Would you love to be “The Best” at “Formation Flying”?

There are over 50 Armed forces Aerobatic teams world over, flying state of the art jets like F-16s, Aermacchi’s, Sukhoi-30s, J-10s, Alpha Jets, F/A-18s, Hawks, even helicopters like Alouette's and Dhruv’s and more.

I promise not to disappoint the aviation enthusiasts,

however, this article is about the "Magnificent men and women in the Flying machines,"

rather than the Flying machines themselves.

In the corporate world, the Magnificent people are "Us,"

the Team Members, the Team Leaders including the C-suite Leadership teams.

The "Formation" is our "Team" and the "Flying in formation" is our "Success at Teamwork."

Having to choose one from the best, I made a tough choice for the Royal Air Force “Red Arrows” famous for its 9 Hawk Diamond formation (as seen in the picture). Although not the oldest fast jet aerobatic team, it wins over its two older cousins the French Air Force “Patrouille de France” and the US Navy and Marine Corps “Blue Angels” with regard to a higher number of aircraft in formation. Higher the number of planes, higher the complexity.

So, what's so great about the Red Arrows Aerobatic formation flying?

Imagine flying in a plane at an average speed of 750-ft./sec with a separation of as less than 6 feet from the next one in a formation of nine....That's right I did say 6 feet while flying through 25 different formations in 20 minutes, including doing it upside down and even forming a heart with an arrow through it in the sky (especially popular with the ladies).

By now you must have guessed, Absolute Trust, Teamwork, and Perfection are paramount to survival and excellence. To quote the risk –“8 pilots killed and 17 aircraft lost” since the squadron creation.

While researching the Red arrows I came across a very interesting book “The Business of Excellence – Building high-performance teams and organisations” written by Justin Hughes based on his experience as a Red Arrow pilot, to which I will refer to in this article.

 All very good and I hear my corporate sisters and brethren, getting impatient and asking “ So what’s in it for me”?

Let us start with asking our Corporates some questions, so as to understand the unique Human Resources practices of the “Red Arrows."

1.    How do we form our best and most Impactful teams? Are the criteria for selection transparent?

Volunteers: All Red Arrow Pilots are Volunteers of the best of the Royal Air Force Squadrons. Being Volunteers there is a pre-existing commitment and passion for being part of the exclusive team as well as an awareness of the demanding performance standards.

Transparent & Demanding Standards: In order to volunteer a pilot should have at least 1,500 fast jet flying hours, been on an operational squadron in combat and graded as above average or better.

These standards only entitle a pilot to volunteer; the selection is yet to happen.

2.    Who selects the team members in our High Impact teams?

Selecting as a team: Nine shortlisted pilots are then attached to the Red Arrows for a week of peer assessment. At the end of that week, the current team pilots make the final choices at a closed meeting chaired by the Team Leader and have the privilege of selecting the new pilots for the next year.

This might come as a shock to a few of us who believe democracy doesn’t exist in the Armed Forces.

3.     Are our “Hi-Potentials” equally good as Team Players?

Attitude over Skills: Meeting the required flying standard is the first consideration. It is vitally important that the nine display pilots not only trust each other’s skills but also get on well together.

In high impact teams, the trust and accountability are crucial. Justin Hughes mentions examples where the best pilots have got rejected from the “Red Arrows” for lack of the right mindset to be a team player.

Some may recollect the scene from the Hollywood Block Buster “Top Gun” where “Iceman” (Val Kilmer) tells “Maverick” (Tom Cruise) – “You are Dangerous!". You may also recall "Maverick" as a solo player, who was reckless and endangered the lives of others, even though he was an excellent pilot.

4.    How do we maintain the standards and enthusiasm in our long-term high impact teams?

The Forced Rotation: A Red Arrow pilot stays with the team for a three-year tour of duty and then returns to his previous squadron or transfers to a new assignment. The reason for this is that by changing three pilots out of nine each year the experience level within the team is optimised: three first year pilots; three second year pilots; and three in their final year other than the team leader who is doing his/her second tour of duty. In addition to this, the pilots also alter the position they fly in every year, for example, Red 3 to Red 6 etc.

