The ‘Black Arrows’ and the 22 Loop: a Personal Recollection
By
ACM Sir Patrick Hine
By
ACM Sir Patrick Hine
I joined ‘Treble One’ Squadron at RAF North Weald in May 1957, two months before my 25th birthday. By this time, I had flown some 2000 hours which, following flying training, were mostly on Meteors - with No 1 Squadron at Tangmere, at the Central Flying School (CFS) as a student and later as a staff instructor, and as a QFI at Weston Zoyland in Somerset and the RAF Flying College in Lincolnshire. I had converted onto the Hunter (F5) with 1 Sqn during a 2-week operational refresher course in 1955, and I had flown regularly on the Hunter F4 with the CFS Type Flight at Kemble during my tour (1956-7) on the CFS Staff at Little Rissington. I was also a member of the CFS Pelicans Meteor formation aerobatic team, having earlier flown on similar teams with 1 Sqn and the RAF Flying College. I was thus already an experienced formation aerobatic pilot and had flown some 50 hours on the Hunter.
The CO of ‘Treble One’, Sqn Ldr Roger Topp (RLT), had formed a 4-ship team on the Hunter F4 in 1955 and then added a 5th aircraft in 1956. The Squadron had been designated to take over from No 43 Squadron in 1957 as the RAF’s official formation aerobatic team, having recently converted to the Hunter F6 with its more powerful and reliable Avon 203 engine, and with its new aircraft all sprayed with glossy black paint. I was aware of these plans and was determined to join ‘Treble One’, two of my CFS staff colleagues, ‘Straw’ Hall and Matt Kemp (a fellow Pelican) having already done so. RLT’s answer to my request was ‘yes, but not yet’, there being no immediate vacancy. Two months later, one of the team’s pilots, Mike Thurley, was seriously injured in a bizarre landing accident, and I was called forward to replace him. Once I had persuaded an understanding Commandant to release me early from the CFS Meteor Flight, my young bride of 5 months and I packed our old pre-war Morris Cowley saloon and were on our way. We quickly found somewhere to live within a few miles of the station.
At that time, the Squadron had an establishment of 16 aircraft (all single seaters as the T7 only arrived in early 1959) and 20 pilots. The 10 formation aerobatic pilots were in A Flight, while the other 10, under a USAF exchange officer, were in B Flight, their flying all being on operational training. The A Flight pilots remained combat ready but most of their operational training was done between October and March, outside the display season.
On the day of my arrival, the 5-ship team suffered a mid-air collision during a loop in tight box formation over the airfield, the No 4, Fg Off Dave Garrett being killed and the No 2, Flt Lt ‘Straw’ Hall somehow managing to land his badly damaged aircraft on the long runway at Stansted, but never to fly again. Not the best of starts! As both these pilots flew on the right rather than left side of the formation, I became a replacement No 2 or No 4.
One of the reasons that RLT had opted for a 5-aircraft team was that it permitted many more different formation shapes. Apart from the box with 3 aircraft in tight line astern, the team flew an arrowhead, line abreast, fork where 4 and 5 flew line astern on 2 and 3 respectively, half-swan where 2 and 3 formated in echelon on No 4, full-swan where they did so on No 5, and finally a card five. The downward bomb-burst was done from arrowhead. I was still working up when the team performed at the Paris Air Show in June where the French crowd dubbed the team ‘Les Fleches Noir’ – hence the ‘Black Arrows’ name that was quickly adopted by the media.
