Episode 1 Britain's Ultimate Pilots: Inside the RAF

Can there be anything more British than the love of adrenalin?

Determination in the face of adversity...

That is not show standard.

..which epitomises the RAF.

Brilliant to watch. It never gets tiring.

Over the course of their action-packed summer season,

we'll be flying with Britain's ultimate pilots,

the Red Arrows,

with their fellow display teams, the Typhoon Jets...

..the Chinook Helicopter...

..and the Hurricanes and Spitfires.

We're going inside the bubble to chart the courage it takes

to pull off the most famous flying experience in the world.

RADIO CRACKLE

The Red Arrows - the most respected

and iconic aerobatic team on the planet.

These superhuman pilots have been thrilling

millions of fans for over 50 years.

'Rolling south.'

Turning British skies red, white and blue

throughout the display season requires courage

when travelling at speeds of more than 450mph...

'Rolling.'

..with only six foot between jets.

It takes a punishing schedule in the air

and a mammoth planning operation on the ground to pull this off,

as the ultimate showmen of the skies

prepare for their busiest weekend of the year...

..and it all starts in the most prestigious way possible -

a fly-past at Buckingham Palace in front of thousands.

And just two hours later, they need to be show-ready again,

joining forces with vintage Second World War fighters

at Biggin Hill Air Show.

And less than 24 hours after that, be at the top of their flying game

to display for some of the RAF's highest-ranking officers at Cosford.

That's be the most challenging day of the season so far.

The pressure to perform is incredible.

That's not show standard. We have to improve that on the next sortie,

and our third sortie today.

But will their arch-enemy, the great British weather,

turn their busiest flying weekend into their biggest nightmare?

Now the biggest factor is the weather.

It's a real shame cos all week it's been absolutely beautiful.

The countdown's begun to the busiest two days in the Red Arrows calendar.

They're hoping to take their place

in one of the biggest displays of aerial might in decades.

This year's Royal Birthday salute over Buckingham Palace is scheduled

to include the great squadrons of the RAF both past and present.

It's the highest tribute the Royal Air Force can pay

and expectations are even higher this year.

In young Prince George, they might have a new Royal to impress.

Today the Reds are hard at it.

They're striving as always to be pitch perfect for the big day.

But will the boss - Red 1 - be able to pull it off?

Good Vixen Break. Just a little bit of a ride out up at two three.

That was the only thing you could notice and the timing was not as good as the Vixen Break.

That's all I could really notice there. Those were good.

But the obvious one is Helix. That is not show standard.

We have to improve that on the next sortie and the third sortie today.

This is Squadron Leader David Montenegro's first year in charge.

RADIO CHATTER

It's critical the Reds are up to show standard

for such an auspicious occasion.

The Queen's Birthday is an annual event

but of course, the profile is extremely high.

It's a huge amount of pride that we have,

being allowed to do that and to represent the service in that way.

High-profile it may be,

but the fly-past is just the start of a mammoth weekend of flying.

For us in that weekend,

straight after the fly-past we'll land at Biggin Hill,

then we will quickly refuel the aircraft,

brief for the display, then do a complete display at Biggin Hill,

followed by fly-past with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

to celebrate the Battle of Britain anniversary this year.

So as part of that commemoration, you've got every piece,

every spectrum that we can deliver in one day.

It's just two days before

their all-important appointment at the Palace.

But the spectre of changeable weather is lurking,

and beyond their control.

Low cloud blanketing their route to London

is threatening to ground the team.

And the issue... This plan isn't going to be as good,

because we're going into the worst weather.

If they do end up grounded for this most high-profile of aerial salutes,

both her Majesty the Queen and the thousands of spectators

gathered on the Mall will be hugely disappointed.

Is Waddington Met Office on here?

As navigator, it's Red 7's near-impossible job

to stay one step ahead of the cloud.

I was wondering if I could chat to someone about the weather this weekend, please.

We'd like to stay VFR below the clouds if possible.

Realistically, about 1,500 feet, 1,000 feet,

to get out of here safely. That's great.

Thank you very much for your help. Cheers. Have a good day.

Speak tomorrow. Bye. Yeah.

It's not good news.

There is a front that's approaching from the south.

And it's quite an active front, so it's thick clouds, thunderstorms,

heavy rain.

Because it's two days away, it's quite hard to predict,

so they think it's going to have passed London

by the time of the Queen's Birthday Fly-past,

so it's going to be over us at the time we want to leave Scampton,

so that will make it quite tricky to get out of here.

Nine months of RAF planning could lie in tatters

and the Reds could end up with red faces if they miss the fly-past.

Yeah, we're going to need to do something...

It's expected to include other fast jets and helicopters -

both Sea King and Chinook -

and those magnificent flying icons, the Hurricane and Spitfire.

I can create a route that comes out here. Just avoid the halt.

But Red 7 has a plan.

If he can get them out of RAF Scampton

before the weather tightens its grip, they might just make it.

We are now looking at other options

where we perhaps pre-position the jets the night before,

so one of the options is to put the jets into Biggin Hill tomorrow.

