Original subtitles

They are the elite.

Daring combat veterans...flying on the edge of what's possible.

They're called the best aerobatic display team in the world.

On reflection, what we're doing is extraordinary.

But it just feels absolutely normal now.

For the first time, they've allowed cameras to follow them

for an entire year...

...as a new leader takes charge in one of the most challenging periods

in the squadron's history.

It's a year of triumphs...

...of tragedy...

On Tuesday, one of the squadron's aircraft crashed at RAF Valley.

...and of courage.

We have to move on, and the best way to do that

is to get on with our jobs.

But ultimately, it's a year of breathtaking...

...awe-inspiring...

"flying-

These are the Red Arrows.

7.30am, early January.

The Red Arrows are returning to work

after a two-week Christmas break.

All right, fella? How's it going?

They've four months of training left before their landmark 2018 display

season, when they'll be spearheading the RAF Centenary celebrations.

Officer Commanding Andrew Keith, known as Boomer,

takes the first briefing of the year.

All right. Morning all. Welcome back.

Our first real week of 2018 training, so it's going to be a busy

month and a busy week, so we'll make the most out of it when we can.

During their winter training, the pilots aim for three

practice flights a day, five clays a week.

But the Lincolnshire weather rarely co-operates.

This time of year can be frustrating.

I mean, this morning we may have some issues with some ice.

It was quite cold last night, so surfaces might be a bit icy.

And then later on, we've got a front moving up from the south,

so that's going to give a layer of cloud for this afternoon's flying.

That's the joys of January for you.

First snow and ice...

...then fog ground the aircraft clays on end.

You fly three times a day, five days a week before Christmas, then you go

away and do nothing for ten days, because the skills

we have need to be repeated so often it just takes that little bit longer

to get back into the swing of things, so that combined

with the weather in January, it is always quite a tricky month.

Skill fade is definitely an issue for the pilots.

The longer we sit on the ground, the more we just sort of tread water.

And the longer they sit on the ground, the more that skill fade

then creeps back in, and when we do get a bout of good weather,

we're just clawing back to get to where we were when we left off a month ago.

Eventually, they manage to get some jets airborne.

But only for the pilots to fly to RAF Valley in Wales,

to train on their Hawk jet simulator.

Is that your phone ringing?

Oh, is it mine?

But getting them back again proves a headache for Operations Officer

Dave Putt.

Hello.

Aye, the weather's going, innit.

Right.

With TAF in red, as well, so, same as Waddington,

they've gone down as well.

We've let them know the situation,

so they might well stay at Valley.

OK, then.

Cheers. Bye.

The weather has deteriorated quite quick

and a bit beyond what the forecast was, so unfortunately,

our aircraft will be staying at Valley.

It might allow some of them with young children to get

a good night's sleep.

Put it that much!

The pilots finally make it home the next day,

and, with clear weather, resume training.

For most of the winter, the Red Arrows train

as two sections.

The front five, called Enid, concentrate on introducing

the new pilots to formation aerobatics.

The most experienced pilots make up the rear element, called Gypo,

after a previous team leader.

They perform the most dynamic manoeuvres in the display.

Pitch and roll, go!

As a new member of the rear element, Toby Keeley has to master

the advanced flying skills he'll

need for these heart-stopping routines.

Six rolling in.

One of the most difficult is flying upside down, above another jet,

much nearer to the ground than he's ever flown before.

The bit challenge of inverted formation flying certainly

would be the roll in.

So, you're in close formation.

And then you pitch up and roll at exactly the same time as the guy

in front, so the same time as Simon, so making that look symmetrical

is quite difficult, because if I do a small pitch up

and he does a big tweak up, that can get quite tasty.

Maintaining that perfect formation inverted is pretty tricky.

The stick moves in the opposite sense, so left stick input,

the jet goes right, as you would normally expect it to go left,

the right way up, and vice versa.

So, getting used to that was quite tricky.

I wouldn't say I've had much time to appreciate it at the time

of flying because you are so focused on the actual manoeuvre.

It's in hindsight you look back and you think that was really good fun

and a real privilege to be able to do that.

It's a steep learning curve.

But inverted flying with just Si, is only the first step for Toby.

In the mirror flat manoeuvre, the other two pilots must fly

directly beneath them, merely feet away.

I think the main challenge for that is I'm inverted on top of

Matt but then Matt is trying to formate on me while trying to

contort his neck and look up at the same time.

So, that's quite difficult, obviously, in the fact he's not an owl!

