The History of RAF Aerobatic Teams From 1920 Smoke On... Go!

497 Pages·2011·139.92 MB·English

by  David Watkins

… ‘SMOKE ON … GO!’
Showing the variation in colour schemes used by the Meteor F.Mk8s of the RAF Flying College,
Strubby, the All-Weather Jet Refresher Squadron’s formation aerobatic team put on eight shows
during the 1962 season. (via John O’Neill)
The History of
RAF Aerobatic Teams
since 1920
by David Watkins
First published in Great Britain in 2010 by
Pen & Sword Aviation
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright © David Watkins 2010
ISBN 978-184884-406-3
The right of David Watkins to be identified as Author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in
writing.
Typeset in 10.5pt Minion by Mac Style, Beverley, East Yorkshire
Printed and bound in the UK by CPI
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Contents
Acknowledgements 7
Foreword 10
Preface 14
Select Bibliography 17
Glossary 20
Chapter 1 Early Days 22
Chapter 2 RAF Squadrons 44
Chapter 3 Auxiliary Squadron Teams 213
Chapter 4 Tripartite Evaluation Squadron 218
Chapter 5 FEAF Towed Target Flight/No. 1574 (Target Towing) Flight 219
Chapter 6 Canberra Display Teams 221
Chapter 7 FFS ‘A’ Acro-Team 227
Chapter 8 Central Flying School 230
Chapter 9 RAF College, Cranwell 278
Chapter 10 RAF Flying College (School of Refresher Flying), Strubby/
College of Air Warfare, Manby 295
Chapter 11 Flying Training Schools 309
Chapter 12 The Red Arrows 380
Chapter 13 RAF Aerobatic Display Teams 1920–2010 400
A superb photograph of 92 Squadron’s Blue Diamonds coming out of a ‘Diamond T’ loop during a
rehearsal for the Farnborough show in September 1961. The team’s sixteen Hunter F.Mk.6s are joined
by two Hunter trainers (XL571 and XL605) in the centre of the formation. (Flight)
Acknowledgements
This book was made possible through the generous and enthusiastic support
of many people and please forgive me if I have not included your name in
the following list. I would, however, like to express my sincere gratitude to
the following: Ray Deacon and Alan Pollock for their continual encouragement and
well-informed advice on all matters relating to aerobatic flying; Air Cdre Roger Topp
AFC** and AVM Peter Latham CB AFC for answering my many questions and kindly
agreeing to write the joint Foreword; Colin Noad, who meticulously proof-read the
manuscript and provided the many critical and intelligent comments to ensure that
the work was completed with the minimum of disruption; and Reg Wyness, without
whom the chapter on Treble One Squadron would be incomplete. My thanks also go
to the following, who supplied information and photographs regarding the various
display teams mentioned in this book: Jim Adams; Laurie Adlington; George Aird;
Sqn Ldr John D Aldington; Sqn Ldr Brian C Allchin; Air Cdre Duncan Allison CBE;
Peter Amos (The Miles Aircraft Collection); Harry Anwar; Sqn Ldr Dave Bagshaw;
Capt G J ‘Bill’ Bailey; Air Marshal Sir Peter Bairsto KBE CB AFC; James Bayliss; Ian
Bashall; Sqn Ldr Denzil J R Beard; John Beaumont; Wg Cdr Martin E Bee AFC; Flt
Lt Derek A Bell; Air Cdre John A Bell OBE; Wg Cdr Anthony ‘Bugs’ Bendell OBE
AFC; Capt ‘Benny’ Bennett; Sqn Ldr Peter G Biddiscombe; Sqn Ldr Maurice J Biggs;
