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The Story Of The Black Arrows
The Story Of The Black Arrows
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The Story of the Black Arrows - in their own words (Classic Machine Films 2012)
A two hour documentary about the RAF’s premier formation aerobatics team in the 1950’s, 111 Squadron’s ‘Black Arrows’. Now available as a high definition download at the same price as it was when first released on DVD in 2012.
Two years in the making, the film contains in depth interviews with fourteen of the surviving team members, including founder leader Roger Topp, his successor Peter Latham and deputy leader Brian Mercer, who went on to lead the Black Arrows’ successors, The Blue Diamonds.
Also interviewed are members of the ground crew, giving an often overlooked alternative perspective on events.
The interviews are liberally illustrated with archive footage and photographs, much of which has been taken from team members private collections and therefore previously unseen. Archive material accounts for over 50% of the film.
Topics covered include:
- the arrival of Roger Topp at 111 Squadron
- early formation aerobatics on the Meteor 8
- the arrival of the Hunter; early public displays
- the naming of the team
- early trials with smoke
- writing the formation aerobatics rule book
- choosing the colour scheme
- the growth of the team
- being an operational squadron
- safety aspects and near misses
- the importance of a strong ground crew
- the still unbeaten world record breaking twenty-two aircraft loop at Farnborough 1958
- the handover to Peter Latham
- evolution and splitting the team into two formations
- international rivalry
- the arrival of the Lightning and the handing over of the baton to 92 Squadron, The Blue Diamonds
- and finally, the team fifty years on.
The film also includes an uninterrupted ten minute segment comprising footage from various displays, edited together to approximate a full display as might have been given by the team in its final year of action, 1960.
The film has been upscaled to high definition, but it should be remembered that much of the footage was shot a considerable time ago and will not be as crisp as modern footage. The download is just under 3GB.
The download link is unique to your order and may not be shared. You may download the film up to five times, after which the link is disabled. Also, if downloads from multiple locations is detected, this will also automatically disable the link. It's not recommended to download the video to a phone or other mobile device. Please read the 'Problems Downloading' guide linked at the top of this page for further information.
No part of the film may be uploaded to social media, or copied, or shared.
The download link is unique to your order and may not be shared. You may download the film up to five times, after which the link is disabled. Also, if downloads from multiple locations is detected, this will also automatically disable the link. It's not recommended to download the video to a phone or other mobile device. Please read the 'Problems Downloading' guide linked at the top of this page for further information.
No part of the film may be uploaded to social media, or copied, or shared.