It's actually quite a difficult position to be in for him.

Six rolling in.

It's quite an unnatural position to be in because normally

I'm just trying to look forward for the best view.

But in this particular move, I'm looking straight up.

I've got to put my helmet over to one side in order to be able

to look straight up at Simon.

And it's one of those if my neck doesn't hurt,

I'm in the wrong position.

So, as long as I've got a bit of an ache in my neck,

I know I'm looking and I'm generally in the right place.

There's actually no smoke and mirrors in that manoeuvre,

it is literally me right on top of Matt.

There's about seven, eight feet between us.

You always say you'll have a little wave to the guy below you.

Unfortunately, I don't have the capacity or the inkling

to look down at Matt.

I'd rather not, to be honest, I'd rather just fly as stable

as I can and then it's over pretty quickly.

Six rolling out.

One awesome piece of flying is ticked off but on his next sortie,

Toby will attempt the most physically brutal manoeuvre of all.

Corkscrew.

The four Red Arrows pilots who make up the rear section perform

the team's most dynamic and difficult manoeuvres.

And corkscrew is the most physically brutal of them all.

Two pilots, Toby and Si, fly upside down, while Matt and Bogeye

roll round and round their smoke.

We're looking for contour-rotating manoeuvres, four times,

around six and seven smoke.

Eight and nine should be above the smoke at the same time,

and then below the smoke at the same time and contour rotating as we go

round, and doing that four times, and finishing at the same time.

If you see it in the season, then we're doing it right.

It feels like a washing machine experience.

It's pretty much an assault.

It's the same as any job, you just get used to it and

clearly you just need to give it the respect it deserves.

Six rolling out.

Throughout training, the Red Arrows use their famous smoke.

Turning it on and off with precision is a skill they have to perfect.

And in head-to-head manoeuvres, the smoke is vital for the pilots

to see one another.

For winter training, they only use white smoke.

But after a long display season, it doesn't always work perfectly.

Smoke system overhauls are carried out by the dye team.

We are the team responsible for creating smoke,

the red, white and blue you see coming out the aircraft.

This is our smoke pods that we fit to the bottom of the aeroplanes.

They come in, get stripped apart, cleaned, put back together, valves,

O rings and stuff all get changed.

We put it back together.

Test it, and then they'll strap it to the bottom of the aeroplane

again and that's when you'll see it in the displays.

The diesel and dye mixture is pumped through the aircraft

and then it's pointed out into the jet efflux, essentially

the jet engine's exhaust, which vaporises it

and that's what creates the puffy red, white and blue smoke.

This front section here between my hands,

that's actually the red tank.

You can see it's quite small and this gives us

enough of a mixture to give us one minute only of the red colour.

Then from here, all the way back to here, that is the white tank.

As you can see, it's significantly bigger than the red and

therefore it gives us five minutes of white smoke during the display.

And moving back once more, from here to here is actually the blue tank.

It's exactly the same size at the red tank and also gives us

a minute of blue smoke during the display.

The pilots carefully plan their display

to have the most visual impact that they can.

And they will use the red and blue when they're directly

in front of the crowd, mainly,

and then when they're off doing other things,

that's when you'll see more of the white smoke.

Dye team is one of the best jobs on the Red Arrows, in the fact

we're kind of our own bosses.

When we're on the road, we have to make decisions

and it's quite good to sort of solve your own problems,

and think on your feet a little bit.

Using smoke is a key skill the team's new pilots,

Starky and Bondy, have to learn.

Now three months into their training, they've been introduced

to all the aerobatic manoeuvres they'll be flying, apart from one.

Today, they'll face perfectly timing their smoke, while performing

by far their most difficult and daunting manoeuvre.

Rollbacks.

Flying at 300 feet, pairs of jets take turns to pull up,

roll around the aircraft next to them,

then slot back into the rear of the formation.

Get the technique wrong,

there's a risk of entering an unrecoverable spin,

or of colliding with the other aircraft.

Rollbacks is quite challenging.

It's the one that we leave till the very end.

Yeah, the guys tend to put a bit of self-induced pressure on

because of, you know, stories of old.

So, yeah, it's... It is a milestone for the guys.

Unfortunately there was a fatality back in the '80s, but because

this story's grown over the years, it's almost built this aura

of being the most difficult manoeuvre in the Red Arrows.

In the '80s, the team suffered two accidents in quick succession,

practising rollbacks.

In November 1987, two jets collided.

Both pilots successfully ejected.

One jet crashed into a field...

...but the other struck a row of houses.

