Heading for RAF Scampton on a pleasant November morning, my frustration at the rush hour traffic is suddenly broken by the roar of a five-ship formation of Hawk aircraft belonging to the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (RAFAT), The Red Arrows, performing a trademark arcing bend over the skies of Lincolnshire. The intense work-up for the historic 2010 season has begun, their 46th and, to date, the Team has thrilled spectators at 4,200 displays in 53 countries. There is a heightened sense of curiosity amongst the gathered media attending the launch of the 2010 line-up as Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Moore takes the position of Red 3 and makes history as the first female to fly with the team.
Leading the 2010 team is Officer Commanding and Team Leader, Squadron Leader Ben Murphy, who was previously synchro lead in the 2009 team. As Ben steps forward to speak to the media in the hangar at RAF Scampton he looks justifiably excited about his three year stint as boss of The Reds. Not only does he lead a historic team of pilots but the opportunity to be part of the Olympic celebrations in 2012 also increases the level of anticipation for the next three years of his stewardship.
Also joining the Reds in 2010 in the number 2 slot is Flight Lieutenant Ben Plank from Worcestershire who found out he had been successful in his application 24 hours before departure to a tour of Afghanistan with his mount, the BAE Systems Harrier. Ben and Kirsty are no strangers to each other, in that Kirsty was Ben’s instructor at RAF Valley on the Hawk for around six months before Plank himself went on to be become an instructor on the Squadron. Their previous acquaintance and friendship have been pivotal in dealing with the transition from the frontline to the world famous ambassadors of the RAF.
Although the assembled media are itching to know the intricacies of life with a female pilot on the Team, the sense is that this is a side issue, as it is about the Team, the pilots and the support staff who join together to produce the display that is loved in Britain and beyond each display season. Ben Murphy points out the credentials involved which are the overriding factor in selection for The Reds.
“As far as the Team operates it makes absolutely no difference to us whether it’s male or female. We clearly pick the new pilots to be the best pilots we can get and the best personalities to act as ambassadors for the Royal Air Force. I’m glad to say Kirsty was one of the two, along with Ben, who we chose to act as those ambassadors. Anybody with a fast jet background in the Royal Air Force can apply. Kirsty is certainly not the first (woman) to apply but she was certainly the first to be short-listed. We have a very stringent selection process and she was lucky enough to be selected for 2010.”
The general public and indeed much of the media may be unaware that the RAF of today and the service forces in general are now complimented by a large number of serving female officers. It is rightly acknowledged as a landmark moment for the Red Arrows by their new leader.
“It’s certainly a milestone for The Red Arrows in terms of the first female pilot, that said we do have female aircrew on pretty much all of our front line operational squadrons, and we have had for the past 10-15 years or so. But this is a good way of getting that message across that anybody can apply to join The Red Arrows, and she is a classic example of how far you can go.”
Understanding Kirsty’s background helps to piece together how she came to be successful in her RAF career, her Red Arrows application and how she will fit successfully into the Team. Her father, a former RAF navigator on the Tornado GR.1, shot down and captured in the first Gulf War, would take Kirsty onto base in her teenage years when on holiday.
“I was 13 when I first decided I thought I’d join the RAF. My father was in the Air Force and during school holidays I’d spend a bit of time at work with him. It was really the atmosphere of the Squadron, the sense of family which, talk to any service, they’ll all talk about this family that you experience, so it was really that which made me want to join the Air Force.”
Kirsty is a local girl and particularly looks forward to displaying at her local airshow next year at RAF Waddington, although the venue which excites her the most is the rolling hills around Lake Windermere. Kirsty’s mum and dad also live locally.
“My dad’s obviously amazingly proud, my mum’s really excited about it as you can imagine, they live just south of Lincoln so they pop outside every now and again to see me flying over just to make sure I’m doing the right thing. They phone me up in the evening and give me their critique on how well I’m doing!”
For Kirsty you get the real sense that she doesn’t really think too much about being a woman in a world that has been traditionally dominated by men.
When asked about it, she comments, “That’s a difficult one for me to answer because for me the real excitement is being in The Red Arrows; being part of the Team. The girl thing is almost a bit of an aside for me. To me being a pilot is not an odd thing at all it’s The Red Arrows bit which is the new and exciting thing or challenge in my life. I know from the outside it’s a really big deal and it’s great, I love the fact that I’m able to be that first girl but in a way it’s a bit of a timing thing, someone was going to do it sooner or later, I guess I’m lucky enough that it just happened to be me. I’m proud that I can say that I’m going to be the first girl in The Red Arrows.”
The credentials for Kirsty’s rise to fame include two operational tours of Iraq on the Tornado GR.4. Formerly of 13 Squadron at RAF Marham she admits to missing her old front line family.
