Red pelicans
| Red pelicans | |
|---|---|
| Country: |
 United Kingdom
|
| Currently used aircraft type: | BAC Jet Provost |
| Sponsor: | Royal Air Force |
| Base airfield: | RAF Little Rissington Base |
| Founding: | 1958 |
| Colours: | red |
The Red Pelicans were the Royal Air Force's official aerobatic team before the Red Arrows took on this task in 1965. The Red Pelicans flew the BAC Jet Provost .
history
In 1958, the Central Flying School at RAF Little Rissington Base formed an aerobatic display team of four Jet Provost T1s known as the Sparrows. The team had previously flown the Percival Provost . This team was renamed "The Redskins" the following year.
In 1960 the aircraft were replaced with the Jet Provost T3 and the team renamed "The Pelicans" after the mascot of the Central Flying School. The team's planes had no special markings on them, but wore the standard silver and orange Day-Glo training colors that were common at the time.
Halfway through the 1962 season, the team was equipped with four Jet Provost T4s and a smoke generation system was built in, and the Red Pelicans team was born. The Red Pelicans had performances across the country including the SBAC Farnborough International Airshow . The 1963 season began the team expanded to six aircraft. The planes were also given a new color scheme, a full dayglo red livery.
At the end of the display season, the RAF decided that the Red Pelicans would be the Royal Air Force's main demonstration team for 1964 and will be led by Flt Lt TEL Lloyd. The Red Pelicans replaced the No. 56 Squadron RAF Firebirds ( Phoenix (Mythology) ) with English Electric Lightning aircraft in this task.
In 1965, the Red Arrows took on the role of the RAF aerobatic team and the Red Pelicans were scaled down to four aircraft with no smoke system. They have also been repainted in an (English) mailbox red shade. Pakistani pilots learned aerobatics with the Red Pelicans and were able to build up the Sherdils aerobatic team in Pakistan with the knowledge they acquired . The Red Pelicans had continued to entertain the crowds at air shows, often alongside the Red Arrows, until they were forced to disband at the end of the 1973 season due to the 1973 oil price crisis .