From a normally tranquil close, the area was transformed as

fire tenders, ambulances

and an air-sea rescue helicopter hovered overhead.

Incredibly, no-one on the ground was hurt.

But just two months later, pilot Neil MacLachlan was tragically

killed when his jet entered a spin while he performed a rollback.

Like Bondy and Starky, it was Neil's first year in the team.

Three, two, one, hack.

8.45, morning gents.

Rollbacks, OK. Let's not make a massive thing out of these.

They are simple manoeuvres that have built up this aura

of being the most difficult thing we have in our quiver.

It is the most difficult thing you have, but you'll learn

from these guys, the procedural technique to get on with it,

and also, more importantly, how to get out of it

if you're getting into any trouble.

For their first attempt at rollbacks,

the new pilots will have experienced Red Arrows Dan Lowes

and Matt Masters in their back seats.

Eight is in two's back seat and five is in three's back seat.

Rollbacks - probably the manoeuvre that we're most anxious

about getting done,

and it'll be nice to get those under the belt.

Three, roll, go.

Barrel rolling that close to another aircraft is something we're simply

not used to doing, we haven't done before.

So there is certainly a healthy amount of nerves involved

before you do it for the first time.

Good stuff. Best of luck.

We'll check in at minute one-five, please.

Enjoy. Thank you.

For safety, on this first sortie, they'll be rolling one at a time,

rather than in pairs.

Officer Commanding Boomer has come to keep an eye on his new recruits.

11 years ago, he was in their shoes.

I experienced it all, so remember it well.

Same nerves before that first sortie, to go up and see.

You have no idea how it's going to turn out.

Matt, who is red eight, was in my back seat,

experienced pilot on the rollbacks, and he was there

for primarily safety reasons, it's my first go.

So he demoed me the rollback first.

Next, Dan Lowes' demo for Starky.

The roll is far too big.

It's safe, but puts Lowesy far below and behind the formation.

Yeah, my first demonstration, it was not the best, I'd say.

I had to redemo it and that just shows you how quick

and how difficult that manoeuvre can be.

The tiniest change of input and that had a huge effect

in the actual demo itself.

The second demo went well.

There's not much between success and failure with rollbacks.

There can be such a minor change to change the whole manoeuvre,

so you can lose it very easily, by just a small margin,

so it's a tough one for them.

Demos over, it's the new pilots' turn.

First up, Bondy.

Yeah, the adrenaline was flowing on that first rollback.

Once I'd had the first practice and didn't scare myself

or Matt too much, then, then excitement gradually,

gradually won over the nerves.

Next up, Sta rky.

Well, I think we're still talking so, yeah, it was...

It's a tricky manoeuvre to get right all the time,

but it was thoroughly enjoyable,

and I don't think we have to change our underwear just quite yet!

It was really a joy, but the difficult part actually

is following the rollbacks and then doing the normal formation flying,

because you're still on a come-down from the rollbacks.

So, that will take some getting used to as well, I think.

Right, welcome back, rollbacks put to bed.

It's self-induced pressure that builds up the rollbacks.

As you saw, it's actually quite procedural.

For their first rollbacks, that was a great effort by the guys.

The guys are going to critique themselves like crazy

but they were exactly what I asked them to be - safe, consistent,

flown every time, and that is all I need at the moment.

Good effort all round, I thought, for our first go at rollbacks.

Yeah, absolutely.

There's some really solid rollbacks in there, that's good to see.

What I want you do is go and do the same again, though. Well clone.

100 miles away, other members of the Red Arrows team are training

for the 2018 display season.

Each year, ten engineers are selected to fly in the back seats

of the jets, to service them when they land away.

Known as Circus, the new members have come to RAF Henlow's

Centre of Aviation Medicine.

It's where aircrew learn to recognise one of the most

deadly threats they face.

Hypoxia - oxygen starvation.

All right, ladies and gents, if you want to grab a helmet from here.

Supposedly one-size-fits-all, we'll find out in a minute.

Above 10,000 feet, the air is so thin that aircraft must either

have pressurised cabins or the aircrew must wear oxygen masks.

So, if you want to try and put those on for us, please.

If anybody struggles, just let us know.

Thank you. If you just look at that wall for me.

If the oxygen fails, the result is hypoxia.

OK, just hold that up to your face for me.

If the engineers can recognise the symptoms quickly enough,

they can take action.

And the best way for them to learn is to experience hypoxia themselves.

They take turns in a rig,

where their oxygen is gradually reduced.

Everyone reacts differently.

