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The Red Arrows

The Red Arrows

The Sunday Times Bestseller

Summary

SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER
DAILY MAIL BOOK OF THE WEEK

THE FIRST OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE RED ARROWS

'Heart-pounding, exhilarating . . . A fascinating testimony of jeopardy, cool heads and the sheer exultant addiction of flying.' SINCLAIR MCKAY

'Fantastic . . . It was wonderful to read about so many old chums and truly legendary aviators. Highly recommended.' JOHN NICHOL (Twitter)

'An exhilarating read! The next-best thing to taking the controls of a Hawk fast-jet. And you're much less likely to throw up.' BEN MILLER

'Inspirational . . . Precision, style and dedication. The Red Arrows are the ultimate in teamwork.' TIM PEAKE

'Perfectly enjoyable . . . As the Red Arrows head towards their 60th anniversary, it's clear the team's place in our hearts is secure.' DAILY MAIL

'A wild ride . . . The ultimate insider guide, relating with great enthusiasm and insight what it means to be inside the cockpit as you scream through the skies at 350 to 450 miles per hour, within what feels like touching distance of your wingman, making continual nanosecond decisions that will result in certain death if you get them wrong.' TELEGRAPH, Patrick Bishop
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"Occasionally, you and the team come within read of perfection, up there in the rarefied air of the skies. You never know when those moments will come, but it's what you yearn for as a pilot."

The Red Arrows represent the very best speed, agility and precision aerobatic flying in the Royal Air Force, and the people who wear those iconic red flight suits are rigorously selected not just for their flying skills, lightning-fast reflexes and nerves of steel, but for their mental resilience, courage and humility.

Written by the Officer Commanding and former Red 1 Team Leader, Wing Commander David Montenegro, and full of never-before-shared tales from pilots past and present, this thrilling history is both a faithful record and a fascinating account of not only what it takes, but what it means, to be a Red Arrow.
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Praise for the Red Arrows:

'A lifetime's ambition . . . I still can't believe I've been in a fighter jet. It was fantastic - just to feel the G-force was spectacular.' LEWIS HAMILTON

'So tight, crisp and professional' CHRIS HADFIELD

'I can never quite believe that anyone can fly and aircraft with such precision' PROF. BRIAN COX

'The skill level they have is just off the scale. The Red Arrows is an amazing display of quality' DAVID COULTHARD

About the author

David Montenegro

The Red Arrows, officially known as The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, are Britain's world-famous aerobatics display team based at RAF Scampton. Formed in 1964, the Red Arrows have a prominent place in British popular culture, and their aerobatic displays have become a fixture of celebrations and events across the United Kingdom and major occasions overseas. The Red Arrows have performed more than 4,900 displays in 57 countries worldwide.

Wing Commander David Montenegro OBE MA RAF is the Officer Commanding of the Red Arrows. He joined the RAF in 1999 and, after tours as a fighter pilot on the Tornado F3 and as a qualified flying instructor on the Hawk T1, he was selected to join the Red Arrows in 2009 where he rose to Synchro Leader over his three year rotation with the team. In 2015, after tours in Afghanistan as a special projects officer within the US Marine Corps and as Flight Commander at the No. 1 Flying Training School, he was once again selected to join the Red Arrows as Red 1, Team Leader in 2015.
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