We’re away a lot at the moment. However, on the road, we’re always amongst friends, so it’s never too lonely. It’s our wives and partners who suffer most, I think. For me, my wife Tracy is extremely organised in organising her days at work so that she can be at home some of the time that I am – and that’s maybe a Monday or Tuesday, but you can’t always plan on it! All the same, it’s difficult for all of the Reds, Circus and the PR/Road Team. I always really look forward to seeing my little boy, Matthew, who’s 2 now. I had a day off this week, and although these days off are often the only time to catch up on the work I can’t get done on an airshow push, I took him into work so he could have a run around the Red Arrows buildings. When we were there, I sat him in the back of XX308, in which I had recently been struck by lightening on the way to RAF Linton-on-Ouse for a display at the 90th Anniversary of 1 Flying Training School.

The lightening caused a fair bit of damage to the jet. It struck just in front of my canopy somewhere on the nose of the aircraft with a big thick bolt and a big bang. The jet performed fine, although the transponder amongst other items of avionics (not that the Hawk has many!) was fried. The electricity exited the aircraft at the tail, I think, but not before it had made 34 visible ‘scars’ to the fuselage in the form of melted metal or scorch marks. It’s back in the hangar at Scampton now for recovery. Anyway, despite my efforts, Matthew was quickly bored of sitting in the cockpit.

To ease the strain of so much time away, quite a few of the guys try to meet their families at airshows. Most recently it was at Biggin Hill and Waddington. Both shows were huge and very successful, so it’s quite nice to see the girls there. At Biggin, I had a lot of requests from the team to mention friends and family during the commentary, and I almost got it right! Nat, Emma, Mandy, Jenny and Tracy (wives/fiancées of Reds 7, 9, 5, 6 and 10) were particularly loyal to their other halves following us about the country. They too put up with the long queues into and out of airshows, which I know we are all very grateful for. In fact, Em queued in traffic with her grandfather at the Waddington show (which was very much busier than the organisers had expected) for a very long time and sadly missed the Red Arrows display altogether. So on behalf of all the team, Reds, Circus, PR and Road alike, I thank the partners who make so much effort to come and see us when we’re working.

I managed to meet Shayne, my Circus engineer, for a beer on a day off recently, too. He and his girlfriend, Jo, met Tracy and me in Lincoln. Somehow we managed to chat about something other than work, and as Shayne and I fly almost everywhere together, it was a nice chance for the 4 of us to meet socially for once. Shayne missed his planned train home, got out of cooking dinner for Jo, and then the pair of them got drenched in heavy rain as they walked from the station home. That’ll probably be the last time they meet Tracy and me for a drink…

A few memorable shows have passed since my last blog. Silverstone for the British GP was excellent. There were several big names around as you can imagine and it was a beautiful day for a GP and a display. We also saw Scott Loughran’s amazing Typhoon display which also wowed the crowd. The Goodwood Festival of Speed made me want to go back there as a spectator – what an amazing show it is. At the Wakestock Festival on the Lleyn Peninsula, the crowd were great – another ‘I’m not cool enough for this’ main stage moment for a lowly RAF pilot. And most recently, we went to Valenciennes in northern France to display. It was a national holiday in France (14 July) and the crowd were very friendly (or amical in French) indeed. I did my commentary in French. Well, I managed to string together a few sentences that just about got the crowd looking in the right direction. Please don’t look for it on YouTube and criticise my grammar and vocabulary – it was all off the back of my GCSE French in 1989! Nevertheless, they seemed to like it, or perhaps they just found my floundering French amusing, and it made for a great fun experience for me.

If you’re an airshow fan, you’ll know all about RIAT – the Royal International Air Tattoo. It’s Europe’s biggest airshow, and the airfield at RAF Fairford is a sight to behold once the showground is set up. We arrived on Thursday 16 July before the airshow for a display at a military event elsewhere, and the ‘build’ was well underway. The first thing you experience on the ground is ‘green cone blindness’, a virulent and debilitating condition that comes from the seemingly billions of green cones along the side of the many prescribed vehicle routes around the site! However, soon the scale of the event becomes apparent. There are aircraft parked everywhere and a larger number of tents and stands that I know a number for. Everything is brilliantly organised, and it is simply an army of volunteers who help run the event. Fairford was to be our home for the next 4 days.

Despite some typically British weather on Sunday, both flying days saw and excellent programme of displays. The F-18 never ceases to amaze me; pulling that much ‘alpha’ in a Tornado GR4 would have precipitated an early end to my flying career! Scott Loughran’s Typhoon display – staggering as always – was enhanced by some moody skies and some very impressive vapour clouds as he performed the aircraft hard. We also saw great shows from the Frecce Tricolori and the Swiss PC-7 display team. The Frecce pilots are great guys. With them they brought some Italian ham and wine and a great social atmosphere. The show commentary team were first-timers but did a first class job – all the humour and information you could ask for. For me, I stood sheltering from the rain and shivered while I gave commentary for the Red Arrows to close the 33rd RIAT on Sunday afternoon. I couldn’t help thinking that they should have organised the show in the summertime when the weather is nice and warm…

Away from the size and awe you experience at a show like RIAT, I had a very memorable experience at the Otterburn Fair in Northumbria, which we flew up to in the middle of the RIAT weekend. It was small by RIAT standards, but I had a great time there while the boys displayed. In the hills of Northumbria, you always run the risk of a low cloudbase, as almost all RAF pilots will tell you, but it held out for a flat display on Sunday. I was hosted like a king, and the friendliness of the crowd was amazing. My dad, a former RAF Phantom pilot, made it from Rothbury (where he lives) to watch, so there was extra pressure to do a good job. I’ve not had his feedback yet, so I’ll assume no news is good news!

We’re running up to our mid-season break. The 10 days off will be a welcome break for everyone on the Team, although I don’t think my work phone will actually stop ringing just because I’m on leave. Before that, though, there are another 5 days away starting tomorrow and finishing with a show at Windermere on Sunday evening. Amongst all that is a display at RAF Marham, where I have done 3 tours on Tornados. The pressure will be greater than that of RIAT in front of 90,000 because of the friendly banter I am likely to receive from all my old mates still there. It had begun even before I had left and joined the Red Arrows, so now they’re likely really to turn the screw! Chaps, my guard will be up! I’ll see you on Thursday…

Baggers