Starting off at 10,000 feet.

Let's do the colour ball activity now.

Matching the shape.

Some struggle with a toddler's toy.

There's two pentagons, and they...

One was slightly bigger, so I was trying to put it in the same one

for ages, then realised there was another one.

Take a moment just to reflect on how you're feeling now.

And others become befuddled.

It was OK, it was just like being a little bit drunk, really.

Quite nice feeling, then?

Yeah, normally pay for it!

Before the symptoms become too severe...

We'll put you back on oxygen now.

...they're returned to full oxygen.

Just give a clear thumbs up when you feel back to normal.

Recovery is nearly instant.

OK, we'll get you out of the rig.

The flight simulator is used to teach pilots how quickly

they become disorientated during oxygen starvation.

How are you feeling now?

Circus Sergeant Will Allen wants to give it a go.

In less than a minute, he's upside down.

You're rolling the aircraft now.

Then crashes.

But doesn't even notice.

Oxygen now.

At the time, I thought it was quite good

because obviously I didn't feel any effects.

Didn't notice it whatsoever, sort of lack of oxygen.

Just nothing. Absolutely no symptoms at all.

From what I've seen from the plane footage of me actually flying it,

I was suffering the effects quite badly.

I suppose at the end of the day, I'm an engineer and not a pilot,

and that's what it boils down to - that and the lack of oxygen!

Hypoxia training complete, they're now one step closer

to the back seat of a Red Arrow jet.

The Red Arrows are due to spearhead

the RAF's 2018 Centenary celebrations.

Can I just take a minute of your time?

Is that all right? Yes, boss. You got five minutes?

So Team Leader Perty is designing a new centenary-theme manoeuvre

for the display.

Grab a seat.

He's briefing his senior pilots, Mike Bowden and Matt Masters.

So, the start of the second half is a new manoeuvre,

which we're going to call the centennial split.

So, just to explain to you what's going to happen, we're all gonna

pull up in a loop as a nine ship and then Enid are going to split first,

OK, and it's going to be in the colours of probably whites,

whites, and then blues in the middle.

Gypo are going to fly all the way over the top of the loop,

and then, as they effectively point towards the ground,

they'll then split out, all right.

So, you get this kind of flourish of colours in front of you.

So, that's my take on the traditional hundredth.

But did you guys have any good thoughts?

We've had a think.

Being the RAF Centenary, we thought wouldn't it be great to try

and generate a way of displaying 100 in the sky.

Yeah, OK.

So, I put something on paper. Yeah.

I don't know if you'd like to take a look. Let's have a look.

So, the idea being we rejoin the formation lined up here

to generate the one, then the zero, then the zero.

Now clearly, the smoke plan would be smoke on, smoke off,

smoke on, smoke off, smoke on, smoke off, smoke on, smoke off,

smoke on, smoke off.

How many button presses does number three have?

So, you've got five smoke events, ten button pushes,

that need to be timed perfectly as a formation.

My worry would be as our smoke, as you know,

it never really crisply ends.

There's always a little bit of a trail.

My worry is we'lljust end up...

That this will just be a bit of a mess, and sort of a blob of white.

One small mistake or one drag of smoke and we could make it look

like 108 or 188, very easily.

Yeah. It's good consideration, though.

Good to see you put something together.

\Thanks!I

Perty has a slightly simpler idea.

The obvious options of two aircraft, line astern,

probably slightly offset for width.

They both pull up into a loop and then somebody just to pull up

in a vertical and that could be a really easy way to do it.

It would be nice to do something an extra bit special if we can.

Yeah.

The 100 manoeuvre would be performed by the senior pilots

of the rear section, led by Si Taylor.

HE KNOCKS

Got a minute? All right, boss.

We have just been talking through some of the options

for the 100th year.

Matt had a pretty harebrained idea

but having not been all for trying to get a 100th in the sky,

I think we probably could do it.

Whoever the rear two are, just fly a normal loop of some sort.

You know, it might not be a perfect circle. Two zeroes...

Two zeroes and then you have someone go straight up.

So, let's have a think about it.

So, six running down the line. Yeah.

Then you have someone off crowd. Yeah.

Then someone on crowd potentially. So I would give them enough room.

Yeah, potentially, yeah.

So if six, let's say this is either going to be seven or eight probably.

Whoever's going to be least...

Whoever's got the best amount of smoke left. Yeah.

So, one loop there. Yeah.

One loop there. Yeah.

Then you've got the person here who just pulls up into there. Yeah.

