Tmyers123 wrote:No one is being a “Socialist Revolutionary”, you’re just wrong. It is a display team precisely because it consists of the pilot, the engineers, logistics, public affairs etc.
That has absolutely nothing to do with the RAF’s inability to display aircraft, it’s a weird link to make.
Just like the F-35A Demo Team, Viper Demo Team, Chinook Display Team, Swiss Hornet Display Team... all single aircraft teams, but still teams nonetheless.
I'm sorry Tmyers123, a team, in terms of air displays, has always meant a formation of aircraft, until now of course. The Falcons are a Free Fall team, do you ever get to read about the crew of the aircraft they jump from? I'd say not, they rent them these days from anywhere, but without them and their trusty ground crew, there'd be no Falcons. My point stands, back in earlier times admittedly, individual solo display aircraft from the RAF were that prolific, not just the number of types, but the number of solo demo pilots/crews from each. They flew just as professionally and, in fact, with a greater degree of latitude, but they weren't called teams individually. They were just display pilots and crews, there were no glossy brochures for even the aircrew then. The commentator at which ever air display they pitched up at might mention their name during his commentary, but there were that many there'd be too much time spent on publicity to afford each, and their ground crew, the kind of razzamatazz that goes on now. That was a time of abundance, You get it for the few display pilots now, which other than the BBMF, RAFAT and the Falcons is just the Typhoon display, oh and the Tutor and that's about it, so I suppose a lot of PR noise is thrown up because they feel the need to bang the drum now to try and make up for the lacklustre selection. The RAF now is so overstretched so tight on resources with so few aircraft its a natural reflex response to make a big deal of what there is. Its otherwise known as style over substance!
FB