Reds 1 to 5 form the front section of the team’s formation, known as Enid,

Reds 6 to 9 make up the rear part, called Gypo.

The Synchro Pair, Reds 6 and 7, perform the highly popular opposition manoeuvres

This unique practice ensures a mixture of new and old talent within the team and the weeding away of a chance of complacency setting in. On the downside, there is a risk of losing momentum due to the need for reforming as a team every 12 months.

However as we can see from the Red Arrows, this is a practice, which has helped the team bond closely as the earlier team take it upon them to mentor the new pilots.

5. How important is the leader in the team?

"All eyes on the leader": Surprise..surprise, despite the avionically advanced jets, the pilots in the formation visually navigate by keeping their eyes on the leader and each other, not by navigating on their own, even though they are fully trained to do so. Hence it's only the leader who provides the direction.

Similar to leaders in the corporate world, the leader does a lot of other things like setting the team spirit, ensuring mutual accountability and achieving the required standards. One of the major success factors here is that the team leader leads by example, having been there and done that, the leader knows the boundaries he can push to innovate and further strengthen the team.

6.    How do we make the team accountable – “One for All and All for One”?

The Re-Qualification – Earning the “Red Overalls”: Being the pride of the Royal Air Force means nothing comes easy and neither does the right to wear the coveted “Red Overalls.” Each year the team needs to re-qualify their ability to perform as the “Red Arrows.”

No privileges for Seniority: Irrespective of the seniority in the team, the unit qualifies as a team. Which means even though the pilots from the prior year got their “Red Overalls,” they need to re-earn the right to wear it every year. Until then the entire team wears the normal Olive RAF Overalls.

It ensures that the team gets to the same level of perfection within the training period every year. It pushes the pilots outside their comfort zone, as they may not be necessarily flying in the same position as they did last year.

For the Team Leader, he has the challenge of brand new members making up a 3rd of his team every year. Empowerment and trust in the team are critical so as to focus on giving minimal directions and flying his/her plane.

Training for Excellence: If the team is lucky it would mean minimum 250 flights, (3 flights a day, 5 days a week over 4 months) of practice runs before the final performance to get approval from the Air Officer Commanding.

Only after the approval can they wear the “Red Overalls” as a team.

Here is an example of the exclusivity being earned, where team performance supersedes everything else and leads to the actual team formation, where each is accountable to the team and to the common direction.

The 250 odd practice flights have gone through some great team building dynamics, and the “Red Overall” is a confirmation of that.

While I have very superficially captured some of the practices we could learn from in the corporate world, there is a lot more in softer dynamics into what makes the “Red Arrows” what they are.

In addition, I have focussed on the flying, while there is an equally important component of the team comprising of the Ground Crew, the Engineers, Flight Operations and administration who ensure a perfect performance. The Accountability does not end in the Air.

In his book, Justin gives us an excellent and yet simple understanding of the dynamics, which contribute, to the Red Arrows sustained levels of excellence. He focuses on 6 key aspects:

People, Capability, Delivery, Learning, Leadership, and Risk.

I have tried to summarise some of his points below:

The importance of the “Team” coming before “Self” in a team made of the crème de la crème of the Air Force

Criticality of Mutual Accountability and Rewarding for Team Performance

Clarity in Purpose and Alignment to the common goal

Learning as a team with the culture of accepting mistakes as learning opportunities

Empowering and trusting the team, so as to move from Controlling to Directing.

After learning about the “Red Arrows,” which one are YOU?

The Ace Solo Pilot (Individual star)? OR

The Formation Pilot (Team player)? OR

Both?

The author is a Human Resources Leader with over 20 years of experience in the Middle East, Russia, Africa and Asia Pacific and an aviation enthusiast.

Credits:

• Photographs and Information from the Official Webpage of The Royal Air Force - Red Arrows
• "The Business of Excellence – Building High-performance teams and organisations" by Justin Hughes (Managing Director of Mission Excellence)
• For the aviation enthusiasts - The record for the largest number of planes in formation is held by the RAF Sqn No.111 (Black Arrows) with 22 Hawker Hunters, while the largest diamond formation with 16 Hawker Hunters rests with the RAF Sqn No.92 (Blue Diamonds). Both are predecessors to the "Red Arrows."