Squadron Leader Dave Platt coordinates the team's planning and navigation.

Any changes made at this late stage would need sign-off from the top.

There's all the back-up thing of the admin side,

the engineering side.

You have to get the wheels in motion for the changed venue.

So the admin side will then have to book hotels and accommodation

for the crew and the engineers, the circus.

We can't leave it too late,

cos that whole wheel has got to rotate and follow on afterwards

to keep everything running smoothly.

These engineers are unaware of the mounting problems

threatening to rain on the Queen's Parade.

The airbase at Biggin Hill is less than 20 miles from Central London.

It's also where the Reds are due to fly a full display

just hours after their Royal appointment.

If Steve can land them in there a day early,

they could use it as a staging post to take off from

and beat the great British weather to the Palace.

I'm not too keen on this Stansted one,

because we've only got this option to come out north-west

so there's your two-minute point in.

-OK.

-Biggin's a better option.

Hello. Can I speak to Barry, please?

Hi, it's Steve Morris calling from the Red Arrows. How are you doing?

We might need to come down on Friday. Is that even a possibility

that we can park the jets at Biggin Hill on Friday? That's all.

Thank you very much for your help. Bye.

Yeah, shall I call the boss?

Yeah. Call the boss. Have a chat with him.

I think Biggin's the best effort.

34-year-old Steve Morris has been with the Red Arrows for three years.

RADIO CHATTER

He flies as Synchro 2 and performs

some of the most exhilarating and challenging moves in the display.

Good girl.

I remember being young and people saying,

"What do you want to do when you're older?"

I always wanted to fly.

Always wanted to be a pilot, so I was fortunate enough to get in.

As you progress through your Air Force career,

it was first of all, "I want to fly jets,"

and then once that happened, I wanted to fly the Harrier

and then that happened and you think,

"I'd really like to give the Reds a shot."

When I got told I was in, I was just...I couldn't believe it.

You can't escape the fact that flying jets six feet apart,

turning them upside down quite close to the ground, you know,

it does come with its dangers, but the way we train,

every single manoeuvre that we learn has a huge brief

that's attached to it, so it's very clear in everyone's mind

what actions need to be taken at every single stage.

The whole job keeps you grounded because actually,

it's the red suit that's famous and the red aeroplanes.

It's not the people that...

We're just lucky enough for three or four years

or, you know, the boss comes by, he does it for six years.

We're just the people that are lucky enough to wear that red suit,

go and fly the red aeroplanes, but actually, when you're not in them,

the proof is in the pudding -

as we're walking around here now, no-one knows who you are.

-Come on, Maggs.

-HE WHISTLES

Come on! Good girl.

The Reds are due to take off for the Palace in 24 hours

but the British climate is kicking in, worsening minute by minute.

Dramatic action is called for and Red 1 has cancelled all leave,

summoning the entire team to base a day ahead of schedule.

OK, Cheers, boss. Bye.

-Right. Um... Er, 16.00 land at Biggin.

-Yeah.

Your route time.

So that'll be a...er... 15.20 departure.

-Yeah.

-Well say, 15.15 out of here - gives five minutes' flight.

For the ops room, however,

there are more than just nine pilots to think about.

So we're all spooling up everyone now.

Engineers are getting the jets ready.

We'll do some quick planning to change the routes.

Admin will get the hotels in place

and other people on the road will move earlier to get to Biggin Hill,

so we'll put all that in motion now.

I'd expect the majority of the pilots will be met briefing

just after lunch, I think, ready to go.

The engineers get prepped to leave,

whilst Red 1 waits for the remaining pilots to arrive.

Was it a fairly easy decision, changing the plans last minute?

It's never an easy decision, but when you're planning for success,

then the interesting bit is...

looking at a forecast that's 24 hours out -

you just...if you've got a decision where if you pre-position,

and the forecast is actually pretty good,

versus, well, it's questionable that you'd even be able to take off safe

and it could be that bad,

then ultimately, that part wasn't too bad.

I suppose the difficult bit is

you know this is a day's leave for the guys.

So two of them had - I think, two- and three-year-old birthdays

to celebrate this afternoon

and you know that that decision has ruined their families' day off.

The guys understand, I know their families do,

but that's just the way it goes.

One of these families belongs to Red 5.

33-year-old Tom Bould.

He lives with his wife Danielle who is all too familiar with

the singular pressures of being a part of the Red Arrows family.

I just watch it through gritted teeth

and the whole time hold my breath and just worry the whole time,

but then, I suppose that's my job - to worry.

It's your job to concentrate and it's my job to worry about it.

It's natural for people at home to worry.

You fly nine aircraft very close together and doing loops and rolls,

so it probably looks more dangerous than it feels,

so I think it's perfectly natural for...

for everyone to feel more anxiety than we do about it.

-Yeah, what is it? Is it a red arrow?

-Yeah.

-Yeah. Shall we get it out?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

We go away and we work quite hard but I miss these guys a lot.