With the SBAC Show at Farnborough in mind, the Boss decided to expand the team to a Diamond 9, in effect with a new box of 4, which I led, slotting in behind the front arrowhead of 5. The display sequence started with a 9 aircraft loop, wingover and a barrel roll before the back 4 broke away at low level, leaving the 5 to complete the show with various formation changes and the bomb-burst. It was not long before we had perfected this sequence for the week-long SBAC Show where the team received much acclamation in the media as the first team to fly 9 aircraft at an international air show. Later in September on Battle of Britain Day, the 9 performed at 3 separate RAF airfields (Biggin Hill, Duxford and Horsham St Faith). At the beginning of our display at Horsham, there was a near disaster: when we were pulling up for our opening manoeuvre, a light aircraft giving passenger experience flights suddenly appeared ahead of us, leaving just enough time to take immediate but individual avoiding action. Miraculously, there was no collision between any of us, or with the light aircraft, so somewhat shaken we reformed and gave our display. There had been no air traffic control over the light aircraft and no warning to us that it was operating independently. However, there was subsequently one very chastened Wg Cdr Flying at Horsham!
1958 saw a very busy display season for the Black Arrows, both in the UK and throughout Western Europe where we gave shows in France and Germany (at least 3 in each), Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and Norway. They were nearly all given with 9 aircraft where we developed different shapes (T, wineglass and voodoo) as alternatives to the classic Diamond 9 and usually coming down from 9 to 7 to 5 aircraft during the sequence. RLT was a brilliant leader who called his team changes when the formation was in plan view of the crowd rather than end-on which looked ragged, and he was always gave as full a display as possible in the prevailing weather conditions. We needed a minimum of 4500 feet cloud base for loops and 2500 for barrel rolls; anything below that - unless there were gaps in the cloud cover – meant flying a flat pattern where all we could do were formation changes in steep turns and a horizontal bomb-burst.
As North Weald was closing as an operational airfield as part of the infamous 1957 Duncan Sandys’ axe defence review, the Squadron moved in February to RAF North Luffenham which itself had recently run down as a Meteor night fighter OCU. So, we had the airfield to ourselves and none of the restrictions hitherto placed on us by the London Air Traffic Control Zone. It was good to be out in the country too, with some excellent inns in nearby villages and a lovely golf course nearby. The most supportive station commander, Gp Capt Marcus Knight, allowed our married pilots to move into vacant OMQs, and collectively we enlivened what had become a rather moribund Officers’ Mess. We remained happily at North Luffenham for some 4 months before our scheduled move to Wattisham which had been delayed until the main runway extension to 3000 yards had been completed.
Soon after we had settled in at Wattisham, RLT turned his attention once more to the Farnborough Show. He had heard that the Pakistan Air Force had looped 16 aircraft and was determined to go one better. He hit upon a plan to loop 20 and roll 16, before reducing to the basic 9 et al; the problem was that we did not have enough aircraft or pilots. We could train up some of our so-called ‘operational’ pilots but we also needed some volunteers from other Fighter Command units, as well as more Hunter F6s. With the station commander’s blessing, RLT raised the matter during a timely visit by the AOC-in-C, ACM Sir Thomas Pike, who agreed to the Boss’s plan and request for additional resources.
Within a couple of weeks, both reinforcement pilots and aircraft began arriving with extra groundcrew support, and we started the work-up for a 20 aircraft loop. Because the ‘new’ formation aerobatic pilots would have to fly towards or at the back of the large formation where there could be some lateral movement (fishtailing), for safety reasons the front 5 flew about one span apart. The novices were to be in line astern with 4 aircraft in each stem, and each stem was initially worked up independently before we reached a level of expertise that permitted putting the whole formation together. We soon discovered, however, that the last man in each stem, particularly those on the outside, had insufficient power to hold station on top of the loop and during the initial descent, even with the leader relaxing back pressure and throttling back a little. In short, we could not guarantee integrity of the formation during this critical slow speed part of the loop. So, what does one do when faced by a seemingly show-stopping problem: one repairs to the bar!
The Boss and a few of the most experienced team pilots downed more than a few beers and came up with a new wheeze: increase the frontage of the formation from 5 to 7, with only 3 in each stem rather than 4, except in the leader’s stem where a 4th aircraft could maintain position – hence the 22 which almost straightaway worked like a charm. This new formation required 10 aircraft and 9 pilots from other units. After several more practices, we selected the 22 pilots and trained the other 4 as reserves, two of whom would be airborne spares.
