bit of paper gets handed to you

with the successful candidates,

and your name's on there is, yeah, incredible.

-I'm quite proud to be on the shortlist.

-I kept the bit of paper!

It's on my desk at home.

Last year, it was Joe and Stew who

were lucky enough to be selected.

It's the pinnacle of anything you could do as a pilot, really.

It's true piloting at its rawest, really.

It feels like you're under the spotlight for the whole week,

really. So that's quite tough.

Now it's their job to help choose next year's new recruits.

The entire Red Arrows team have a vote on who

they think is fit to wear the red suit.

An intense schedule of interviews,

social engagements and flying tests await them.

The scoring system is a well-guarded secret.

And every event has a hidden purpose.

We all have to be able to get on with each other, otherwise it can

create some pretty obvious tense situations,

and that's not something we want on the team.

This allows us, in an informal atmosphere, to see

people relax, chill out, socialise,

really get to know one another.

But it also gives us another element to be able to assess

how they perform in a competitive social environment, as well.

We're looking for that person that has a nice competitive streak

rather than a mean one.

Because they don't want to compete against each other

when they're in the air - they want to be working together.

The coolest thing I've ever done in my life.

There are 12 flying days left before Joe

and Stew take their final exam for this year's PDA.

36 nine-ship sorties to the most important flight of their lives.

Everything is in place for the final phase of their training.

Everything except the weather.

Poor conditions mean the boss can practise the flat display.

This routine allows the Reds to perform

when the cloud base is below 2,500 feet.

This is not Cyprus weather, this is British weather.

In Cyprus, in May, rain is rare,

but that's not much good to the boss right now.

An electrical storm is close by,

and while the lightning risk remains high, the jets cannot be refuelled.

We're at thunderstorm level high, so there's no refuelling.

Engineering grabbed their chance to carry out some essential

maintenance on two of the jets.

We've removed the old canopy seal

and now we're going to fit the new one. Give it a good pressure test.

But this is far from ideal for the Red Arrows.

Building up their nine-ship experience is critical

to passing their PDA.

With a little boy and pregnant wife at home in Britain,

staying busy is important to Joe.

Downtime is the last thing he needs.

You think more about home

when there's nothing else to think about.

On a normal day here, you literally fly, debrief, fly,

debrief, fly, debrief. And then that's the day finished.

You go to the gym, you'll have dinner

and you'll go to bed, pretty much.

So when you're sitting around, your mind starts wandering,

thinking about home and what's going on

and hoping everyone's all right back home.

The next morning, it's Stew's job to update the team on the weather.

Good morning, all. Not a great day for us again, I'm afraid.

It's fairly stacked throughout the day,

a bit of a lower cloud base than we've seen, as well.

However, less chance of thunderstorms than yesterday.

It's bad news for the team.

The boss launches a jet to see

if there's any chance of a break in the clouds.

Wing Commander Fraser is at the Wreck, waiting for news.

Although you do get some cloudy conditions come through and you do get some rain,

this is probably the worst weather I've seen in the last three years.

So it's going to pass through. We'll make the best of it as we can.

But I'm sure next week is going to be blue skies again

and back to the training we're used to.

But, if anything, the weather appears to be worse.

Red 1 has seen enough -

he cancels the day's flying programme.

Three training flights lost, one day closer to PDA.

OK, thanks very much for the update. We'll head back to Squadron.

Cheers.

The weather has also affected the Shortlist Week.

All the candidates are seasoned fast jet pilots,

but some have found it tougher than others.

I don't think I did myself justice there, such is life.

There's always room for improvement, I think.

Now, with flying cancelled, their final test,

the interviews, are brought forward.

Each candidate will be quizzed by Red 1,

Group Captain Hunter and Wing Commander Fraser.

Who do you most admire on the team and why?

I'm probably going to say Stew Campbell.

If he struggles with anything, he doesn't let it bother him,

he's not easily flappable, um,

and he just then has the drive and determination to succeed.

As a young guy on my first tour,

it was a very exciting place to have been.

You just need to be absolutely honest with yourself.

For Red 1, the 50th anniversary

has added resonance.

It will be his last as a Red Arrow.

He has led the team for three years,

including through the tragic days of 2011.

I think I'm ready to leave. I think three years is long enough

to do as team leader. It's a very intense job.

While I've loved my time, I'm looking forward to something

a little bit more...stable.

I'll look back on this as the highlight of my life,

without a doubt, in terms of professional flying.

Ding-a-ling!

The boss is hoping to sign off in style.