I think it's doable. All right.

If we've got the weather this afternoon, we'll go for it.

Some blue sky out there. Great, thanks very much.

Cheers, boss. Cheers.

Blue, cloudless sky is perfect to test the manoeuvre,

because the 100 will be 5,000 feet tall.

We're going to try and give the 100 a go.

We've got the weather for it.

We might need to tinker with it a little bit but we'll give

it a go and see what it looks like.

The big boss, Boomer, joins the sortie

to see if the idea's going to fly.

We're just sort of experimenting at the moment

and see if it will work for the season.

Red ten, the team supervisor, Adam Collins,

will watch from the ground, getting an audience's perspective.

The three jets approach the airfield at 100 feet and 350mph.

And climbing up.

Two pull into huge loops.

As they reach the top,

Bogeye in the third jet pulls into a vertical climb.

It's a mixture of looking at the instruments, looking outside,

checking my height, that I've put the smoke on and off at the right

time, and then just trying to hold it as steady as I can,

so it doesn't look like a worm going up the sky and it's actually

a straight number one.

The problem is, conditions like today are almost ideal

and it's still coming out as a misshapen zero.

So, I think standing it off a bit, further away from the crowd,

and the right conditions, it could look good.

I think we're just going to have to tweak it and get it

to look as good as it can do, and hopefully we can do it as many

places as possible if the weather allows and the sites

where we display allow.

So, fingers crossed, I think it will look good,

it's just a case of fine tuning it, like everything with the display.

A bit of tweaking, I think we will be there.

I think the fact you can see it being drawn

means your eye kind of draws to it. Yeah.

The new Circus engineers have now come to RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall...

importantly, just with a cardboard sheath, you've got a razor blade.

...where fighter pilots are trained to survive following an ejection.

Stand by, go.

Squeeze, rotate the arms and the legs.

Legs together. Better.

Because they will be flying back seat, Circus engineers also need

training in parachuting and sea survival.

So you're flying along, low level over water, you have a problem,

eject, eject, eject. Simulate ejection.

The jets carry small rafts in their PSP -

personal survival pack.

Nice and tight.

Feet make contact with the water, now big spread.

Make sure that PSP is between your legs, chin on your chests.

It dangles behind the aircrews' legs as they parachute down

after an ejection.

That's it, good.

Drop that down round to the back, OK, release the PSP.

Good, from there round to the front, locate your QRF.

Quarter turn to the left.

That's it. Then drop...

The engineers now need to learn how to get out of their parachute...

...in water.

Dan, in particular, Dan was really excited by it.

\ Are you, Dan? I

\ Er, yeah. I

Parachute position.

Feet make contact with the water, now.

They're pulled across the pool to simulate being dragged along

by their billowing parachute.

Yeah, move on.

Press it, wriggle free out of the harness, wriggle free.

Turn left.

Once out of their harness, they need to get into their life raft...

...which isn't as easy as it sounds.

Because I'm obviously quite a big lad, and the life rafts are quite small,

that was a struggle getting in and out.

My boat's too small, it's broken.

I couldn't get my valve to work to bail out, and I couldn't get

myself underneath the cover,

because it's quite small.

And I'm not.

But we got there in the end.

It's hard work, isn't it?

The pool was tough enough, but tomorrow they'll do it

all again, in the sea.

200 miles north at RAF Valley in Anglesey, the Red Arrows pilots

also undergo their annual sea survival training.

You'd think if anyone was immune to motion sickness

it would be the Red Arrows, but you'd be wrong.

I would say none of us have sea legs, so it's definitely

in our interest to take a seasickness tablet before we go.

I certainly have. Have you? Yeah.

Down in Cornwall, it's the engineers' first-ever

sea survival exercise, so there's significantly more nerves.

Fry-up this morning. Fry-up and a coffee.

You'll probably see in a couple of hours what I had for breakfast.

Not helped by the weather.

We're about to go in the sea, put the drills to the test now.

Absolutely dreading it, not going to lie.

Sea state's 5, which is, I think, 1.5, two-metre waves.

And 40 knots of wind.

40 knots, yeah.

Have been pushing to just stay in the harbour and do it there,

but I don't think that's happening,

we are actually going out to sea.

Because it's rough today,

it's going to feel realistic, for sure.

Team Sergeant Will volunteers to go first.

A little reluctantly.

Actually pretty nervous.

Everybody on here looks petrified!

Please make contact with the water.

This time, they're pulled behind the boat, to simulate

being dragged by their parachute.