AVM George Black CB OBE AFC* FRAeS FI MgT; Sqn Ldr Roy Booth; Gp Capt Peter
Botterill CBE AFC RAF (retd); Sqn Ldr Peter A Bouch; Sqn Ldr Roy Bowie MBE;
Air Commodore H E C Boxer CB OBE; Gp Capt J Bradbury; Wg Cdr Mike Bradley
AFC; Frank Brambley; John Brown; Air Cdre Desmond Browne CBE AFC*; James
Budd; Chris Bushe; Mike Butt; Phil Butler; Tony Buttler; Lt Cdr Pierre Cadoret, RN;
Richard Carey; Neil Carnegie; John Carr, Dudley Carvell; Allan Cawsey; Peter Caygill;
Capt Nigel Champness; Sqn Ldr Roger Chick; Gp Capt C M Christie; Brian St Clair;
Michael ‘Tup’ Clayton; Keith Wilson-Clark; Brian Clifford; Tim Cohu; George Cole; Al
Colesky; Sqn Ldr Alan Colman; Jock Colston; Ross Colwill; Bob Cossey (Historian and
Secretary of the Tiger Squadron Association); Peter Cowen; Wg Cdr J B Cowton; Sqn
Ldr Brian Cox; Flt Lt Neil Crawley RAF; Air Cdre Bill Croydon; Geoff Cruickshank;
Christine Cummings (log books of Flt Lt Matthew Kemp); Duncan Curtis; Sqn Ldr
Eddie Danks; Air Cdre Harry Davidson; Commander Carl Davis RN; John Davy; AVM
Ron Dick CB RAF; Dickie Dicken; Group Captain R J F Dickinson / Paul Dickinson;
Peter Diggance; Group Captain Bob Dixon; Sqn Ldr Mike Dobson AFC; Sqn Ldr
Tony Doyle AFC; Mike Draper (FAA Officers Assce); Air Commodore R B ‘Dickie’
Duckett CVO AFC; Gp Capt Ed Durham; Sqn Ldr Peter Dummer BA; Alan East; Dave
Edmondston; Gp Capt Sidney Edwards OBE; Gp Capt Bill Edwards AFC; Gp Capt Tom
8 … ‘SMOKE ON … GO!’
Eeles; Peter R Evans; Sqn Ldr Eric Evers; John Farley OBE AFC; Malcolm Fillmore;
Brian Moore / Mrs Enid Fitton (logbooks of Keith Fitton); Wally Forster AFM; Gp
Capt J W Foster DFC AFC; Mike Fox; Peter Frame; Flt Lt P S Francis BSc RAF; Lt
Cdr Rod Frederiksen RN; Gp Capt Mike French; David George AFC; Sqn Ldr Ivor
Gibbs; Lt Cdr Brian Giffin RN; Norman Giffin; Bill Gill; Sqn Ldr Chris Golds AFC; Sqn
Ldr Mike Goodfellow OBE; Dave Goodwin; Air Cdre Ken Goodwin CBE AFC; Geoff
Green; Lt Alan Griffiths RN; Flt Lt Norrie Grove DFM; Mike Haggerty; John MacRae-
Hall; Ian Harding; Group Captain T A Hastings OBE; Tony Hawes; Joe Hellyer; Wg
Cdr David Herriot (Secretary, Buccaneer Aircrew Association); Bob Hillman; ACM
Sir Patrick Hine GCB GBE FRAeS; Flt Lt Chris ‘Curly’ Hirst BSc; Wg Cdr P J ‘Curly’
Hirst; Bill Toozs-Hobson; Gp Capt Mike Hobson; Bob Holliday; Sqn Ldr Dave Holmes
(3 Sqn Association); Dave Homewood; M C “Bob” Hope; Captain Derek Hopkins;
Bert Horton; Gp Capt Brian Hoskins AFC FRAeS FCMI; AVM John Howe CB CBE
AFC; Roger Hymans; Lt Col Dick Immig, USAF (Retd); Capt Bill Jago; George Jenks;
Group Captain John Jennings DFC; Peter Jennings; Jim Jobie; W E P Johnson AFC
CPA AFRAeS; Shiona Johnstone; Chris Jolliffe; Barry Jones; Wg Cdr Ernie Jones AFC;
Peter Jones; Bob Joy; Charles Keil; Derek Kenyon; Flt Lt P B Kelly BSc, No. 43 (F) Sqn;
Tim Kershaw (Jet Age Museum and Russell Adams archive); Terry Kingsley; Wg Cdr
Olly Knight; E J van Koningsveld; Commander John Lamb RN: Colin Lamont; Gp
Capt Philip Langrill OBE; Wg Cdr George Lee; Bob Lewis; Mike Lewis (610 Squadron
Association); Richard Lewis; Flt Lt D M Lownds LLB RAF (111 (F) Squadron, RAF
Leuchars); AVM Michael Lyne CB AFC; Air Marshal Ian Macfadyen CB OBE FRAeS;
Beth Maitland (log books of Andy Maitland); Wg Cdr Douglas Marr AFC*; David
