RED ARROWS FORMATIONS

During a typical aerobatic display, The Red Arrows will fly in approximately 20 different formations or shapes.  These all have names, based on the shape and if it's a tribute to another aircraft, then the aircraft will take the name of the shape.

The formations that the team fly can be split into various groups, based on the positions of the team within the shape.  There are the tight formations, where the aircraft fly particularly close together. There are also the gap formations, where there's a missing man within the shape.  There are also the particularly wide and long formations, where the Red Arrows fly at a considerable distance from the leader, and the overall shape is especially wide or long.  Also, there are the line abreast formations, where the pilots fly side-by-side, which is a particularly difficult maneouvre to execute in aerobatic flight. An example of a line abreast formation is Delta.

The team have their own position within each formation, and they all follow the leader.  Red 6 has the easiest job, as he flies mainly in line astern (directly behind the leader).  The situation is a little more complicated for Reds 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9, who each have other aircraft between them and Red 1. 

In this case, the principle that applies is that they line themselves up on the leader to maintain the correct position, but in a slightly different way. They take one reference from the aircraft closest to them and draw another line (or reference) by lining up the leader's head with the head of the pilot in the aircraft which is next to them.

The formation positions in Diamond are shown on the right. The logic of the numbering is the same for all the formations, with even numbers on the right, odd numbers on the left. The lower numbers (less experienced in the team) are towards the front.

The Synchro Pair (Reds 6 and 7) generally fly behind Red 1, and generally have an easier job in the first half.  They don't tend to move from their positions, except, for example, in Big Vixen formation.  Otherwise, they shuffle backwards and forwards to move into and out of the tight formations and gap formations.