New Zealand Airshow Display Teams

The Red Checkers

 

 

The Red Checkers

This team formed in 1967 from instructors from the Central Flying School and Pilot Training Squadron initially to display their Harvard trainers at the airshow held to mark the 50th Anniversary of flying from RNZAF Wigram's airfield. They were essentially a continuation of the CFS Wigram team but with a new barnd and image, and they continued on their predecessor's tradition, which continues right through till today.

In 1973 the team was disbanded for some years due to the oil crisis preventing the extra flying, with at least one failed attempt to revive the team in 1975. They did eventually reform in 1980 to practice and lead up to the 1981 season, and the Checkers have continued as one of New Zealand's most popular display teams since. You'll find more of the team's history revealed by many of its members below.

The team has used three aircraft types since its formation - North American Harvards from 1967 to 1973, New Zealand Aerospace Industries CT/4B Airtrainers from 1980 to 1998, and the Pacific Aerospace Corporation CT/4E (an updated version of the CT/4B but with a more powerful 300 Horsepower Continental IO540 engine)

Note: The code (s) denotes the team's solo performer

 

1960's __ 1970's __ 1980's __ 1990's __ 2000's

Display Dates	Venue	Pilots	Position
1967 Red Checkers Team ______________________________________________Harvard
5th of Nov 1967 ______________ _ _	Wigram Airshow Marking 50 Years of Flying Training at _______Wigram_______	Flt Lt Thomas S. Lambert Flt Lt Roger Henstock Flt Lt Robin Klitscher  Fg Off Dick Metcalfe Flt Lt Ken Gayfer	No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 (s)
Note: The Wigram airshow was the first display for the CFS team under new identity"The Red Checkers." They seem to have been put together just for this airshow and then another new team formed later in the year under Robin Klitscher for the 1967-68 summer season. A huge thanks to Robin Klitscher and Ken Gayfer who have both contacted me and provided some excellent insights into this 1966-67 inaugural 'Red Checkers' team, of which they were members. Robin Klitscher writes: "I can confirm that the occasion was indeed the first under the banner "Red Checkers".  I recall it well, though not entirely for the aerobatics.  There had been some resistance to singling out the team under such a name - it was seen as elitism, otherwise a manifestation of the instinct in this country not to tolerate heads raised too far above the parapet. We had also arranged to have the engine cowls of the aircraft done up in red checks - Red Checkers.  This was just forgivable.  But in addition we'd had our issue flying suits (in drab grey) dyed red in keeping with the team name.  This was absolutely unforgivable - tall poppies gone mad, and an insult to government property!  Oh, well - as they would say today, get a life. It was Ken Gayfer who coined the 'Red Checkers' name and theme. He recalls: "I was the originator of the name Red Checkers and the designer of the ‘patch'.  Whilst brainstorming one night at a restaurant I came up with the name which is the combination of two inputs.  RAF CFS instructors are, or used to be, informally called ‘the checkers' (and some other less charitable epithets) because they carry out routine upgrading of flying instructors and random checks on instructors standards.  Whilst I was doodling on a paper napkin, I drew a plan view of a Harvard formation of a box, plus one in line astern, and shaded in the definition of the red wingtips and tail sections.  I saw that this formed a loose checkerboard pattern and the association of ideas relating to us as RNZAF CFS ‘checkers' seemed like an obvious play on words at the same time as describing the appearance of the checkerboard pattern in red and silver.  It's amazing what a couple (?) of glasses of red will do for the imagination! The design of the patch is derived from an adaptation of the spectator's view of our last manoeuvre which Robin described where the team of four flew towards the crowd and I came from behind and flew in opposing direction between leader and number two whilst the four were commencing a fan break." See the patch above this team entry - the Red Checkers team still uses it today some 40 years later. Meanwhile Robin recalls some memories of what the display routine was like: "As far as the routine goes, I recall writing a paper at Wigram about how the aerobatics team should look.  