I'm sure Danielle thinks the time away is quite hard on her

and I'm sure it is without me.

But it's always great to come home and have these two greeting me when I get back.

It is hard work with Tom away, but he's been on other squadrons

where he's been away for months and months at a time, you know,

so him being away a week here and a week there,

or a few days at a time, is actually not too bad.

It's easier than him being away for two months at a time, that's for sure.

You do get used to it. It's never easy, but you do get used to it.

Good job. You going to high five?

Yeah. Good job.

For Tom and the rest of the team,

it's now a battle against the clock and the weather

to get off base before low cloud stops them in their tracks.

Three, two, one.

25 past, quarter past take-off.

Welcome. Scampton to Biggin. With sevens now, we have no fly-pass.

Route, east then south,

and then tracking round the back end of Southend for Biggin.

OK, our first taste of a short runway for us.

It's narrower. It's 121 feet.

I will aim to land at just past the first Arrow, number two.

You may have...I mean, you can get

double-decker buses going past there,

so just try and avoid the humped-type base approach,

and then getting yourself long

or getting yourself slow if you do that. So nice constant fly-pass,

more relevant for the low stackers on there.

Great. We shall check in on the hour.

In less than 24 hours, the Queen is hoping to see

her Birthday Fly-past in front of a crowd of thousands.

Moving closer to London now

will be their only chance to meet her wishes.

The jets head to the runway for take-off as planned...

..but bad news comes through.

Red 8 is grounded.

-RADIO:

-'The surface rain is one three to five knots. Stand by, security.'

'10's available.'

Well, I'm just going to start up. Part of the pre-start checks

is to...check you've got the right amount of igniters for the aircraft.

In case you need to restart it in the air for whatever reason.

I've only got one, so hopefully, touch wood, it's a quick fix,

but um, got to get...

You've seen the guys there, they're off to Biggin now.

I'll chase them down, probably about half an hour after them,

just to make sure we're all pre-positioned down there,

cos obviously the weather is going to be shocking here tomorrow.

With Olly's jet grounded, the team has no option

but to send him off in the non-smoke-trailing spare.

It's nearly done, should be starting up in about five, ten minutes.

No worries. I'll be going down to Biggin all on my own.

This is a little bit of practice.

RADIO COMMUNICATION

It's never good to be standing on the ground

when everyone else is up there!

Once Olly finally takes to the air,

the Blues race to fix his original aircraft.

It's imperative the Reds have their full contingent of smoking jets

ready for the Queen's fly-past.

We've done a bit of fault finding, taken a fuse out, basically,

isolated which side it is and now we just replace and ignite it.

With every minute, the weather window at Biggin Hill is closing.

Time is not on their side.

This is the old igniter which has been removed.

This one is quite heavily eroded on there,

so potentially, it could be a problem.

We'll try and make it tonight, we've got a deadline of half four.

If we make that, it'll go today. If not, it'll go tomorrow.

The team need to get the jet out tonight

as thick cloud is forecast over Scampton tomorrow,

which means no aircraft will be able to take off.

It always seems to happen when it's something important

like the Queen's Birthday, but, you know,

that's what we're here to do, so...

At Biggin Hill, the team is landing on the tricky short runway

just as clouds begin to gather.

Back at RAF Scampton, the weather has defeated the team.

They've missed their window for take-off.

The weather at Biggin Hill's turned now for the worse,

so we can't get in there, so even though it's nice here,

it's not down there, so it's going to have to go tomorrow morning.

The team's plans are in jeopardy.

For Wing Commander Martin Higgins,

the man in charge of the entire Red Arrows team,

the problems mean the Arrows are a jet short for the Royal tribute.

My concern is we have nine smoking, or nine smoke-capable aircraft,

and one that cannot produce smoke,

so, for the Queen's Birthday fly-past,

I'd prefer if there was an extra smoking-capable aircraft,

so that'll be my job tomorrow morning

to make sure it gets there on time.

Right, what's next?

After the disappointment of watching his colleagues take off without him,

Red 8 finally lands at Biggin Hill in the non-smoking jet.

So I'm half an hour later than the rest of the boys.

It's not a smoking aircraft, so it'll only be a spare for the boss.

We'll try and get 219, which is my aircraft down

tomorrow morning and that's got full smoke pod

ready for the Queen's Birthday Fly-past,

so this is the extra spare and of course,

I need to be pre-positioned down here as well as the display pilots,

so hence why I jumped in the spare chair and brought it down, but...

Sort of lonely trip down, really.

What's the plan for tonight, then?

Quiet night, cos we've got to be on our game for the show

and the Queen's Birthday Fly-past tomorrow morning.

So I'm sure we'll have dinner somewhere. Er, Diet Coke!

As the pilots head for some well-earned food,

Junior Engineering Officer Marcus Ramsden is worried.

Another problem has emerged.

Right. Number-one height system.

Yes, sir. The filter has blocked and the indicator has popped out

to inform us that the filter has blocked.

It happened within five hours ago, so it's now properly blocked

so it has to be changed, so we need to get some guys down to replace it.

