By Ian Brown, EAA 657159, Editor, Bits and Pieces; Member, Canadian Council; Washago, Ontario

The Red Arrows are pilots of the Royal Air Force, and they were spectacular when we watched their display at AirVenture.

You can learn all about them on their website, but I’ll make a few observations. First of all, their precision was out of this world. It would be impossible for me to comment on a single thing that was imprecise in any way. Secondly, they put on a beautiful display with all you might expect. For me, though, the best was that they did it quietly! There was none of the typical air show “roar, roar, aren’t I great, and loud?” that you typically associate with military aircraft demonstrations at air shows. We didn’t have to wear earplugs, and they didn’t waste any time going as high as they could in the shortest time. They looped and rolled as a unit, perfectly aligned. Naturally, they did some of the apparently dangerous stuff, too, like head to head, rolling at the last minute, but the noticeable thing was that they all seemed to have multiple colours in their vapour trail, switching from red to white to blue as they performed. Not only the American flag uses those colors, but also the British flag, the Union Jack. Incidentally, other countries that use red, white, and blue include France, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, and Russia!

Of course, in Oshkosh you would expect the American forces to push their best, newest aircraft to the limits of performance, which obviously means loud, too, so it was a real treat to watch the Red Arrows’ quiet precision.