Its theme was "patterns in the sky". I'd probably be thoroughly embarrassed to read it again now, however. In the Harvard of course there were strict limits to what was possible, so most of the manoeuvres were pretty standard.  The addition of the No's 4 and 5, however, (a tale in itself) did open things up a bit. Particularly with smoke, the No 5/solo man could fill in while the rest of the team was scrabbling to regain height lost in the preceding manoeuvre, and vice-versa.  There was also the potential for opposed passes, one of which formed the culmination of our show - the team doing a fan break with smoke toward the crowd, and the No 5 appearing from behind the crowd, also with smoke, pulling up and through the fan break.  It looked good, but took quite a lot of practice to get right." Harvard Team in Box Loop - A First "Prior to the Lambert team, it was not considered possible to loop four Harvards in box formation for display purposes.  The No 4 in the box and at slightly greater loop radius, it was said, had insufficient power to stay with the formation.  But as Gavin Trethewey recently confirmed, the early Lambert team had proved this wrong.  It was possible - though only just.  Subsequent teams carried it on as an essential part of their routines. The leader had to fly a very consistent loop, using only partial power so the No 4 could stay with him, but enough power and speed not to make things embarrassing for the wingmen in echelon over the top.  What was usually necessary was for the No 4 behind and below the leader to get ahead of the game a bit, and sneak up on the leader so that over the top, when he would be at full power and dropping back, he didn't lose the entire formation.  It was a bit of a kludge, but it worked - though again, only with lots of practice.  We carried this trick on after Tom left, of course, and I can remember as leader doing lots of sorties just as a pair in line astern working things up.  I also recall on occasion catching sight of the No 4's propeller and cowl *ahead* of my sightline past the leading edge of the wing as we went over the top, which could be a bit scary!" Deploying to an Airshow "And yes, when we travelled we did have a significant retinue of support from technical crews, and our Devon cousins.  Also a spare Harvard.  The effort was quite considerable, really." Roger Henstock remembers: "The team became the "Red Checkers" in late 1967. I took part in some of the discussion regarding the renaming of the team but I was only a relatively junior officer and an instructor at PTS so I wasn't very influential in these matters. I remember being impressed how quickly the team badge, the red flying overalls, the team scarf and red and white checkered nose cowls was arranged. I was posted back to No. 75 Squadron as an instructor on Vampires in December 1967. In the two years I was a member of the team I flew 111 Harvard displays and practice formation aerobatics sorties. There were many more positioning sorties. For thse two years instructors at Wigram were kept busy producing pilots because of the Vietnam War and many of our practice sorties were performed before and after "normal work." Robin Klitscher went on to command No. 3 Squadron, serve in Vietnam and then rise to the rank of Air Vice Marshall, where he became Deputy Chief of Defence Staff. He retired from the RNZAF in 1993. Ken Gayfer went on from CFS to No. 75 Squadron where he became Training Flight Commander on Vampires, and he also joined the No. 75 Squadron "Yellow Hammers" display team. He then went onto A-4's in the USA and in NZ, and lead the first RNZAF Skyhawk display team. He eventually rose to the rank of Air Commodore. Thomas Sydney Lambert was awarded the Commendation For Valuable Services in the Air (cvsa) in 1967 for his leadership of the school and the team. The citation read, "Flight Lieutenant Lambert has served as a pilot since he joined the RNZAF in 1953. While holding the appointment of Flight Commander at the Central Flying School at Wigram, he trained and lead the formation aerobatic team of Harvard aircraft. This team under his leadership performed displays of outstanding merit and proved that formation manouvres, hitherto thought to be impossible, were possible of being performed to display standards."