On 25 August, the Squadron deployed to Odiham in preparation for the SBAC Show at Farnborough, then always held during the first week in September (Monday to Sunday – 7 displays). The sequence chosen was a low-level run-in from the Laffen Plains west of the airfield down the line of the main runway before pulling up into two consecutive loops, upon completion of which 6 aircraft would break away before the remaining 16 aircraft closed up during a wingover into a Diamond 16 for a barrel roll in the reverse direction. 7 more aircraft would then break away at low level, leaving the routine Diamond 9 to continue the display before reducing to 5 aircraft for the final manoeuvres and the bomb-burst.
During the week before the Show, we flew 2 practices each day, one over Odiham and the other over Farnborough. On the Thursday, the C-in-C flew down to Farnborough in his Devon to review our display before giving his clearance. We gave our display at the due time but on the return to Odiham were informed that the C-in-C had been late and missed it, and would we come back as soon as possible to perform again. From touch-down of the first aircraft at Odiham to the last take-off of the 24 aircraft following a cockpit turnround was only 26 minutes - a phenomenal performance by our groundcrew and one I shall never forget. The C-in-C was duly impressed and subsequently signalled his formal clearance for our Farnborough display. We were thus to be on stage after just 7 weeks of hard endeavour, and were looking forward to the coming week and adding to Farnborough’s proud aviation history.
My logbook shows that we displayed the 22 Loop on 6 of the 7 days, low cloud limiting us to a 5 aircraft on the Wednesday. There were times, however, when broken cumulus cloud gave RLT some concern because the 22 could not be taken into dense cloud given the near 1 wingspan spacing between the front 7 aircraft. On a couple of days, I remember looking ahead on the run-in to the airfield from my position next to RLT and thinking ‘this is going to be tricky’, but with a combination of skill and a little good fortune, the Boss would find a hole in the cloud big enough for the double 22 Loop, except on 1 day when it was only possible to do one.
Not surprisingly, we all got a great buzz from these displays in front of a crowd of some 250,000 spectators who were able to listen to our own Squadron commentator, Colin Hardy. Upon landing at Odiham, we would change into ‘best blue’ and drive across to Farnborough to enjoy the rest of the Show from one or other of the exhibitors’ chalets, usually starting with Cellon, the firm that provided the black paint for our Hunters. They were excellent hosts.
Upon returning to Wattisham the day after the Show ended, we flew one sequence for all the station personnel and then, in the afternoon, another (the very last) for the C-in-C who flew in to congratulate us (and with considerable relief I suspect) to bring this unique event in the history of formation
aerobatics to an end. There was a very lively party that night to celebrate and to say farewell to the 9 pilots who had been detached to ‘Treble One’ to be part of the team.
For the record, the formation of 22 was numbered by stems. The leader’s stem was 1, 2, 3 and 4; the right-side stems were 21, 22 and 23; 41, 42 and 43; and 61, 62 and 63; and the left-side stems were 31, 32 and 33, 51, 52 and 53, and 71, 72 and 73.
The pilots were: Stem 1 - Sqn Ldr Roger Topp, Flt Lt ‘Oakie’ Oakford, Fg Off Oscar Wild and Flt Lt Alan Brindle (West Raynham); Stem 2 – Flt Lt Paddy Hine, Flt Lt Brian Mercer and Flt Lt George Ord (56 Sqn); Stem 3 – Flt Lt Matt Kemp, Fg Off Ron Smith and Flt Lt Bob Smith (92 Sqn); Stem 4 – Flt Lt Bob Barcilon, Fg Off Roger Hymans and Fg Off Pete Jennings; Stem 5 – Flt Lt Les Swart, Fg Off Norman Lamb and Flt Lt ‘Will’ Scarlett; Stem 6 – Fg Off Richard Clayton-Jones, Flt Lt ‘Chas’ Boyer (2 Sqn) and Flt Lt Frank Travers-Smith; and Stem 7 – Fg Off Mike Thurley, Fg Off Tony Aldridge, and Flt Lt Dave Edmondson (19 Sqn).