Now!

Once in their rafts, with everything correctly inflated, the engineers

are collected by the safety Ribs.

Prepare for winching.

But in North Wales, the pilots' rescue is significantly

more dramatic.

They're combining their training with the coastguard.

Off the Cornish coast, the engineers' sea training is over.

That was fun!

Quite enjoyed it, bobbing around.

And one more.

\ Thank you. I

They're now ready for their first flight in a Red Arrow.

For the pilots, it's straight back to training,

with the start of the display season just eight weeks away.

The Red Arrows are just two months away

from their first display of 2018.

Go!

For the last four months,

they've trained as two separate sections.

Team Leader Perty has decided they're ready for a landmark flight.

Today, for the first time, he wants all nine aircraft to fly

as a single formation.

Flying our first nine ship marks the start of everything

about a Red Arrows' season.

It is what the guys are aspiring to from the day they start training

here in November.

Now we might go out and just fly nine aircraft and do no aerobatics,

we'lljust get nine aircraft airborne in a safe formation,

but it really does mark a turning point in our next development

of the training.

Perty may be ready to fly nine jets but with only three hours to launch,

he's only got eight...

...because a serious fault has just been discovered

with an aircraft's hydraulic system.

The charging point for the main accumulator, all the insides

have come out, so we've come in today, got a new one, replaced it.

Two hours later, the hydraulics are fixed,

just as the pilots head to their briefing.

There's still a final rush to get the jet serviced ready to fly.

Monday, I think we pretty much only had about six or seven aircraft

actually that we could rely on being serviceable, so to get

all nine ready for today was a really good achievement.

So, really pleased for the guys, because it's, you know, everyone

is really proud we've managed to achieve that today.

It's not just about the pilots in the air flying them,

it's about the guys on the ground making sure the aircraft

are serviceable and ready.

Welcome all.

The aim of the sortie obviously is the first nine ship.

Big milestone for us but it is a normal sortie

for all of us.

Hazards today, cognitive error, potentially, eight, nine,

just calling someone else's radio call sign

that you've been used to so far.

For everyone else, it's just now remembering we are the full nine,

our SOPs cater for all of that, so as long

as you stick to the book, you'll be absolutely solid.

Nine jets are ready in time.

But the rush was unnecessary...

Looking at 1900, overcast at 2-4.

...because the Lincolnshire weather intervenes once again.

Right, unfortunately it's not fit so we're not going to go now.

What we're going to do is, we'll delay,

so down tools for the moment. Sorry about that.

We've had our cloud base lowering and visibility dropping,

but at least by two o'clock we should have much better weather

and gives ourselves a better chance of getting this nine ship in.

An hour later, with the weather still far from perfect,

Perty decides to give the go-ahead for take-off.

I'm really excited about the first nine ship.

It's going to be a milestone moment for Bondy and I, I think.

It's proof we've met the standard so far, that the boss is happy

putting together that Diamond Nine and that'll be a big moment, I think

it's a big moment for any year for the Red Arrows.

For the first time, the 2018 team are smoke on,

in the iconic Diamond Nine formation.

It goes so well, Perty decides they're ready to try

the more complex formations.

Lightning...

...and Phoenix.

Perty's even confident enough to perform the breathtaking Tornado.

Another last.

Last first nine.

We've got guys who are leaving, who will remember this day

for the rest of their life.

Flipside of that is Bondy and Starky, who this is their first

nine ship they've flown in a formation aerobatic team.

What better way to do it with eight of your buddies?

And again, they're probably overwhelmed by their emotions

over the next 24 hours, and realise they've done it,

and they are definitely chipping away at the next stage.

It was quite funny today, people were playing it down this morning

saying, "It's no big deal, it's just a nine ship, don't treat it

"as anything unusual." There's a definite buzz in the air, I think.

And certainly afterwards, everyone was celebrating as if it was a big

deal, so there you go, maybe they were downplaying it

to manage our expectations but it was a huge moment, I think.

Well done, mate.

It feels like massive deal, purely because we've flown in formation

with nine other aeroplanes.

I've dreamed of doing that since I was a young kid,

and you know, to get to do that today for the first time,

is awesome.

You know, it's a great moment in my career, and it just marks

the start of a fantastic three years.

Next time -

the team suffer a terrible tragedy.

As you'll be aware, on Tuesday, one of the squadron's aircraft

crashed at RAF Valley.

The jets are grounded,

throwing the 2018 season into jeopardy.

We will grieve for some time but we will also get back

to what we need to do.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media