1968 Red Checkers Team ___________________________________________Harvard
2nd of Mar 1968 _ 8-9 March 1968 13th of Apr 1968 _ 21st of June 1968	Greymouth Industries and Agricultural Fair RNZAC Pageant, Invercargill Marlborough Aero Club 40th Anniversary, Omaka Wings Presentation, Wigram	Flt Lt Robin Klitscher Flt Lt John Hosie Flt Lt Ross Ewing Flt Lt Bruce Johnston Flt Lt Ken Gayfer	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 No. 5 (s)
Above: The 1968 Red Checkers Team Photo submitted by Ross Ewing, he says "This is Robin Klitscher's Team; the photo is dated 29 Jan 68. From left to right are: Robin Klitscher, John Hosie, Ross Ewing, Bruce Johnston and Ken Gayfer. We were all Flt Lts." Notes: Of the 1967-68 team, Robin Klitscher recalls: "Our first display with that team was on 3 March 1968, at Greymouth (I forget the occasion, but not the event).There were also two displays in Invercargill, on 8 and 9 March 1968, for the RNZAC Pageant (I recall that the weather obliged us to limit these to "flat" displays under a low cloudbase). On 13 April we displayed at Omaka, for the 40th Anniversary of the Marlborough Aero Club. There was nothing more through the winter, and I was posted to helicopters at the end of that year.  My logbook does record, however, a series of formation aerobatic sorties in November 1968, but with no associated display.  These flights would most likely have been a workup for the replacement team that was to follow "
1968-69 Red Checkers Team ___________________________________________Harvard
_22nd of Feb 1969	RNZAC Pageant, Tauranga	Flt Lt John Lanham Flt Lt Larry Olsen Flt Lt John Hosie Flt Lt Douglas Lloyd Peters	Red 1 Red Red Red Red __
3rd of Mar 1969 _	Display for Governor General during visit to RNZAF Base Wigram	Flt Lt Larry Olsen Flt Lt John Hosie Flt Lt Graham Lloyd Flt Lt John Denton Flt Lt Angus Kingsmill	Red 1 Red Red Red Red
1969-70 Red Checkers Team ___________________________________________Harvard
6th of Mar 1970 7th of Mar 1970 13th of Mar 1970 15th of Mar 1970 _ _ _ _ 18th of Apr 1970	RNZAF Ohakea RNZAC Pageant, Wanganui  RNZAF Woodbourne Display for HM Queen Elizabeth II at Picton (this was the first RNZAF aerobatic team to perform for the Queen) RNZAC Pageant, Masterton	Flt Lt Larry Olsen Flt Lt John Hosie Flt Graeme Goldsmith Flt Lt Douglas Lloyd Flt Lt John Lanham	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 (s)
Notes: This display season saw the introduction of the RNZAF's new training colour scheme on the Harvards. The new colour scheme consisted of the Dove Grey and International Orange colours replacing the previously used Silver and Dayglo Orange scheme. Graeme Goldsmith remembers a particularly exciting practice during this season: "I should add that a couple of days before the Queen's show we had a mid-air which caused damage to Olsen's, Hosie's and Lloyd's aircraft, which from memory all needed replacement as repairs could not be effected in time.   Essentially, we normally practiced  in the safe confines of the Wigram Training area and used the old satellite airfield of Birdlings Flat as our training reference.    However, on this particular practice we went out to the civilian training area at Brighton Beach with its less familiar ground features.   From memory we had completed one routine and were into the second when a light aircraft from Harewood appeared immediately above just as the four was about to break into the "Bomburst".    As was normal for most looping manoeuvres No.4 had positioned forward and under Lead.  Separation at the break for this manoeuvre was ensured by Lead maintaining the "G" loading while No. 4 relaxed slightly then rolled through 180.   No's 2 & 3 Rolled 90 respectfully.    Unfortunately the presence of the 'lighty' caused Lead to relax the 'G' to avoid what he thought was going to be a collision, just as the break was called.   Consequence?  Lloyd rotated hitting Olsen's tail and jamming the rudder, and then Hosie's wing, gouging a reasonable slice out from underneath.   First I knew of a problem was no-one was around as I came out for the cross over, and then plenty of chatter as Lead checked that everyone was alright.    We recovered to Wigram individually, albeit monitoring those that were damaged, and the maintenance folk then set to work to get some usable "smoke" birds for Picton.    They did a great job as not all Harvards were modified to take the smoke kit.  I'm not sure the show was our greatest as a rip-snorting north-wester created severe turbulence (as bad as I ever experienced) and caused some positioning problems in the narrow confines of the bay - still we got through." This collision occured on Wednesday afternoon, the 4th of March 1970. A court of Inquiry was convened at Royal New Zealand Air Force Base Wigram, consisting of Squadron Leader Richard Lawry as president and Flight Lieutenant D. I. Lamason as the member.
