Red Arrows Practicing

“@A_Mason "Quantas fly millions of mile every year and have not had a fatality since 1951" what a pathetic comparison! Since when did you last see a diamond 9 of Boeing 747's screaming over the top of your head with 'smoke on' or a syncro pair of A380's doing a love heart in the sky”

“@A_Mason
Are you seriously comparing the best aerobatic team in the world to a commercial airline???
When did Quantas start doing acrobatic displays?
Unbelievable ignorance!”

“Well done A Mason you can use the internet. Let's break it down a bit further.

Red arrows been in existence since 1964 - 48 years of flying
Average number of displays per year let's say - 150
Average number of practice flights - let's say 2 a week - 104
Total amount of flights a year - approx. 250

Total amount of flights in history of Red Arrows - roughly 12,000

Number of accidents you've quoted - 25

So that's 1 every 480 flights - not a bad rate considering they flight within feet of each other every flight, every year.

So get up from your computer, go outside and get some fresh air rather than picking faults with everything you deem fit to. Maybe even go to an airshow and see them in action!

The Red Arrows are the epitome of British skill and ingenuity honed through years of training both in peacetime and in war - I wouldn't really call them a waste of money - more of a payback for the British public for their support.”

“A-Mason,

Im sure you will find that in any "daredevil" type pursuit a terrible safety record exists and im afraid that is the No 1 attraction to these persuits and im all for it. I would question though in this day and age of austerity why a seemingly bottomless pit of public money is still available to fund this sort of spectacle.”

“I think A_Mason, you have to expect a certain amount of risk when flying only a few feet apart. Human error is costly as has been proved over the years not just with the Red Arrows but any aviation. Also mechanical failure which has been a result of many of the incidents you mention, but other aircraft suffer this (one only needs to watch the National Geographic channel and you will see). The BAe hawk is an aging aircraft that get's a lot of servicing but this still cannot prevent mechanical issues happening in flight.
The sheer crowd pleasure at seeing the the 'Diamond Nine' at events and Airshows around the world show how much they would be missed if time was to be called upon them. The fact they are the best advert for recruitment in the RAF as well as the money they bring in... no other military unit can boast that. Living in Lincoln, watching them practice over the north fills you with a sense of pride that some of our elite pilots are up there doing what they enjoy. I say good luck to them and keep flying, keep pleasing and wowing crowds the world over and continue to be the envy of display teams across the world.

Excellent pictures by the way.”