Yeah, I've just spoken to the flight sergeant now,

so I've got two mechs - Phil and Martin are on the route.

Going to come down with a filter with a toolkit.

They should be down tonight.

We'll meet up with them in the morning and change the filter then.

If the problem hadn't been discovered on the ground,

this issue could jeopardise the chance of getting

nine aircraft over Buckingham Palace.

I've just rang the engineering support team

back at RAF Scampton, to tee up a team of mechanical tradesmen

to come down and they're en route now

to drive all the way down to Biggin Hill with the spares,

tooling and equipment to change the filter.

Obviously, it's now 5.30 in the evening.

With them driving down, it'll be about four hours to get down

and then the job itself will take about two to two and half hours

to change the filter. So they'll get down, get to bed,

and then get up early in the morning with Drew's assistants

and any other tradesmen from circus that are required in order to

change the filter ready for the fly-past tomorrow morning.

With less than 15 hours until the Queen's Birthday Fly-past,

the Red Arrows are facing uncertainty.

With one jet stuck on the ground more than 100 miles away

and a second needing vital engineering work,

their biggest day of the year could turn into a nightmare.

It's the morning of the Queen's official birthday.

Excited crowds are already gathering in Central London.

The Great traditions of Trooping The Colour, Royalty on the balcony

and an aerial salute over Buckingham Palace,

means the Mall will be packed.

Having raced down the previous night to Biggin Hill, the mechanics

are now battling to replace the blocked filter on one of the jets.

Doesn't look like that's the easiest thing to get to.

No, it's right inside of the engine, so...a bit of a squeeze.

Up at RAF Scampton, the second spare jet is still grounded.

The weather is toying with the team.

Wing Commander Martin Higgins needs a break, and he needs it now,

to get the all important smoke-capable jet to Biggin Hill.

As you can see from this chart, um,

it's not very good weather at Scampton.

The next problem is trying to get this aeroplane to Biggin Hill

in time, so it can start, er,

potentially be used for the Queen's Birthday Fly-past.

It's been an intense 24 hours for Marcus and his expert technicians.

And they're still working right down to the wire.

We've had a team in early morning to prepare one of the jets that needed

a little bit of remedial work on it and they are trying to launch

another jet, 219, from RAF Scampton now.

What we're going to do now is get the jets ready, which will take

probably about an hour and a half, ready for the pilots to come in.

In Central London, the celebrations are under way

as the Queen and the Royal Family leave Buckingham Palace

for Trooping the Colour.

Over 120 miles north of London,

Wing Commander Higgins has got his lucky break.

There's a gap in the cloud cover.

He takes off just in the nick of time.

The smoke-capable jet will make the display.

At Biggin Hill, the battle with the oil filter has been won

and the final flight checks are being meticulously carried out.

That was a very brief run-up.

Yes, basically just a quick leak check, make sure when we've

changed the filter, there's no hides leaking out, so we've done that now.

It's all good, so panel up and then she's good to go, sign up,

and then it's ready for the fly-past.

It's gone quite well through the first one.

Some of them can be a pain sometimes but it's not been too bad. Um...

So, yeah. Now we're facing a big drive back up to Scampton.

Trooping the Colour is under way, a tradition that has celebrated

the Sovereign's official birthday since 1748.

Morning. How you doing?

It's under two hours to go

until the Red Arrows are due to join 22 other aircraft

from 12 other RAF squadrons in the fly-past over Buckingham Palace.

The jets are in the hands of the engineers.

The pilots are in the hands of the gods.

Their old enemy is nipping at their heels once again - low cloud

over Central London is threatening to spoil Her Majesty's day.

Now the biggest factor is the weather.

Which is a real shame, because all week,

it's been absolutely beautiful.

We have weather limits, which are 1,700 feet above main sea level,

and 5km visibility, which is written down in the op orders,

so it's quite clear cut that that is where the limit is.

The weather is improving all the time,

but it's whether or not it improves enough

in the next hour, hour and a half, as to whether or not we can go.

Even if we get airborne and have a look at it then,

that might be the decision.

The issue then is you've got an awful lot of aeroplanes,

you know, nine different formations,

that all get airborne, find out the weather's not good enough,

and then have to go back to wherever they started

or maybe even a different airfield,

so then de-confliction and flight safety

becomes the biggest aspect of all that.

As the pilots brace themselves for yet more bad news,

Wing Commander Higgins is landing the spare.

The clock is ticking on all fronts.

Well, as predicted, the weather was not that great,

but I flew the route as planned.

So now, all the teamwork is here, the engineers are all ready,

this is what it's all like behind the scenes.

NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS

The Queen is on her way back to the Palace for the aerial salute,

whilst other members of the Royal Family gather on the balcony.

Three, two, one, hack.

Right, QBF, welcome. Biggin Hill, Biggin Hill,

B7's nav for the target today will be the Palace.

Straight ahead, right, post Richmond Park...

It's 11.30.