1970-71 Red Checkers Team ___________________________________________Harvard
25th of Feb 1971 27th of Feb 1971	RNZAF Woodbourne RNZAC Pageant, Nelson	Sqn Ldr John Hosie Flt Lt Ross Lamb Flt Lt Graeme Goldsmith Flt Lt Douglas Lloyd Flt Graham Lloyd	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 (s)
Note: Graham Lloyd and Doug Lloyd were twin brothers Graeme Goldsmith says, comparing to the excitement of the season before, "Nothing out of the ordinary for this crowd - just the usual run of air shows." Regarding the scant number of displays Graeme adds: "A lean year. There may have been more, but I left Wigram mid-year for a FAC tour in Vietnam."
1971-72 Red Checkers Team ___________________________________________Harvard
26th of Feb 1972 5th of Mar 1972 18th of Mar 1972	Taumarunui   Hamilton Oamaru	Sqn Ldr Don R. Smith Flt Lt Ross Lamb Flt Lt Ian A. Wright Flt Lt Doug S. Lloyd Sqn Ldr John L'Eef	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 (s)
Notes: The team's positions wereas follows: Sqn Ldr Don R. Smith, AFC  (Leader) Flt Lt Ross Lamb (Starboard wing) Flt Lt Ian A. Wright (Port wing) Flt Lt Doug S. Lloyd (Box) Sqn Ldr John L'Eef (Solo) As well as the three official displays listed, Ian Wright says the team did five other displays at military bases - three at Wigram, one at Ohakea and one at Woodbourne.           The following photos from the Red Checkers 1972 season have been kindly supplied by Ian Wright:   The Red Checkers Team 1972   A close up from the team photo. Left to right are: Ross Lamb, Doug Lloyd, Don Smith, Ian Wright, John L'Eef   Box Four Loop performed in February 1972 (RNZAF Photo)   Upward Bomb Burst, February 1972   The 'Upward Bomb Burst' was followed by the 'Thread the Needle' manouevre seen above Of the Red Checkers, Ian Wright says: "The first time I saw the Red Checkers was at the Wanganui RNZAC Pageant, 7th of March 1970, at which my contribution was a demonstration of a Sioux light helicopter.  I was startled and stunned by the display of Larry Olsen's team, so I was rather nervous when approached by Don Smith to gauge my interest in joining the '72 team. Red Checkers teams had a high proportion of jet pilots whose bread and butter was formation flying, and I had come to Wigram from 5 years of Auster and Sioux operations in a battlefield support role, and been training Army pilots in Sioux and Airtourers for 18 months before moving to CFS.  Maybe it showed, but once locked into formation the adrenaline and hard physical work soon took over, and it was all in place by the time it was my turn to startle and stun my family who came to the March '72 pageant at Hamilton.  Those days of tight Harvard formations with deafening propeller tip shockwaves were hard to beat as a spectacle. Red Checkers teams come and go, but looking back, it is interesting to see the connections over time.  I joined the RNZAF with Ken Gayfer and Larry Olsen. Robin Klitscher was my first captain on Sunderlands in Fiji and trained me as a QFI, and I was OC Flying Training Wing when Frank Sharp was tasked with getting the first Airtrainer team together.  My first flight in a Skyhawk T-bird was with Ross Ewing, who tucked into formation then handed control to me with the comment that as Red 3 I ought to be comfortable! The more modern aircraft used these days may not have the sheer impact of a team of Harvards, and the Airtrainer didn't have much power for solo aerobatics let alone in formation, but they are no less challenging in their own way, and a great way to maintain the professionalism that is the hallmark of the RNZAF.  It's great to see that the Red Checkers have not become yet another asset to fall victim of “economy”."
