– Has anyone got details of the dates/venues of all the displays for the Red Arrows entries, and the other teams with them missing?

I have all the Arrows on a database if it helps.

I have to say I find it astonishing that they reduced the team to eight rather than have a stand-in pilot for such emergencies. All of our display teams have an extra man who’d trained up to slot in at the last minute, and during the season they act as the commentator as well. I guess because our teams are all operational units who happen to have a team within it, rather than dedicated display teams where the extra man would sit on his butt all year in the Red Arrows?

It would be impossible to train one pilot to fill all nine positions in case of stand-ins – (s)he’d have to be Superman and learn all the moves for each position (for 25 main moves muliplied by three different flight configurations) and for three display types, Full, Rolling or Flat = 675 different manoeuvres off by heart!!!
Each position is unique in it’s positioning, complexity, and also consider if the pilot wasn’t needed (as in a number of years now, except recently)… having to stand-by all season and not get to fly.

There is also no stand in Leader – if Red 1 doesn’t fly, the whole team doesn’t fly – which also makes a great deal of sense.