The 4 spares were: Fg Off Barry Vaughan (56 Sqn), Flt Lt Fred Hartley (Chivenor), Flt Lt Chan Biss (1 Sqn) and Flt Lt Les Elgey (OC Station Flight, Wattisham).
Footnote: Alan Brindle, Dave Edmonston and ‘Chan’ Biss subsequently joined No 111 Squadron flew in the 1959 and/or 1960 display teams.
In October 1958, RLT handed over command of No 111 Squadron to Sqn Ldr Peter Latham. Roger was an exceptional leader and pilot, and the Black Arrows were his beloved creation. As his wife Audrey once said to me ‘Roger sees life through the windscreen of a Hunter’. It was true: while he drove his squadron hard, he was scrupulously fair, and he had a great sense of fun and humour, and an engaging smile and chuckle. Both his pilots and groundcrew held him in the highest esteem. As a formation aerobatic team leader, he was at his best when giving displays, his judgement of situations and weather conditions being near faultless. He most thoroughly deserved his award of a third AFC for his efforts.
Peter Latham became an excellent leader over the next 2 years, and he kindly made me a flight commander at the beginning of 1959. The team reverted to a 9-ship formation but also developed a synchronised display with a 4-ship team led by Brian Mercer who later became OC No 92 Squadron and leader of their Blue Diamonds Hunter teams of 1961 and 62. For the SBAC Show in 1959, the Black Arrows sequence started with a synchronised display between the usual 9 and a separate 7-ship formation led by Brian. After an upwards bomb-burst by the 7, the 9 continued the display before reducing to 5 aircraft and ending in a downwards bomb-burst.
By this time, the team was giving some 80 displays between March and October, many on the Continent including the Paris Air Show where on the wide main runway at Le Bourget we took off as a 9-ship – another first. Hawker Aircraft Ltd very kindly hosted the squadron wives for a long weekend in Paris which included a most enjoyable reception at the British Embassy as well as a memorable evening in the Moulin Rouge.
I left ‘Treble One’ in mid-October 1959 to become a flight commander on No 93 Squadron at RAF Jever in North Germany. I had much enjoyed my tour, and I continue to have so many happy memories of times spent with some truly fine people, many becoming friends for life. Alas, far too many, including both Roger Topp and Peter Latham, have now ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’, but they most certainly have not been forgotten.
The CO of ‘Treble One’, Sqn Ldr Roger Topp (RLT), had formed a 4-ship team on the Hunter F4 in 1955 and then added a 5th aircraft in 1956. The Squadron had been designated to take over from No 43 Squadron in 1957 as the RAF’s official formation aerobatic team, having recently converted to the Hunter F6 with its more powerful and reliable Avon 203 engine, and with its new aircraft all sprayed with glossy black paint. I was aware of these plans and was determined to join ‘Treble One’, two of my CFS staff colleagues, ‘Straw’ Hall and Matt Kemp (a fellow Pelican) having already done so. RLT’s answer to my request was ‘yes, but not yet’, there being no immediate vacancy. Two months later, one of the team’s pilots, Mike Thurley, was seriously injured in a bizarre landing accident, and I was called forward to replace him. Once I had persuaded an understanding Commandant to release me early from the CFS Meteor Flight, my young bride of 5 months and I packed our old pre-war Morris Cowley saloon and were on our way. We quickly found somewhere to live within a few miles of the station.
At that time, the Squadron had an establishment of 16 aircraft (all single seaters as the T7 only arrived in early 1959) and 20 pilots. The 10 formation aerobatic pilots were in A Flight, while the other 10, under a USAF exchange officer, were in B Flight, their flying all being on operational training. The A Flight pilots remained combat ready but most of their operational training was done between October and March, outside the display season.