1972-73 Red Checkers Team ___________________________________________Harvard
25th of Feb 1973 10th of Mar 1973 16th of Jun 1973	Ashburton New Plymouth Air Force 50th, RNZAF Station Wigram	Sqn Ldr Don R. Smith Flt Lt Gary A. Ritchie Flt Lt Ian A. Wright Flt Lt Barry J. Mitchell Flt Lt Ces Crook	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 (s)
Note: Team positions were thus: Sqn Ldr Don R. Smith, AFC  (Leader) Flt Lt Gary A. Ritchie (Starboard wing) Flt Lt Ian A. Wright (Port wing) Flt Lt Barry (Mitch) J. Mitchell (Box) Flt Lt Ces Crook  (Solo) As well as the two public displays listed, this team also did two other displays at RNZAF Base Wigram. Following the 1973 Red Checkers season, which was short in itself, the oil crisis saw to it that no team was formed for the 1973/74 summer season. However the Checkers did reform in November or December 1974 for a 1975 season The following photos from the Red Checkers 1973 season have been kindly supplied by Ian Wright:   The 1973 Red Checkers Team Left to right are Barry Mitchell, Ian Wright, Don Smith, Ces Crook and Garry Ritchie   The 1973 Red Checkers Team with their Harvards   A closer look at the above photo: Left to right are Barry Mitchell, Gary Ritchie, Don Smith, Ian Wright and Ces Crook This is a very rare glimpse behind the scenes where we're privileged to see the 1973 Red Checkers' black board showing the team routine. Below are close-ups of the board to show detail of the routines. Ian Wright, who drew these chalk diagrams, says , “This was my attempt to capture the sequence of the Red Checkers routine at that time.”
1973-74 Red Checkers Team ___________________________________________Harvard
			Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
1974-75 Red Checkers Team ___________________________________________Harvard
	Nil - see below	Flt Lt Barry Mitchell Sqn Ldr Don McAllister Flt Lt John Lamont Flt Lt Peter Cochran Flt Lt Ian Wood Flt Lt Cecil Crook	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Notes: The Red Checkers Harvards were scheduled to appear at the RNZAC Air Pageant, held at Tauranga Airport on the 1st of Mar 1975. Their photo was even featured on the front cover of the pageant's programme. However they did not show up, and it was left to the Minister of Civil Aviation, Dr Martyn Finlay who was present to explain to the disappointed crowd that economic reasons had seen the team's display cancelled. A No. 40 Squadron Hercules. '05, was present, and a solo display was made by Flt Lt Rod Anyan in a Skyhawk from No. 75 Squadron which closed the pageant with a 500 kt pass and vertical climb into the clouds, just before the heavens opened. John Lamont went onto an airline career but continued his airshow display flying in the Roaring Forties Harvard team, and subsequently in various WWII fighter aircraft for the Alpine Fighter Collection and other collections. Today he's one of New Zealand's top warbirds pilots, and has been responsible for planning some of this country's best air displays, such as Warbirds Over Wanaka Interestingly another possible attempt to reform the team came in 1976 according to Frank Sharp, who says he was sent on an... "Instructors Course at CFS Wigram in 1976 and I was invited by Sqn Ldr Ces Crook to try-out for the reforming Harvard formatic team. I only did a couple of flights with a formation aeros sortie as No 4 of a 4 a/c formation (14/4/76). I think that permission to reform the team was withdrawn and I don't recall any Red Checkers that year."
