Editing Red Arrows (section)

===Predecessors===
The Red Arrows were not the first RAF aerobatics team. An RAF pageant was held at [[Hendon Aerodrome|Hendon]] in 1920 with teams from front-line [[biplane]] squadrons.
[[File:LONDON DEFENDED Torchlight and Searchlight spectacle.jpg|thumb|right|"London Defended" 1925 Official Programme]]
In 1925, [[No. 32 Squadron RAF]] flew an air display six nights a week entitled "London Defended" at the [[British Empire Exhibition]]. Similar to the display they had done the previous year, when the aircraft were painted black, it consisted of a night-time air display over the Wembley Exhibition flying RAF [[Sopwith Snipe]]s which were painted red for the display and fitted with white lights on the wings, tail, and fuselage.  The display involved firing blank ammunition into the stadium crowds and dropping pyrotechnics from the aeroplanes to simulate shrapnel from guns on the ground. Explosions on the ground also produced the effect of bombs being dropped into the stadium by the aeroplanes. One of the pilots in the display was Flying Officer [[C. W. A. Scott]], who later became famous for breaking three England&ndash;Australia solo flight records and winning the [[MacRobertson Air Race]] with co-pilot [[Tom Campbell Black]] in 1934.<ref>Scott, C.W.A. ''Scott's Book, the life and Mildenhall-Melbourne flight of C. W. A. Scott'', London : Hodder & Stoughton, 1934., {{NLA|2361252}} Chapter 3, Aerobatics</ref><ref>''London Defended Torchlight and Searchlight spectacle, The Stadium Wembley 9 May to 1 June 1925 official programme''. London: Fleetway Press</ref>

In 1947, the first jet team of three [[de Havilland Vampire]]s came from [[RAF Odiham]] Fighter Wing. Various teams flew the Vampire, and in 1950, [[No. 72 Squadron RAF|No. 72 Squadron]] was flying a team of seven. [[No. 54 Squadron RAF|No. 54 Squadron]] became the first RAF jet formation team to use smoke trails. Vampires were replaced by [[Gloster Meteor]]s, [[No. 66 Squadron RAF|No. 66 Squadron]] developing a formation team of six aircraft.

[[Hawker Hunter]] aircraft were first used for aerobatics teams in 1955, when [[No. 54 Squadron RAF|No. 54 Squadron]] flew a formation of four.

The official RAF team was provided by [[No. 111 Squadron RAF|No. 111 Squadron]] in 1956, and for the first time, the aircraft had a special colour scheme, which was an all-black finish. After a demonstration in France, they were hailed as "''Les Fleches Noires''" and from then on known as the [[Black Arrows]]. This team became the first team to fly a five-Hunter formation. In 1958, the Black Arrows performed a loop and [[barrel roll]] of 22 Hunters, a world record for the greatest number of aircraft looped in formation. The Black Arrows were the premier team until 1961, when the Blue Diamonds ([[No. 92 Squadron RAF|No. 92 Squadron]]) continued their role, flying 16 blue Hunters.

In 1960, the Tigers ([[No. 74 Squadron RAF|No. 74 Squadron]]) were re-equipped with the supersonic [[English Electric Lightning]] and performed wing-overs and rolls with nine aircraft in tight formation. They sometimes gave co-ordinated displays with the Blue Diamonds. Yet another aerobatics team was formed in 1960 by [[No. 56 Squadron RAF|No. 56 Squadron]], the Firebirds, with nine red and silver Lightnings.

In 1964, the [[Red Pelicans]], flying six [[BAC Jet Provost]] T Mk 4s, assumed the role of the RAF's leading display team. In that same year, a team of five yellow Gnat trainers from [[No. 4 Flying Training School RAF|No 4 Flying Training School]] displayed at the [[Farnborough Airshow]]. This team became known as the Yellowjacks after Flight Lieutenant Lee Jones's call sign, "Yellowjack".

In 1964, all the RAF display teams were amalgamated, as it was feared pilots were spending too much time practising formation aerobatics rather than operational training. The new team name took the word "red" from the fact that the Red Pelicans' planes had been painted red (for safety reasons, as it was a far clearer and more visible colour in the sky) and "arrows" after the Black Arrows.<ref name="Team History">{{cite web |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/history/teamhistory.cfm |title=Team History |year=2012 |publisher=Royal Air Force Arrows |access-date=3 July 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610040701/http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/history/teamhistory.cfm |archive-date=10 June 2012 }}</ref>