Martin (RAF Sylt Association); Sqn Ldr Hugh Mayes; Wg Cdr J J ‘Cas’ Maynard; Sqn
Ldr Bruce McDonald AFC*; Mike McKinley; Gordon McMurray; Ross McNeill; Brian
Meadley; Sqn Ldr Brian P W Mercer AFC; John Merry; Air Marshal Sir Dusty Miller
KBE; Les Millgate; Sqn Ldr H Minnis AFC; Don Minterne; Sqn Ldr Clive Mitchell
BA; Derek ‘Mort’ Morter; Capt John Myers; Ted Nance; Tim Nelson; Sqn Ldr Bob
Newall; Pete Newberry; Ian Newton; Sqn Ldr Bernard Noble (for his permission to
quote from his excellent book, Noble Endeavours); Air Marshal Sir Peter Norriss; Flt Lt
Mike A Oliver; Wg Cdr John O’Neill; Gp Capt G E Ord CBE; Gp Capt Iain Panton; Wg
Cdr Arnie Parr AFC; Sqn Ldr Tony Pearce; George Pennick; J Desmond Penrose DLC
CEng FRAeS FRSA; AVM Les Phipps CB AFC; Henryk Ploszek; Sqn Ldr Jerry Pook
MBE DFC; Ernie Powell; Sqn Ldr W R Preece MCGI AFRIN RAF (Executive Officer,
No. 43 (F) Sqn); Chris Preston; Sqn Ldr Henry Prince AFC; Roger Pyrah; Wg Cdr Bob
Ramirez; Wg Cdr Bill Ramsey; Gerry Ranscombe; Mike Read; Wg Cdr David Reason;
Clive Richards AHB(RAF); Colin Richardson; Roy Rimington; Alan Roach; Norman
Roberson; Sqn Ldr Duncan G Robinson; Sqn Ldr John Robinson AFC* FRAeS; Wg Cdr
Hugh Rigg AFC; Wg Cdr Mick Ryan (Jever Steam Laundry); AVM Sir John Severne
KCVO OBE AFC DL; Gp Capt David Seward; Bob Screen; John Sharpe; Dave Shaw;
Alan Shepperd; Bill Shepperd; Jerry Shipley; Sqn Ldr Bill Shrubsole; Duncan Simpson
CBE CEng FIMechE FRAeS; Roy Sloan; Warrant Officer Frank Smith; Gp Capt Horace
Farquhar-Smith BA; Dennis Southern; Air Cdre Reggy Speirs; Mike Stabler; Geoff
Steggall; Eireen Stephen; Air Commodore Chris Stone AFC; Martin Stoner; Richard
Storer; Gp Capt G J ‘Twinkle’ Storey; Barry Stott; Peter Taylor; Alex Thomas; Air Cdre
Acknowledgements 9
Terry Thornton AFC FRAeS; Sqn Ldr Geoff Timms; Wg Cdr Fred Trowern OBE AFC;
Colonel Al Tucker Jnr USAF; Gp Capt John B Veal CBE AFC; Steve/Dave Waddington;
website – www.linton-gin.com; Faith, Lynne & Gray Walker (log books of Wg Cdr
Johnny Walker OBE AFC*); Grant Walters; Wg Cdr Jim Watts-Phillips OBE; Gp Capt
Tim Webb AFC MRAes; Toby Westoby; Neal Wharton; Sqn Ldr John Wheeler; Gp
Capt Joe Whitfield; Dick Whittingham; Gp Capt Marcus ‘Oscar’ Wild; Roger Wilkins;
Graham Williams; Capt Chris Wilmot; Richard Wilson; Bob Windle AFC; W C “Bill”
Wood AFC / Katie Jones; Group Captain Ron Wood; Anne Wootten; Group Captain
Ian Worby; ACM Sir William Wratten GBE CB AFC; Commander Richard Wren RN.
RAF College Library, Cranwell (Ms Mary Guy); National Archives, Kew; RAF
Museum, Hendon; RAF Disclosures, RAF Cranwell (Ms Debbie Cawthorn); and
finally, The Aerobatic Display Teams Special Interest Group / IPMS(UK), who I hope
will forgive me for borrowing the title of their excellent house magazine for my own
purpose?
Finally, I make no apologies for the quality of some of the photographs chosen to
accompany the text, which provide an authentic contemporary record of little known,
formal display teams. A great deal of effort has been made to trace and acknowledge
the owner of each photograph used in this book. Many came from private collections
where the photograph had been copied and passed on – therefore, please accept my
sincere apologies if your name has not been justly credited.