Return of the Red Checkers
Above: Scanned from the RNZAF's Insight safety magazine from January 1981
1980-81 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
6th of Dec 1980 28th of Feb 1981 _	Wigram Wings & Wheels Air Force Day 1981, RNZAF Base Ohakea	Sqn Ldr Frank S. Sharp Flt Lt Frank H. Parker Flt Lt Dave J. Forrest Sqn Ldr John S. Bates	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Reserve
Notes: Team Leader Frank Sharp tells how this team came about. After his stint at CFS mentioned above in 1976, he then went to the UK in 1977 on exchange where he learned about formation aerobatic teams from the masters: "I was posted to UK. I was assigned Flt Lt Bobby Eccles as my instructor to convert me to the Folland Gnat. What was marvellous was that Bobby had just left the Red Arrows after three years of display flying. We were at RAF Valley in Wales. The red Arrows were stationed at RAF Kemble in England and Bob's wife was still living there and he was commuting. Bob was still suffering withdrawal symptoms from the Arrows so, on one 'conversion' sortie, we flew to Kemble. Bob arranged for me to join the team for their display briefing then I flew in the back-seat for a full rehearsal. I then attended the debrief. We all had lunch then I did the same again in the afternoon. Then Bob and I flew back to Valley. It was a memorable day and I learnt a lot about the team's 'modus-operandi'. Mid 1979 I was posted back to CFS as the CO. While I had been in UK the end of the Harvard era at Wigram had occurred and the CT4B Airtrainers were in operation. Shortly after I had converted to the CT4 I read a report written by the previous CO that stated that the CT4B was totally unsuitable for formation aerobatics. Subsequently there had been no interest in raising a team.  I couldn't help reflecting on old reports from RAF air displays at Hendon in the 1920s and 30s. Those guys did amazing things in formation in aircraft, some of which had poorer power/weight ratios than a CT4B. With Sqn Ldr John Bates, who was the Fixed Wing Flight Commander at CFS (he was ex-Skyhawks and had recently returned from an exchange tour with the USAF flying A-10s), we set about investigating just what was or was not possible with the CT4B. There is no doubt that, compared to its predecessor the Harvard, the CT4 had an even poorer power range that allowed for the 'outside' man to maintain station through all the conventional manoeuvres. Harvard team; creeping forward during the early part of the vertical manoeuvre in order to compensate for the inevitable lack of power over the top. However, we discovered just when the leader had to reduce his power and maintain his position by 'backing into the team' who would otherwise have  trailed behind, particularly the No 4 in the box position. This was nothing new as formation leaders always have to be conscious of the power requirements of others in the formation. However, with the CT4 the problem was the very narrow power range to play with as the leader started with less than full power for any manoeuvre to allow the team members to have a margin to work with. Reducing the power further reduced the speed and hence the energy and hence the manoeuvrability. The barrel roll was probably the biggest challenge as the 'rolling while looping' needed a significant power reduction for the outside man and the number 4. The reduction required could cause embarrassment to the inside man who had to throttle back to an uncomfortable level then had to be ready to really accelerate as we came out the bottom and went into a high wing over reversal. We found that with a 'must have' controlled initial height and speed, careful engine husbandry by the leader and a timely call for "power" from No. 4 we could complete all of the conventional manoeuvers.  As for the mirror formation, following the adage that "nothing is new" this was also inspired by pre-war Hendon air displays. The real trick was that one CT4 had a modified oil system that allowed up to 30 seconds of inverted flight. Once we got used to being able to maintain inverted flight for relatively lengthy periods we had the bright idea of putting the leader in the 'inverted' aircraft and have the team formate on him during manoeuvers with him inverted. This quickly proved too difficult in addition to all the other challenges of the CT4, but, we did re-invent the mirror formation. John Bates was No. 4 and would do a solo 'fill-in' routine in front of the crowd while the rest of us clawed for more height and repositioned for the following part of the sequence. It made sense for John to have the 'inverted' aircraft as he was able to exploit its capabilities in his solo performance. Thus, to achieve the mirror John would rejoin with me then pull a little ahead and to one -side of me and roll inverted. As soon