Only 93.5 minutes

until the Reds join the other RAF teams for the Royal event.

A decision is yet to be taken

over the Reds' most public mission of the year so far.

What ifs.

If, at any stage, it is not fit on this route going out towards

Southwold, I would just do a 180 and come back.

After all their efforts this weekend, the prospect of having to turn back

and not make the fly-past for her Majesty is unthinkable.

Stand by for check-in,

we'll just have a look at the strip-up plan and go from there.

So, OK, thanks.

The Reds are due over the Palace in exactly 60 minutes.

If it's pulled on take-off,

it won't be just the Royals feeling disappointed.

The elite of the engineering team - the Circus - earn the privilege of

flying back-seat as reward for their dedication and months of training.

PILOT SPEAKS OVER RADIO

ENGINE WHOOSHES

For some of them, their boyhood dreams are within grasp.

But the weather will decide.

-HUW JENKINS:

-The crowds making their way down the Mall

towards Buckingham Palace.

We'll have the fly-past, which is normally absolutely on the dot.

So we're looking forward to that.

For months, the plan has been that aircraft from 13 different squadrons

will display for Her Majesty.

But on take-off...

-RADIO:

-"There's your man on the ground in London asking us

"to pass on to you that they've gone on to the weather alt-X."

Shocking news comes through. They're flying solo.

The Reds will be the only team heading for the Palace.

The weather has beaten all the other squadrons, the pressure is now on

for Red One. Target - the Palace at 3.5 minutes past one precisely.

-HUW JENKINS:

-Well, they're expecting...

The Duke of Edinburgh there looking up to the skies.

Very cloudy, I have to say.

For the dye team responsible for creating

the Arrows' red, white and blue vapour trails,

the agonising wait for the first sighting of smoke

makes for a nervy lunch break.

It's 13.02 and as the Reds enter London airspace,

the Olympic Park marks the six-mile run-in to Buckingham Palace.

Seconds later, the jets are flying at 345mph at 1,000 feet

above London's financial district,

passing the Shard, the UK's tallest building.

"Reds, colours...go!"

It's smoke on "go" from all nine jets.

Well, there's the Red Arrows. And that's a pretty spectacular display.

-Just listen to the roar.

-ENGINES ROAR

3.5 minutes past one. Bang on time.

-TV:

-"..worked spectacularly, as ever.

-"The Queen seems to have enjoyed it."

-Good job, everyone.

"..Prince George and his first appearance..."

Good reaction, I'd say.

Is it just a case of waiting until they turn that smoke on

-to know it's all right?

-Yeah.

-That's it, yeah.

-Just...

-No pressure at all.

..praying there's not a massive purple streak.

With one full display still to go and one Royal sortie completed,

the Reds taxi back, with an ecstatic Circus One.

That was probably the best thing I've ever done in my entire life.

We could hear over the radios all the different elements that

were going to make up the fly-past couldn't get in for the weather,

so it was going to be us or nothing

to get over the top of Buckingham Palace.

And I could hear the boss coming over the radios,

he was talking about whether he should abort or not

and, luckily, the weather, there was a break for it and we just went.

Coming up, going past the Shard

and the Gherkin to the left-hand side of me,

the Mall directly in front,

you could see all the crowds beneath,

which was just surreal, and just came straight over the target,

over the top of the Palace, exactly on time, all colours behind us.

It was just absolutely unreal.

We can't stop now, we can't rest on our laurels,

we've got two hours now to turn the jets ready

so they can be enjoyed by the Biggin Hill public,

as we put on a display this afternoon, but, yeah, over the moon.

Words can't describe it.

A lot of hard work from the boss and 6 and 7,

and, er, the boss found his way through the bad weather.

So, er, yeah, we made it.

I think we might have got a small little clap from the young prince,

or a wave or something, so...

Hopefully, it looked good.

There's no time for the Arrows to take their foot off the pedal.

After dodging the weather

and being the only aircraft over Buckingham Palace,

the Reds still have two vital missions to complete over the weekend.

The Biggin Hill Festival of Flight is under way.

The air base which was this morning's staging post

now moves centre stage, transforming into the location

for one of Britain's most popular airshows.

-PA:

-And there is Nick, rolling around the formation.

The Reds face a unique flying challenge here.

For the first time in almost a decade, the Arrows are to join forces

with some historic flying icons.

Spitfires and Hurricanes.

The challenge of combining three very different aircraft,

flying in unison at a controlled speed,

will be a massive test of their expertise.

Thousands of aviation fans, young and old,

have been here for hours, making sure they have front-row seats

for one of the most symbolic displays of the entire year.

Until that moment, the airshow tells the story of Britain's flying past,

featuring the planes of yesteryear

alongside the technologically advanced Typhoon jet,

which defends our airspace today.

This is where it all started for them as well,

so a lot of history, yeah.

-It's home.

-It is, yeah.

Biggin Hill itself is as famous as the hardware in the skies.

During World War Two, this airfield played a pivotal role

in the Battle of Britain.