It's his job to design the 2014 display.

And he has something new for the anniversary season.

The main new manoeuvre we've got this year is a manoeuvre called

the Twister. We've got a four-ship up the front

who fly in what we call a box formation.

A run-in towards the crowd on the left 45.

I get Red 5 to roll around the smoke,

and then go through about 90 degrees

of turn. We'll all put coloured smoke on so it looks fantastic.

Inside the cockpit of Red 8,

we get an incredible insight into the Twister.

Once the smoke comes on we're going to pitch in now,

rolling to the right, to set up a corkscrew around to the left now.

Continuous left-hand turn, we're just varying the rate at which

we're turning to make sure that we keep the same circular patterns

around and ahead.

That's it. Just going a little bit long now so we put full power on.

Hear the engine spalling right up, at a 60-degree angle of bank,

to roll around, keeping those rolls all the way round,

flipping up, over and back round.

Two more left to go, G-pants fully inflated now

as we're squeezing about 4G at the bottom of the turn.

One more to go.

Now experiencing 4G, Red 8's head is four times heavier

than on the ground.

As G increases during the dynamic manoeuvre, he must stay alert.

At the first sign of tunnel vision, he must consciously fight back

or he could lose his vision entirely.

-Over the top, good length...

-'Ah!'

-..and we're clear.

Smoke goes off and we're into the next manoeuvre.

Good with that?

The following week, the weather improves.

The team continue to finesse their display, one sortie at a time.

Right!

Until finally, time runs out.

Training is over.

It's an amazing difference from the first trip we did

back in November with the new 2 and 3.

You know, they were all over the place.

And now, they're flying very, very consistently. Perfect formation.

The team just need to remain calm over the weekend.

Stew and Red 7, Mark, are keen to burn off any nervous energy.

Having done his first PDA last year,

Stew wants to pick Mark's brain.

How does it feel, you know, with PDA looming,

compared to what it did last year?

When you get up in the morning, you've just got to go

-and do the biz.

-Yeah.

It's what you've spent the last six, seven months getting ready for,

as well. You're sort of waiting for that, you pin everything on that,

almost, waiting for that point where you've got your red suit.

When you're flying back on the transit, you just see red

all over the place in the corner of your eye

-with the colour of your suit, it's pretty cool.

-Wicked.

At base, Joe is catching up with his young family in the UK.

'Can you see Hamish?'

Awww, hello, Hamish. Hello!

-'Daddy!'

-Hi. Yeah, hello!

For the Red Arrows, all focus is on Tuesday's flying test.

Back in Lincolnshire,

it's on Thursday's coming-home dinner with Daddy.

-How's bump?

-'Bump's good. Yes. Expanding.'

-Expanding rapidly?

-Are you running out of clothes?

-'Yes.'

-I'll give you a call back later on if that's OK?

-'Yep, okey-doke.'

Is that OK? Love you. Bye-bye.

As the countdown to PDA continues, everyone has their own way

of preparing for the big day. Some all-action, some a little quieter.

Joe and Stew decide on a game of golf.

Sort of.

I get far more stressed playing damned golf than flying an airplane.

JOE LAUGHS

Mate! Beauty!

I want to see a splash.

BOTH: Yay!

On the line, the sun rises on the final day

of training for Joe, Stew and the rest of the team.

Today is their PDA.

Morning.

Up a little bit early, like an excited school kid

-on Christmas morning, I guess.

-Yeah.

It's just trying to make everything look hopefully the best we can.

If they pass, they will have won the right to wear the red suit

and impress millions of people.

Today, they only have to impress one.

AOC arrives at Delta.

There's coffees being made at the moment.

SEngO is on the line.

His team have passed their first tests with flying colours.

11 jets, ready to go.

Now, it's over to the pilots.

Ding-a-ling!

This is not the time to have an off day.

Good morning, AOC, it's D-Com Ops. That's the cross section for today,

hopefully we can ignore the low cloud.

He says there is some kicking around just south of us.

It's about 10 miles south at the moment, boss,

and the little bits that are bubbling up,

he reckons about 1,200 to 1,500ft, but there will be a few scatters.

Once that lifts, it will get to about 3,000ft.

The wind is light all day.

Good, thank you very much.

We've done 117 displays to date, so just treat this one

like it's a normal day. The nerves will get to you a bit,

but it's good practice for the season.

Certainly for the new guys, this is what you'll feel

for the first couple of sorties. All right? You'll be fine.

We're going to start off flat at the Lighthouse. Sir.

Have a good day.