as he was upside down I would fly underneath him and formate on him by looking up and judging distance. We could certainly hear each others aircraft and it took a bit of trial and error to work out just how to position safely as it wasn't a manoeuvre we could would really mimic on the ground. The team consisted of Myself, No. 2 Flt Lt Frank Parker, No. 3 Flt Lt Dave Forrest, No. 4, Sqn Ldr John Bates. Frank was a helicopter instructor and a lot of this upside down stuff in formation was fairly new to him. Dave was another ex Skyhawk pilot. It didn't occur to us to call ourselves the 'Red Checkers' although I see from  the team photo that we had checker boards painted on the visor covers of our 'bone-domes'. The team members  did their jobs during the day then the team practices were invariably late in the day or in the evening to minimise the impact on the bases flight training schedule. Like all formation teams the unsung heroes are the ground crews. The guys at Wigram were amazing at ensuring that enough aircraft were available to practise with. Also, they literally invented the smoke system. There was not much room for an oil tank, but, with some excellent engineering they manufactured oil tanks that were unique to each aircraft (the CT4's were 'hand made' and each on varied slightly in the space available for the extra oil tank). They then developed a 'venturi' extractor that fitted on the exhaust stubs. This allowed two smoke trails per aircraft and created very good 'smoke'. We considered colouring agents for the smoke until we discovered the cost and quickly forgot about that. At the start we did not think it politic to seek clearance from group headquarters, but once we had convinced ourselves that e could carry out the basic manoeuvers safely we sought the necessary clearance. We were lucky that Gp Capt Colin Rudd was the base commander as he actively supported us and once we were ready to demonstrate a basic routine he had the Group Commander watch. I don't know what transpired but we got the nod to continue but did most of our training well out of site in the training area. Our first public display was at the Wigram "Wings and Wheels" day on 6/12/1980. The aim then became to have a Support Group team perform at Air Force Day 81 at Ohakea. The CT4B suffered 'bad press' having replaced the venerable and much loved Harvards. It just didn't have the impact or the grunt and quickly became known as the 'plastic rat'. While I am no aplogist for the CT4B I like to think that our display at AFD 81 changed peoples attitude towards it and helped it to be accepted as the quite capable little aircraft that it was. It was exciting proving that the CT4B could actually deliver. On one occasion the RAAF CFS had heard that we were carrying out formation aerobatics in CT4s. They also operated the CT4 but had decided that it was not capable of display standard manoeuvres. They visited us at Wigram and we put on a 'practice' display over the airfield. They insisted on making an 8mm film of the vertical parts of the sequence as they wanted to prove to their colleagues back in Oz that it was possible!" Frank Sharp went on to become CO of No. 75 Squadron, then Base Commander of Ohakea before leaving the RNZAF. Today he continues to pass on his huge depth of knowledge, helping to train pilots at a civil flying school. Frank Parker continues today as a display pilot in the Warbirds Harvard Team, the Yak 52 team and in other display aircraft. He is currently NZ Warbirds CFI
1981-82 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
5th of Dec 1981	Wigram Wings & Wheels	Sqn Ldr John Bates Flt Lt Colin F. Pearce Flt Lt Frank H. Parker Flt Lt R.S. Ginders Flt Lt R.A. Jannesen	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5
1982-83 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
4th of Dec 1982 Dec 1982 Dec 1982 Dec 1982 21-24 Jan 1983 28-29 Jan 1983 _ 4-6 Mar 1983 26-27 Mar 1983 _ _ 4th of Apr 1983 17th of Apr 1983 28th of Apr 1983 _ 7th of May 1983 _	'Wings And Wheels', Wigram RNZAF Te Rapa Open Day 14 Squadron Rotorua Dunedin Air Show AACA Air Pageant, Paraparaumu Airport RNZAC Air Pageant, Hamilton Airshow '83, RNZAF Base Whenuapai (RNZAF Museum Fund Raiser) Easter Races, Riccarton RNZAF Woodbourne Airshow Royal Display for HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales Spitfire to Harvard Run, Wigram	Sqn Ldr Bruce Ferguson Flt Lt Steve Bone Flt Lt Malcolm Knox Flt Lt Colin Pearce Flt Lt Roger Read Flt Lt Carl Millen	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 (s) Reserve
Note: Steve "Rover" Bone now flies Bell 412 and Augusta Westland 139 helicopters for Helicopters New Zealand Ltd. working with the oil platforms off the Taranaki coast Des Underwood was the Engineering Officer on this team and he kindly supplied many of the details.