On the day of my arrival, the 5-ship team suffered a mid-air collision during a loop in tight box formation over the airfield, the No 4, Fg Off Dave Garrett being killed and the No 2, Flt Lt ‘Straw’ Hall somehow managing to land his badly damaged aircraft on the long runway at Stansted, but never to fly again. Not the best of starts! As both these pilots flew on the right rather than left side of the formation, I became a replacement No 2 or No 4.
One of the reasons that RLT had opted for a 5-aircraft team was that it permitted many more different formation shapes. Apart from the box with 3 aircraft in tight line astern, the team flew an arrowhead, line abreast, fork where 4 and 5 flew line astern on 2 and 3 respectively, half-swan where 2 and 3 formated in echelon on No 4, full-swan where they did so on No 5, and finally a card five. The downward bomb-burst was done from arrowhead. I was still working up when the team performed at the Paris Air Show in June where the French crowd dubbed the team ‘Les Fleches Noir’ – hence the ‘Black Arrows’ name that was quickly adopted by the media.
With the SBAC Show at Farnborough in mind, the Boss decided to expand the team to a Diamond 9, in effect with a new box of 4, which I led, slotting in behind the front arrowhead of 5. The display sequence started with a 9 aircraft loop, wingover and a barrel roll before the back 4 broke away at low level, leaving the 5 to complete the show with various formation changes and the bomb-burst. It was not long before we had perfected this sequence for the week-long SBAC Show where the team received much acclamation in the media as the first team to fly 9 aircraft at an international air show. Later in September on Battle of Britain Day, the 9 performed at 3 separate RAF airfields (Biggin Hill, Duxford and Horsham St Faith). At the beginning of our display at Horsham, there was a near disaster: when we were pulling up for our opening manoeuvre, a light aircraft giving passenger experience flights suddenly appeared ahead of us, leaving just enough time to take immediate but individual avoiding action. Miraculously, there was no collision between any of us, or with the light aircraft, so somewhat shaken we reformed and gave our display. There had been no air traffic control over the light aircraft and no warning to us that it was operating independently. However, there was subsequently one very chastened Wg Cdr Flying at Horsham!
1958 saw a very busy display season for the Black Arrows, both in the UK and throughout Western Europe where we gave shows in France and Germany (at least 3 in each), Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and Norway. They were nearly all given with 9 aircraft where we developed different shapes (T, wineglass and voodoo) as alternatives to the classic Diamond 9 and usually coming down from 9 to 7 to 5 aircraft during the sequence. RLT was a brilliant leader who called his team changes when the formation was in plan view of the crowd rather than end-on which looked ragged, and he was always gave as full a display as possible in the prevailing weather conditions. We needed a minimum of 4500 feet cloud base for loops and 2500 for barrel rolls; anything below that - unless there were gaps in the cloud cover – meant flying a flat pattern where all we could do were formation changes in steep turns and a horizontal bomb-burst.
As North Weald was closing as an operational airfield as part of the infamous 1957 Duncan Sandys’ axe defence review, the Squadron moved in February to RAF North Luffenham which itself had recently run down as a Meteor night fighter OCU. So, we had the airfield to ourselves and none of the restrictions hitherto placed on us by the London Air Traffic Control Zone. It was good to be out in the country too, with some excellent inns in nearby villages and a lovely golf course nearby. The most supportive station commander, Gp Capt Marcus Knight, allowed our married pilots to move into vacant OMQs, and collectively we enlivened what had become a rather moribund Officers’ Mess. We remained happily at North Luffenham for some 4 months before our scheduled move to Wattisham which had been delayed until the main runway extension to 3000 yards had been completed.
Soon after we had settled in at Wattisham, RLT turned his attention once more to the Farnborough Show. He had heard that the Pakistan Air Force had looped 16 aircraft and was determined to go one better. He hit upon a plan to loop 20 and roll 16, before reducing to the basic 9 et al; the problem was that we did not have enough aircraft or pilots. We could train up some of our so-called ‘operational’ pilots but we also needed some volunteers from other Fighter Command units, as well as more Hunter F6s. With the station commander’s blessing, RLT raised the matter during a timely visit by the AOC-in-C, ACM Sir Thomas Pike, who agreed to the Boss’s plan and request for additional resources.