Then, a problem.

It looks like the cloud base is a bit of an issue,

so they've sent Red 9 up to go and do a quick recce.

The Met brief was wrong.

Right. Coffees?

Never believe number 2's Met brief, ever.

The sortie is cancelled

and the pressure gauge goes up one more notch.

-It's not quite what we'd hoped for.

-Thanks. Cheers, sir. Bye.

That's slipped till 10.15 now because the weather's still bad,

so I'll let them know and bring them back in.

Bye-bye.

Boss, so they reckon exactly as predicted,

so probably within the next hour, it kind of breaking and lifting.

-At the moment it's about 1,100ft.

-OK.

-Let's make sure the jets are good to go.

-Yeah.

Rumours spread that the PDA might need to be postponed.

The boss has heard enough. He wants to assess the situation himself.

It's certainly no higher than 1,000.

It seems to be drifting on, as well.

-Yeah, it is, it's coming from that way.

-It's that wind.

-We'll go for 11 o'clock.

-Cool.

11 o'clock and 1.15pm.

Right.

Decision made.

Sortie one for this year's PDA exam will depart at 1100 hours.

It's a good test for the team, though.

It's good to see how Jim has responded to it.

It's good to see how together they're under pressure on the day.

This is exactly the sort of pressure they'll feel when they first go

for their public displays.

To pass the PDA,

the team need to successfully complete two different flights.

First up, the flat display - a version of the full show

that can be carried out in bad weather back home.

The wind is actually very variable.

The current instant wind is 190 at five.

Red 10 is the team's display supervisor and commentator

and will talk the AOC through the display.

He also has a direct line to the boss in the air.

Straightaway, things start to go wrong.

Why have we got one over there?

INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER

After take-off, Red 7's had a problem with his air brake,

so his air brake wouldn't come out.

We need the air brake in the show to control the speed.

In the air, with one jet out of action,

the team must now execute the "loser plan",

and prove to the AOC they can perform under pressure.

It's made the toughest test of their flying lives even tougher.

It's been one of these days.

'Jets, colour on - go.'

What they ARE doing is exercising the "loser plan",

and for me, it's excellent to see them actually execute it.

We do practise it, clearly. Well, now they're being put to the test.

It'll be interesting to see how they get on with this.

-It shouldn't be a problem.

-But because it's number 6 or 7,

it'll still be symmetrical, the first half of the display.

But what we will see is no synchro pair manoeuvres.

So Red 6 will be doing those manoeuvres on his own.

We'll see how it goes.

Now back on the ground, Red 7, Mark,

so enthusiastic on his bike ride with Stew earlier in the week,

is heartbroken.

It's a technical malfunction. Hopefully it's just the switch,

it's just the relay in the actual switch. So it's nothing,

it's nothing particularly serious.

It's just taken me out of the formation on PDA day.

INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER

It will add extra pressure

on an already fairly stressful day, I think.

Pretty gutted.

It's the fact that it's PDA day, so you want to have earned your red suit

at the end of the day. So to be on the ground while they're doing

the biz is, I would think everybody would understand that.

Mark is part of the synchro pair.

Without him, things look very different.

This is where the timing could be a little bit affected.

Only the AOC knows whether he will consider this display

as part of the PDA assessment.

The team just has to get on with business.

RADIO: 'OK, go.'

Ahh, dear...

One thing is clear. The AOC will want to hear how the team and Red 7

dealt with the problem in the air.

I would expect the team to be honest.

If they have come across a safety issue in that formation,

for them to then debrief it, and then for me to perhaps discuss it

with them afterwards in terms of what do we learn from that,

how do we make sure it doesn't happen again.

That's probably the most critical factor of this PDA performance today.

Safety points, I don't think I have any.

Safety short when we went for the air brake on the re-join,

and so I had to push to make sure I went underneath him.

-That's fine.

-Yes.

Good effort. We are going to brief at minute 35.

Full at the Cliffs, come on.

-Questions? 2?

-No.

-3?

-No.

-4?

-No.

-5?

-No.

-6?

-No.

-7?

-No.

-8?

-No.

-9?

-No.

-10?

-No.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

-Sorry...

-When did the air brake fail?

-Um, I was on the left-hand side.

I slide in underneath 9, to then slide in behind 6.

As the air brakes come out, that was when it failed.

So 6's air brake came out and I had to push to...

-..avoid him.

-Great.

If the team needed a reminder of how serious the AOC is taking the PDA,

they just got one.