The Biggin Hill wing claimed over a thousand enemy aircraft,

but at a tragic cost - 453 brave Allied aircrew also lost their lives.

I think it captures an era that they just love to remember.

Everybody's got a grandparent or,

depending what generation you are, a mother or a father who was there.

People are into family history now and are finding out

what their relatives did and it brings it all back to life for them.

How's it going? Would you like a brochure, mate?

On the ground, the Blues - the Red Arrows' support crew -

are doing their bit to promote the team.

Have a great day. Enjoy the display.

Enjoy the Red Arrows, we're on later on. All right?

And we'll see you later, all right? Good job, guys.

Go and have a good day, all right? See you later. See you later.

Bye-bye.

Once they are aboard and astern...

In the briefing room, the Reds rehearse their moves.

There is simply no margin for error.

..Enid. Brake, brake, go.

Roll. Check. Pull.

Turn. Smoke off. Go.

-Turn.

-Roll. Pause. Pull.

Outside, a display involving pyrotechnics

is a reminder that they aren't the only team thrilling the public.

BOOMING

SPEECH DROWNED OUT BY NOISE FROM PYROTECHNICS

INDISTINCT

-Wow.

-Smoke bomb.

Er, coming right...

The Reds know the real show-stopper

will be their emotionally charged fly-past

with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Battle Formation is the formation call-sign

for the Spitfire-Hurricane combine.

Fly-through.

Once they're aboard, I'll give us as much speed as we can, 190, 195.

We've done a lot of formation manoeuvring today, but this one is

going to be the still picture of the day, not just the Queen's birthday.

All right, let's have a good one

and let's put it away all the way to the end.

It's a long day of formation manoeuvring, but that's what we do.

Let's have a good one. Check in at 31.

SPEECH ON RADIO

ENGINES FIRE UP

And a very good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.

I'm Squadron Leader Mike Ling, I'm the supervisor

with the Royal Air Force aerobatic team, the Red Arrows.

INDISTINCT SPEECH OVER RADIO

Now, look over to your right-hand side,

it's time to start feeling very British, ladies and gentlemen.

'Fly.'

'Rolling...now.'

'Reds, colours, go!'

Here we go, everybody,

it's the Royal Air Force aerobatic team for 2015!

The Red Arrows!

Rolling...now.'

Keep your eyes on Gypo.

Look left and right again now for the Synchro Pair in the Carousel.

Of all the moves performed this year,

the Carousel, flown by Reds 6 and 7, is the most punishing on the body.

Red 10 takes us inside the bubble

for a unique insight into this manoeuvre.

The pilot is now experiencing 6G,

his blood is forced downwards away from the heart towards his feet.

After a few seconds of this, he would begin to experience tunnel vision

and could black out.

To prevent this happening, Red Arrow pilots wear a G-suit

and undergo high G training.

The suit inflates with pressurised air, compressing the pilot's

stomach and legs, keeping the blood from flowing downwards

and stopping him from losing consciousness.

And now the moment everyone has been waiting for.

Today's flying elite pay tribute to the heroic few.

As Churchill said, "Never in the field of human conflict

"was so much owed by so many to so few."

The soundtrack of World War Two -

the growling engines of Spitfires and Hurricanes.

The pilots who flew these gutsy fighters directly into enemy fire,

at an average age of just 20,

their life expectancy could be measured in days.

INDISTINCT

They've merged with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

and pulled off one of their most challenging formations of the year.

We have joined up with those five fighters

from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

We've got nine Hawks, two Hurricanes and three Spitfires in formation.

Capable of speeds of more than 600mph,

the Reds need to literally stand on their air brakes

to get the Hawk jet down to its lowest stable flying speed.

This will allow the much older Spitfires and Hurricanes to keep up.

For all pilots, it's a supreme test of their flying skills.

'Battle. Back off. Battle.'

'5's in.'

That was really good, yeah.

Quite a lot of planning's gone into getting nine of us

and getting all the Spitfires and Hurricanes together

and it's quite hard work with slow speeds in the Hawk.

I mean, the Spitfires and Hurricanes are flying about 180, 190 knots.

She doesn't like it so much,

but the boys did really well

and especially when, er, a demanding sortie this morning,

the Queen's birthday, land, two hours' turn,

complete display, then join up with them to do the fly-past.

It's great, but I'll be honest,

that was the most challenging day I've had this season so far.

This morning was all about royalty,

this afternoon - the Great British Public.

-See you tomorrow.

-See you, guys, bye.

But tomorrow, the eyes of the RAF's top brass will be watching,

as the Reds headline at the Air Force's very own airshow.

Sunday morning, and at RAF Cosford, the countdown's begun

to the Reds' third public appearance in less than 48 hours.

Red 1 is landing the team at RAF Shawbury, 18 miles away,

because the runway at Cosford is too short.

Whilst the RAF is showcasing the very best of British in the skies...

..Red 1 is struggling with the very worst of British weather.

With low cloud forcing him to fly a flat display all weekend,

this afternoon is his last chance to fly a more dynamic show.

