A sensational 60th display season has come to a close for the Red Arrows.
Members of the 2024 Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team flew their final sorties earlier today.
It concludes a diamond anniversary-themed summer, with the Red Arrows performing 50 displays and 22 high-profile flypasts across the UK, mainland Europe and Canada.
The season-finish also means two pilots have reached the end of their tours with the team.
Saying farewell are Flight Lieutenants Stuart Roberts and Patrick Kershaw.
Red 6 for 2024, Flt Lt Roberts, said his three years flying in the Red Arrows had been “all I expected and more”.
The former Typhoon pilot said: “I’ve been surprised by how much the team means to people and the connection they have with it.
“Meeting generations of families, who all have wonderful stories about the team over the years, is really nice.”
Flt Lt Roberts, who is moving to a role in the RAF’s Display Air Wing headquarters, as well as teaching new pilots joining the team how to fly the Hawk aircraft, said some of his most memorable Red Arrows moments have been conducting major flypasts around the world.
He said: “From flying alongside an Airbus A380 around the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, going over the Great Pyramids of Giza or following the Patrouille de France past the Eiffel Tower – there’s been many highlights.
“The opportunity to fly over London on multiple occasions has also been really special.
“His Majesty The King’s Coronation in 2023 really stands out as the weather was forecast to be terrible and having been involved in the planning for nearly six months we essentially had to replan the flypast in the morning to try to get some aircraft over the Palace.”
Flt Lt Kershaw joined the RAF in 2006, going on to fly the Tornado and Typhoon before his first season with the Red Arrows in 2022.
Finishing in the Red 9 position for the 60th season, he said: “Hopping around the UK to various different locations and displaying the red, white and blue has been an honour.
“Taking the jets across the Atlantic for the tour of Canada this year was also something I’ll never forget.
What’s struck me is how much the team is revered by the British and international public of all ages and backgrounds.
“Getting to meet lots of different people at various different locations has been hugely enjoyable.”
Flt Lt Kershaw, whose next career move is a position in the Ministry of Defence on promotion, added: “Taking part in the 80th anniversary of D-Day was a real privilege and definitely one of my highlights.
“Glancing down and seeing the memorials over Normandy, out of the corner of my eye, was very moving.”
The team’s first season was in 1965 and the 60th campaign has been celebrated throughout 2024.
This has spanned everything from a new nine-aircraft display and special artwork applied to the team’s jets, to magazines and even Royal Mail releasing a Red Arrows stamp collection.
As well as the Red Arrows’ own diamond anniversary, there have been several other milestones marked too, including 50 years since the first flight of the BAE Systems Hawk jet – the aircraft used by the team since the 1980 season.
The Red Arrows also carried out a hugely-successful five-week tour of Canada to mark the centennial of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The 2024 season was Squadron Leader Jon Bond’s first as Team Leader and Red 1.
He said: “Thank you to everyone who attended airshows, events and flypasts for being so enthusiastic, so encouraging and for making this such a standout year – a year when we’ve marked 60 sensational seasons for the Red Arrows.
“Every single person in the team was focused on rebuilding and returning our Diamond Nine to the skies for this diamond celebration.
Judging by the overwhelming, humbling comments we’ve received both in-person and online, together with the countless brilliant images of the new display posted on social media each day, this hard work has been absolutely worth it.
“Even more fulfilling to us all this season has been those reactions and comments where individuals, families and young people in particular, have told us they’ve been inspired by the team’s flying and engagement.
“As someone who, as a child, was motivated to become a pilot after seeing the Red Arrows perform, this is massively rewarding.”
Attention now turns to preparing for next year’s campaign, with training set begin shortly at the team’s home base of RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.
This is done using a building block approach – aircraft formations grow in size and complexity before all nine jets fly together in the New Year.
The season then usually gets underway around May following a formal assessment called Public Display Authority.
Sqn Ldr Bond said: “We’ll now take a few days away from flying as we reset, welcome new team members and then begin winter training and the journey to our 61st season.
“We can’t wait to share our progress and to display for you in 2025.”
Displays and flypasts in the 60th season were seen by millions of people with shows in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, France, Norway, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, Greece, Guernsey and Canada.
There was just one cancellation due to poor weather and every single display was flown with all nine aircraft.
The Red Arrows also flew alongside 12 different aircraft types, and four complete national display teams, in various mixed formations at home and overseas.
Wing Commander Adam Collins, Officer Commanding of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, said: “Whether through aerobatics at big shows, performing colourful flypasts of major cities or through high-profile ground engagement, there’s a been focus on celebrating our heritage but also inspiring the future – those people who will be the aviators of tomorrow.
“It was a packed summer programme, with shows across the UK, mainland Europe and our Maple Hawk tour of Canada.
Whatever the location, we can proudly say that 100 per cent of these public displays were flown as a nine-ship formation.
“This is testimony to the Red Arrows’ engineers and support staff as well as many other teams and individuals across the RAF and industry.
“Even more special has been to display the Hawk jet, in such a dynamic, thrilling way, on a global stage and in a year when we marked 50 years since its first flight. A great British aviation success story!
“Thank you to all who have watched and supported the Red Arrows across the last 60 seasons and to those who will help us to continue to inspire many more people in the years to come.”
