Phill Rawlins Online - Manchester aviation and transport photography

The Red Arrows at Morecambe

14 September 2003. The display photographed from the ground at Morecambe, Lancashire.

The Red Arrows flying in Gripen formation

The photographs below were taken during the Red Arrows display at Morecambe, Lancashire, on 14 September 2003. Click any image for a larger view.

The display

The Red Arrows arriving in the Swan formation at Morecambe
The Swan arrival. The team’s opening formation, flown in from the east along the bay.
The Red Arrows in the Gripen formation
Gripen formation. Named after the Swedish fighter, a nine-ship shape that only reads properly from the ground directly underneath.
The top of the Vixen Loop, Red Arrows over Morecambe
Top of the Vixen Loop.
Aircraft coming down the Vixen Loop
Coming down the Vixen Loop.
A Red Arrows Hawk rolling back at the top of a manoeuvre
Rollback, first view.
A second view of the Red Arrows rollback manoeuvre
Rollback, second view.
The Red Arrows in the Diamond Nine formation
Diamond Nine. The signature formation, and the one the crowd waits for.
The Red Arrows performing the Gypo Roll
The Gypo Roll. One of the Synchro Pair manoeuvres, in which the two solo aircraft cross and roll around each other.
The Red Arrows Gypo Pass, the Synchro Pair crossing head on
The Gypo Pass. The Synchro Pair closing head on at combined closing speeds of several hundred miles an hour. It is the manoeuvre that produces the loudest reaction from the crowd, and the hardest one to photograph.
The Red Arrows forming a heart shape in the sky
The Heart. Flown with the team’s smoke on, and the moment the crowd photographs back.
Top of the Champagne Split, Red Arrows display at Morecambe
Top of the Champagne Split. The team breaking outwards from a vertical climb, which is where the shape gets its name.
The Red Arrows in the Clover Split manoeuvre
The Clover Split. A four-leaf shape flown across the display area, with the team separating at the bottom of each pass.
Spectators watching the Red Arrows display at Morecambe
Awestruck. The crowd on the promenade at Morecambe.
A single Red Arrows Hawk over Morecambe Bay
Lone Red over Morecambe. One aircraft, briefly detached from the formation.

About the display

The Red Arrows flew the BAE Systems Hawk T1, as they have since 1979. A full display runs to around twenty minutes and consists of roughly thirty separate manoeuvres, split between the team as a whole and the two solo aircraft — the Synchro Pair — whose crossings are the loudest and most photographed part of the routine.

Morecambe Bay gives the display a backdrop that few other venues can match: a wide, shallow bay with the Lake District hills behind, and a promenade from which the crowd can watch the whole envelope of the display. On 14 September 2003 the weather was grey but the visibility was good, which is what matters most for photographs.

Reading the photographs

Aircraft were photographed with a telephoto lens and a slow enough shutter speed to blur the background while staying sharp on the airframe. The frames where the crowd appears, rather than another tight formation shot, are the ones that best capture what it was like to be on the promenade that afternoon.

More information

  • The Red Arrows

    The display team’s official pages, including the current display sequence.

  • Royal Air Force

    Background on the Hawk T1 and the team’s history since 1965.