But only if the weather allows.

This is Red 1's first year as team leader.

He previously flew with the team from 2009-2011.

It is the first time he's designed

and choreographed the Arrows' display.

'Hold it. About...now'

Flying nine jets at 400mph is only one of his challenges.

Timing, I think, is probably the hardest bit to choreograph.

INDISTINCT RADIO COMMAND

Particularly in the second half, where you have my section, Enid,

and then the rear section, led by Red 6.

To make sure there's always something going

in front of the crowd is the bit that you focus on.

We have a wider formation called Loose Diamond,

where we all do an aileron roll.

Reds, rolling...now.'

Then, when the weather's nice, we join from quite a wide formation

into the slot and it brings a hugely wide formation into a long, thin one

which is called Blackbird.

'Blackbird. Go.'

INDISTINCT RADIO COMMAND

Watching the response of the team pilots train for that,

I realised how much they enjoyed it and that rubbed off on me.

I realised that it was a big win, so that, I really enjoy flying.

It's been really nice to see the mirror roll come back this year.

It hasn't been flown for lots of years.

Those who are knowledgeable about display flying,

they probably more than most appreciate the difficulty,

the challenges that it takes

for Reds 6 and 7 to perform that manoeuvre.

Red 10 Squadron Leader Mike Ling gives us a unique insight

into this manoeuvre from inside the cockpit of Red 7.

Two pilots fly back to back, mirroring each other,

whilst travelling at 400 mph.

To maintain close positioning during this formation roll,

the pilot must keep his head tilted right back

in order to be able to see the other aircraft.

Each aircraft rotates through 360 degrees during the barrel roll.

In this manoeuvre, Red 7 is pushing minus 2.5G...

meaning the G-force works in the opposite sense.

Blood is now being forced into his head

and there is nothing he can do to stop this happening.

In a negative G situation, the G-Suit is redundant.

At RAF Cosford, Red 10 is landing in advance of the rest of the team.

He's the safety supervisor in charge on the ground

and provides the commentary for every single Reds display.

He also keeps an eye on the weather.

It was pretty rough coming out of Biggin Hill this morning.

We had to come as three separate sections,

so it was quite an interesting flight in cloud

all around the south coast.

The forecast was for it to be, with a front coming through,

might get some showers later, but a uniform cloud base

of about 2,500 feet, so we'll see how we get on.

If we get 2,500, Monty can fly the rolling show,

which would be better for everybody here.

The flat show is... it's not quite as dynamic

for the first seven or eight minutes,

so hopefully, it'll all work out.

The Reds are the big draw for the 55,000-strong crowd

and not only for their aerobatic displays.

They're in great demand on the ground too.

Only this time, they've dropped in to meet their loyal supporters up close.

They have an army of fans who travel hundreds of miles every year

to meet their heroes on terra firma.

Sacks of mail arrive at RAF Scampton daily,

whilst online, their web presence is growing fast.

It's an awesome part of the job, to get to these tents

and meet the public who stand out and watch our display every time,

so really important that we come along when we can

and try and meet as many people as possible.

You never really get used to seeing as many people queueing

for as long as they do to see us, we're just normal people,

but, of course, they're coming to see the red suits and the team,

so it's important we do it and smile and chat away as long as possible.

Thank you very much.

I don't think you ever get used to doing this, actually.

It's always nice to see how everybody comes in so happy

and really pleased that you've made the airshow,

so, yeah, it's nice,

but I don't think you ever get used to it, really.

There we go. Awesome suit.

In the air, the RAF is showcasing their newest aircraft.

But Red 10 is hoping his boys will steal the show

with their shiny new 2015 display, plus that special formation

to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

We try, if we can, to add something to an airshow.

We don't want to do it all the time.

If we do a mixed formation at every display, it doesn't make it special,

so we just try and do one or two a year to give

that extra edge to what RAFA is doing and, again, trying a message,

the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain,

we are talking about securing the skies, so the Battle of Britain,

75 years ago, in the summer of 1940,

they were securing the skies. Today, it's no different.

Our Typhoon force is on quick reaction alert 24 hours a day,

seven days a week, 365 days a year.

So the idea being that

if we put the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight fighters

into a formation with the Red Arrows,

we can link to that and use social media to get the messaging out

and then those pictures, people will ask why we did that formation -

well, we're trying to share the reason that

it's the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain

and that the theme of securing the skies is enduring.

It's now less than an hour

until the Reds' third appearance in less than 48 hours.

But there's always time to check out the competition.

I don't fancy standing on top of a vintage biplane

and having 130mph flies hit you in the face.

I think that'd be quite uncomfortable.

So I do take my hat off to those girls that do that.

Obviously, I've got the flexibility for all the handstands

and getting one leg above my head and everything,

but I don't want the 130mph flies in my face.

Right, Cosford, welcome.

It's 18 hours from landing at Shawbury, the weather's...

In the briefing room, Red 1 is getting the team ready

for the last display of the busy weekend.

But will they get the chance to showcase their most dynamic show?