“I’ve spent three years on the frontline now, it’s actually nice to have a change to do something a little bit different. What I will miss are all my old friends on my old squadron who are off doing deployments over the next few years, I’ve left one family and joined another one.”
Her pathway to The Reds commenced with studies for an aeronautical engineering degree at Imperial College, London. This included flying with the University Air Squadron on the Bulldog, followed by a cadetship with the RAF in 1998. Whilst a successful pilot with the Air Force, she hadn’t really considered The Reds until quite recently.
“In terms of The Red Arrows I hadn’t considered it because I didn’t think I’d really be in the ‘going’ for it, to be fair, until about 2 years ago, I suddenly thought that maybe it was an option for me, I started looking into it in more detail and applied last year.“
The application process for the Team obviously requires success in terms of high quality flying ability, but the personality involved is equally important, as the Team are ambassadors for the RAF and the leading engagement tool for the Air Force at events around the country each year. This was key to both Ben Plank’s and Kirsty’s successful applications.
Of Kirsty, Ben Murphy remarks, “She came across very well in terms of her flying skills, also her personality is exactly what we’re after to showcase the Royal Air Force in the best light possible.”
The calm, level headed manner in which Kirsty deals with a 20-minute session of demanding questions from the assembled journalists also points to a successful role in terms of engagement, especially with young people, the future pilots of the RAF and service personnel in years to come.
The flying training for the 2010 season is still in its early stages. The team leader though seems content with progress to date, which commenced with a three-ship formation in mid-October and evolved in to the five-ship routine being flown three times a day at present.
“We’re into our fifth week of training here at RAF Scampton, so it’s relatively early days, but as long as we get some more weather like this then we’re on track. The guys are doing exceptionally well so far. Of course it takes a long time to build up to the level of display that we want; we’ve got another four to five months to get there but certainly in these early days its going pretty well indeed.”
Succeeding Wing Commander Jas Hawker as team leader, the new skipper has plans to put his own stamp on the Team with one or two new manoeuvres but at present is concentrating solely on his new colleagues and getting them up to speed ready for next year.
For Ben Plank the transition from the frontline is very noticeable in terms of the flying.
“It’s very different actually, the main role of the Harrier is more operating the systems and weapons, whereas The Red Arrows' role is pure flying in terms of an operational capacity. It’s been a nice change and I’m really looking forward to the challenge. The learning curve is immense, we’ve picked up another manoeuvre today which we practiced first thing, and it’s a case of gritting your teeth and having to hang on in there for the first time and seeing what it looks like.”
The friendly rivalry between the new team members is also a source of healthy banter.
“At the moment we’re finding that one of us will pick something up quicker than the other. Most of our business as Red 2 and 3 is to make sure that we match each other, anything I do she needs to duplicate. She gets her fair share of banter, she’s picked up I’m receding slightly,” whilst Kirsty remarks, “You can pretty much get ribbed about almost anything, if you say something wrong, they’ll pick on anything almost, obviously with my hair colour that gets mentioned several times every day, but it’s all good fun, as long as I can come back with something at them!”
In fact Kirsty may yet have the last laugh as she points out that that the biology of women always pointed to a tour with The Red Arrows!
“They do say that girls are better generally dealing with g because the distance between the heart, your eyes and the brain, where the blood's got to go is often shorter. When you’re pulling g the blood obviously wants to pull down to the bottom of your body, your heart's got to pump extra hard to get it up so you tend to ‘grey’ out.”
“We pull a reasonable amount of g in the Hawk, it certainly pulls more g than the Tornado because it’s a different type of aircraft; it’s designed for a different thing. It’s quite draining by the end of the day, I’d say that’s more challenging from a mental point of view, the 25-30 minutes of flying we do three times a day is very demanding in terms of focus - absolute focus compared to 1h 45 in the Tornado. I’m finding that exhausting rather than the actual physical side of being in the Hawk aircraft.”
The pride of serving with the Red Arrows is certainly not lost on the team leader or any other members of the Team. Ben Murphy clearly is very proud and honoured to be leading them.
“Clearly it’s a huge honour to represent not only The Red Arrows but The Royal Air Force as a whole, and it’s a challenge I’m massively looking forward to.“
Kirsty is equally humbled by the prospect. “It’s an awesome job to do. To have been told I’d been selected was one of the best days of my life so far, it was absolutely incredible. To be part of this team, it’s a very unique squadron, not just the Team as in the nine pilots, everyone, the engineers there’s a really special atmosphere on the Squadron.”
Exciting times lay ahead for the Team that provide symbolic representation of the best of British - and in trying times for the armed forces on operations around the world.
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