Within a couple of weeks, both reinforcement pilots and aircraft began arriving with extra groundcrew support, and we started the work-up for a 20 aircraft loop. Because the ‘new’ formation aerobatic pilots would have to fly towards or at the back of the large formation where there could be some lateral movement (fishtailing), for safety reasons the front 5 flew about one span apart. The novices were to be in line astern with 4 aircraft in each stem, and each stem was initially worked up independently before we reached a level of expertise that permitted putting the whole formation together. We soon discovered, however, that the last man in each stem, particularly those on the outside, had insufficient power to hold station on top of the loop and during the initial descent, even with the leader relaxing back pressure and throttling back a little. In short, we could not guarantee integrity of the formation during this critical slow speed part of the loop. So, what does one do when faced by a seemingly show-stopping problem: one repairs to the bar!
The Boss and a few of the most experienced team pilots downed more than a few beers and came up with a new wheeze: increase the frontage of the formation from 5 to 7, with only 3 in each stem rather than 4, except in the leader’s stem where a 4th aircraft could maintain position – hence the 22 which almost straightaway worked like a charm. This new formation required 10 aircraft and 9 pilots from other units. After several more practices, we selected the 22 pilots and trained the other 4 as reserves, two of whom would be airborne spares.
On 25 August, the Squadron deployed to Odiham in preparation for the SBAC Show at Farnborough, then always held during the first week in September (Monday to Sunday – 7 displays). The sequence chosen was a low-level run-in from the Laffen Plains west of the airfield down the line of the main runway before pulling up into two consecutive loops, upon completion of which 6 aircraft would break away before the remaining 16 aircraft closed up during a wingover into a Diamond 16 for a barrel roll in the reverse direction. 7 more aircraft would then break away at low level, leaving the routine Diamond 9 to continue the display before reducing to 5 aircraft for the final manoeuvres and the bomb-burst.
During the week before the Show, we flew 2 practices each day, one over Odiham and the other over Farnborough. On the Thursday, the C-in-C flew down to Farnborough in his Devon to review our display before giving his clearance. We gave our display at the due time but on the return to Odiham were informed that the C-in-C had been late and missed it, and would we come back as soon as possible to perform again. From touch-down of the first aircraft at Odiham to the last take-off of the 24 aircraft following a cockpit turnround was only 26 minutes - a phenomenal performance by our groundcrew and one I shall never forget. The C-in-C was duly impressed and subsequently signalled his formal clearance for our Farnborough display. We were thus to be on stage after just 7 weeks of hard endeavour, and were looking forward to the coming week and adding to Farnborough’s proud aviation history.
My logbook shows that we displayed the 22 Loop on 6 of the 7 days, low cloud limiting us to a 5 aircraft on the Wednesday. There were times, however, when broken cumulus cloud gave RLT some concern because the 22 could not be taken into dense cloud given the near 1 wingspan spacing between the front 7 aircraft. On a couple of days, I remember looking ahead on the run-in to the airfield from my position next to RLT and thinking ‘this is going to be tricky’, but with a combination of skill and a little good fortune, the Boss would find a hole in the cloud big enough for the double 22 Loop, except on 1 day when it was only possible to do one.
Not surprisingly, we all got a great buzz from these displays in front of a crowd of some 250,000 spectators who were able to listen to our own Squadron commentator, Colin Hardy. Upon landing at Odiham, we would change into ‘best blue’ and drive across to Farnborough to enjoy the rest of the Show from one or other of the exhibitors’ chalets, usually starting with Cellon, the firm that provided the black paint for our Hunters. They were excellent hosts.