2,000 Watt-Wind is 3.6.0.10,

few at 2,000, broken at 2-8.

See if it's improving, flat or rolling.

Hopefully rolling by the time...

So far, the weather has forced the Reds to fly

their less dynamic "flat" display.

With clearer skies, they could perform their rolling - or full -

display with more dramatic moves.

Let's talk rolling.

OK? It might be a late decision on the way in for number 2...

But low cloud is still hanging around.

With such a demanding audience to impress, Red 1 will decide

at the very last minute which display the team can perform.

The pilots set off for their third and final show

in less than 48 hours.

But they're not the only showmen in the Red Arrows.

The Circus have their own tradition of performing in formation too.

The Circus perform what's known as the "Circus see-off"

at every air field that we go to.

There's normally a handful of people that get to witness it.

It's not a dance, it's a rehearsal where we all move round in unison

and it's something that sets the ground crew off

compared to the different aerobatic display teams.

It's our signature send-off to the pilots, just to say,

"We've done everything we can.

"Over to you boys to go and do the best you can in the skies."

It's something that we practise and make sure we're on top of the game,

like the pilots do in the air as well.

It's now almost time for the Red Arrows

and the man in the red suit has appeared on the commentary tower,

Squadron Leader Mike Ling.

It's decision time for Red 1.

He must now choose whether to fly a flat or a rolling display.

With a cloud base of less than 500 feet,

he can't risk the lives of the pilots by making the wrong decision.

We do have three types of display we can fly, depending on the weather.

Our flat display is what we will fly

if the cloud base is below 2,500 feet.

I think, unfortunately, here at the Cosford Airshow,

that might be the case this afternoon.

If a break does come up,

then Red 1 can elect to change to a rolling display,

where we can fly our formation barrel rolls.

And if we get a big blue gap,

then we will go for our full display,

allowing looping manoeuvres.

Red 1 has just sent a late decision,

so he'll make that decision as he runs in to the display.

And he'll look whether he can get those barrel rolls in

or whether he will elect to go flat.

The weather has dogged their entire weekend...

-RED 1:

-'Go flat.'

..and now, once again,

it has forced Red 1 to choose the less dynamic flat display.

He has just said he's going to start with a flat display,

so, please, ladies and gentlemen, let's have a big round of applause

as we now welcome the Royal Air Force aerobatic team for 2015.

It's the Red Arrows!

COMMANDS OVER RADIO

This is our trademark shape. Cameras ready for Diamond.

COMMAND OVER RADIO

A new manoeuvre for 2015, the Whirlwind.

'Reds, rolling...now.'

The jets are now travelling at 400mph

as they fly directly towards each other.

COMMAND OVER RADIO

'Just going a little bit right.'

-MIKE LING:

-'The pilots now work hard to counter the G-force.'

Without the protective G-Suits,

the pilots run the risk of blacking out.

Their smoke comes on and the wings drop down

to form an inverted V shape.

'Now Red 9 with his smoke on to perform the Goose.'

COMMAND OVER RADIO

COMMAND OVER RADIO

COMMAND OVER RADIO

Red 6 left, Red 7 right. Crossing three times at 6G

in the Carousel.

'This is the Twister.'

The Twister manoeuvre involves Red 4 rotating around the outside

of four other jets.

'6 fully in.'

'Go!'

-MIKE LING:

-'Now Reds 6 and 7 roll upside down.'

COMMANDS OVER RADIO

'8 and 9 are all around them in the Corkscrew.'

During the Corkscrew, Reds 8 and 9 have to work hard

to get the rhythm right and keep the manoeuvre looking slick.

'8 and 9, roll.'

-MIKE LING:

-'8 and 9 pitch up to roll around the Synchro Pair,

'who then roll.'

COMMAND OVER RADIO

The display's finale - the Vixen Break.

'You've been watching the Royal Air Force aerobatic team,

'the Red Arrows!'

CHEERING

Again, another busy sortie.

I didn't have a...

I was a bit frustrated with some of the things

with my performance in the sortie.

A flat show,

one of those days where it was difficult to pick the weather,

so it's which show to fly.

Opted for the flat and I think, as we finished the show,

I thought, probably could have rolled that, so a bit frustrated,

but the boys had a really good show.

But, no, it's been good. A lot of high-profile stuff

and so far, so good, but tomorrow will be another day.

The Red Arrows!

They've done it.

It's been a pressurised weekend of fly-pasts

and formations for the Red Arrows.

I'll be honest, that was the most challenging day

I've had this season so far.

They've entertained Her Majesty the Queen,

found a new fan in Prince George...

That was probably the best thing I've ever done in my entire life.

..flown with the vintage aircraft that won the Battle of Britain.

And all of this in just 48 hours.

Next time, can the Red Arrows compete with the emotion of the Spitfires

and Hurricanes for the Battle of Britain Memorial flight?

No-one will be wanting to talk to us.

And the stakes couldn't be higher.

The RAF's elite pilots will be under pressure to deliver

at the biggest air tattoo in the world.