THEY CHAT

Mark's air brake problem means he needs a spare aircraft.

Now another jet is in for running repairs.

What we've just done now is the same as a Formula One team

changing their tyres on a pit stop and in comparable timings to

what they do to what we do, it's about the same.

They do it in about 3.4 seconds, ours is about 3.4 minutes.

But theirs is a lot easier than ours.

Finally, three hours behind schedule, Joe and Stew arrive

for the most important flight of their lives.

-Mate, all the best.

-Enjoy.

-See you later.

Everything they have trained for comes down to this.

Get this done.

We'll all be a little bit more stressed,

and will probably think about it a little bit more before we go.

It's been a long journey.

Boyhood dreams and professional pride are on the line.

Keeping calm is key.

But so is showing their fellow pilots they're ready for business.

AOC takes his position at the Cliffs.

The entire squadron is being tested.

But right now, the back room team need the pilots to do the business.

Hundreds of hours of training all hang on the next 40 minutes.

You're into this little bubble, little zone,

where we're just concentrating purely on the job at hand,

and nothing else.

More people in space, I think, than have flown for the Red Arrows.

So huge privilege.

For 2014, the Red Arrows!

The boss leads them up into the first of 24 manoeuvres.

They must ace them all.

You see the jets now collapse to about 8ft apart

as they form short diamonds. As Red 1 leads them into a loop

at 400mph.

The jets now climb to a height of 6,000ft

and you can see the shape is changing to form a feathered arrow.

RADIO: 'Right-ah!

'Right-ah...'

This is the palm split.

The synchro pair prepare to draw a heart.

'Smoke on.'

At a height of 7,000ft, the smoke comes on.

11 manoeuvres to go.

The inside pilots perform tight, matched rolls to the outside,

give the roll backs.

PILOT: 'Ahh!'

Inch perfect at 400mph.

Now, the boss' big move.

The Twister.

Reds 1 to 4 form a box formation...

PILOT: 'Ha-ha-ha!'

'Go!'

Show over.

The AOC gathers his thoughts.

It looked good from the Cliffs,

but will the disrupted morning count against the Reds?

Oh, yes.

It won't be 100% guaranteed, but hopefully it's a good show.

Now for the final reckoning.

First of all, well done with coping

with the disappointment of the weather this morning

that caused the delay. I thought you coped with that very well.

To do a seven-out flat having not flown it before

but having briefed it before, and it looked good,

in terms of the circumstances, so well done on that.

And for you, Joe and Stew, to come into the team the way that you have,

you've fitted in well and I think you've performed very well,

so well done on that. It was a good show.

I've conferred with D-Com Ops,

who of course is the Air Force Board Member here,

to make sure that you are fit to display in public,

and based on our discussions,

I'm now prepared to award you Public Display Authority.

So well done, and really enjoy your 50th season. Congratulations.

-Well done, Jim.

-Thanks very much, Sir.

-Thank you, much appreciated.

-Well done, Joe.

-Thank you, Sir.

They've done it.

THEY CONGRATULATE ONE ANOTHER

CORK POPS ALL: Yay!

-Cheers, well done.

-Congrats.

-Yeah!

Here's to a good year.

Only one thing left to do. Quick change of clothes...

-Excuse me.

-First, the blues...

Then, after six months of blood, sweat and tears...

A bit emotional.

Blues, please put your hands together for the Red Arrows of season 2014!

BLUES CLAP AND CHEER

The Reds did the business in the air,

but it was the Blues that put them there.

Three cheers for the Blues!

-Hip, hip...

-ALL: Hooray!

-Hip, hip...

-ALL: Hooray!

-Hip, hip...

-ALL: Hooray!

To wear this suit and be part of the team is a fantastic achievement,

to get this far. I'm really proud.

It's an amazing feeling. HAVING one of these suits,

never mind WEARING it, is pretty cool.

It certainly feels probably more special today, you know,

getting to this stage, than even that first elation,

finding out you're in the team.

With another little one on the way,

Joe has a few more sleepless nights ahead.

It's a boy, by the way.

Eventually, Stew wants to fly an air ambulance

back home in Scotland.

Next year, Tom Bold, Emmet Cox

and Michael Bowden will join the Reds.

But today, this year's team are celebrating,

because tomorrow, the Red Arrows are coming home.

-ALL:

-Cheers!

# Birds flying high You know how I feel

# Sun in the sky You know how I feel

# Breeze driftin' on by

# You know how I feel

# It's a new dawn It's a new day

# It's a new life

# For me

# And I'm feeling good. #