Upon returning to Wattisham the day after the Show ended, we flew one sequence for all the station personnel and then, in the afternoon, another (the very last) for the C-in-C who flew in to congratulate us (and with considerable relief I suspect) to bring this unique event in the history of formation
aerobatics to an end. There was a very lively party that night to celebrate and to say farewell to the 9 pilots who had been detached to ‘Treble One’ to be part of the team.
For the record, the formation of 22 was numbered by stems. The leader’s stem was 1, 2, 3 and 4; the right-side stems were 21, 22 and 23; 41, 42 and 43; and 61, 62 and 63; and the left-side stems were 31, 32 and 33, 51, 52 and 53, and 71, 72 and 73.
The pilots were: Stem 1 - Sqn Ldr Roger Topp, Flt Lt ‘Oakie’ Oakford, Fg Off Oscar Wild and Flt Lt Alan Brindle (West Raynham); Stem 2 – Flt Lt Paddy Hine, Flt Lt Brian Mercer and Flt Lt George Ord (56 Sqn); Stem 3 – Flt Lt Matt Kemp, Fg Off Ron Smith and Flt Lt Bob Smith (92 Sqn); Stem 4 – Flt Lt Bob Barcilon, Fg Off Roger Hymans and Fg Off Pete Jennings; Stem 5 – Flt Lt Les Swart, Fg Off Norman Lamb and Flt Lt ‘Will’ Scarlett; Stem 6 – Fg Off Richard Clayton-Jones, Flt Lt ‘Chas’ Boyer (2 Sqn) and Flt Lt Frank Travers-Smith; and Stem 7 – Fg Off Mike Thurley, Fg Off Tony Aldridge, and Flt Lt Dave Edmondson (19 Sqn).
The 4 spares were: Fg Off Barry Vaughan (56 Sqn), Flt Lt Fred Hartley (Chivenor), Flt Lt Chan Biss (1 Sqn) and Flt Lt Les Elgey (OC Station Flight, Wattisham).
Footnote: Alan Brindle, Dave Edmonston and ‘Chan’ Biss subsequently joined No 111 Squadron flew in the 1959 and/or 1960 display teams.
In October 1958, RLT handed over command of No 111 Squadron to Sqn Ldr Peter Latham. Roger was an exceptional leader and pilot, and the Black Arrows were his beloved creation. As his wife Audrey once said to me ‘Roger sees life through the windscreen of a Hunter’. It was true: while he drove his squadron hard, he was scrupulously fair, and he had a great sense of fun and humour, and an engaging smile and chuckle. Both his pilots and groundcrew held him in the highest esteem. As a formation aerobatic team leader, he was at his best when giving displays, his judgement of situations and weather conditions being near faultless. He most thoroughly deserved his award of a third AFC for his efforts.
Peter Latham became an excellent leader over the next 2 years, and he kindly made me a flight commander at the beginning of 1959. The team reverted to a 9-ship formation but also developed a synchronised display with a 4-ship team led by Brian Mercer who later became OC No 92 Squadron and leader of their Blue Diamonds Hunter teams of 1961 and 62. For the SBAC Show in 1959, the Black Arrows sequence started with a synchronised display between the usual 9 and a separate 7-ship formation led by Brian. After an upwards bomb-burst by the 7, the 9 continued the display before reducing to 5 aircraft and ending in a downwards bomb-burst.
By this time, the team was giving some 80 displays between March and October, many on the Continent including the Paris Air Show where on the wide main runway at Le Bourget we took off as a 9-ship – another first. Hawker Aircraft Ltd very kindly hosted the squadron wives for a long weekend in Paris which included a most enjoyable reception at the British Embassy as well as a memorable evening in the Moulin Rouge.
I left ‘Treble One’ in mid-October 1959 to become a flight commander on No 93 Squadron at RAF Jever in North Germany. I had much enjoyed my tour, and I continue to have so many happy memories of times spent with some truly fine people, many becoming friends for life. Alas, far too many, including both Roger Topp and Peter Latham, have now ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’, but they most certainly have not been forgotten.