1983-84 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
Labour Day 1983 __ 19 Nov 1983 3 Dec 1983 7-8 Jan 1984 29 Jan 1984	Greymouth Anniversary Air Pageant Tokoroa Wigram Wings & Wheels Tauranga Vintage Sports Airshow, Masterton	Sqn Ldr Bruce Ferguson Flt Lt Steve Bone Flt Lt Roger Read Flt Lt John McWilliam F/Lt Paul 'Radar' O'Reilly Flt Lt Graham Lintott	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 (s) Reserve
The 1983-84 season Red Checkers Team A closer look at the team members: Pilots from left are Flt Lt Roger Read (Red 3 ), Flt Lt Steve "Rover" Bone (Red 2), Sqn Ldr Bruce Ferguson (Red 1, at front), Flt Lt Graham Lintott (Red 6 Reserve/Commentator, behind Bruce Ferguson), Flt Lt John "McBill" McWilliam (Red 4) and F/Lt Paul 'Radar' O'Reilly (Red 5). The rear rank maintenace staff are, from left, F/Sgt Graham Harris, Cpl Ian Gibson, F/Sgt Warren Wintoul, F/Lt Des UnderwoodCpl Douglas Knight and Cpl Laurie Hart. Photo is Air Force Museum of New Zealand Official and kindly supplied by Doug Knight.   Note: The team was filmed throughout this year by Television New Zealand for the excellent documentary 'The Red Checkers', which was released in 1985
1984-85 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
27th of Jan 1985 17th of Mar 1985 _ 28th of Apr 1985	Wigram Wings And Wheels Airshow '85 - RNZAC Pageant, Ardmore Rangiora Airshow	Sqn Ldr Roger Read Flt Lt John McWilliam Flt Lt Graham Lintott ? ? ?	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Note: Air Vice Marshall Graham Lintott is a former Chief of the Air Force
1985-86 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
8- 9 of Mar 1986 _ 12th of Apr 1986	RNZAC Nationals, Masterton Gisborne Airshow	Sqn Ldr Dave Forest	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Notes: A Harvard flew with the team at the Gisborne Airshow on the 12th of April 1986 as the solo aircraft in the display, when one of the Airtrainers became unserviceable.
1986-87 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
29th of Mar 1987 1st of Apr 1987 _ 4th and 5th of April 1987 11th and 12th of April 1987	PDL International Air Race Airshow RNZAF 50th Anniversary RNZAF Wigram RNZAF 50th Anniversary, RNZAF Ohakea RNZAF 50th Anniversary, RNZAF Whenuapai	Sqn Ldr Roger Read Flt Lt Ian McClelland Sqn Ldr A. B. MacLean Flt Lt M. R. Wingrove Flt J. N. Grant Flt Lt Mark Tapp	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Notes: Reserve pilot Flt Lt Mark Tapp flew as No. 5 and Soloist at both the RNZAF Base Whenuapai and Ohakea airshows
1987-88 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
12th of March 1988 2nd of Apr 1988 _	Airshow '88, Dairy Flat Warbirds On Parade, Luggate Airport, Wanaka	Sqn Ldr Roger Read Sqn Ldr Michael Panther Flt Lt John Benfell Flt Lt Mark Wingrove Flt Lt Ian Walls Mark Tapp S/Ldr Hamish Brice	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve Reserve
Notes: At the Wanaka event, which was the first of the now world renowned Wanaka warbirds airshows (and had been delayed over from an original date in January) the Red Checkers pilots flew the following aircraft: NZ1943 - Sqn Ldr Roger Read NZ1944 - Sqn Ldr Michael Panther NZ1933 - Flt Lt John Benfell NZ1936 - Flt Lt Murray Wingrove NZ1934 - Flt Lt I. Walls
1988-89 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
? Feb 1989 19 Feb 1989 _	Napier Wanganui Wigram Wings and Wheels (unconfirmed)	S/L Mike Panther (CO) F/L Hamish Brice F/L Keith Adair F/L John Benfell S/L John Grant F/L Glenn Edwards	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Notes: The Maintenance Flight Commander for the team this season was Flight Lieutenant Pete Wooding. He has kinly sent the following photos from that season. From left to right are S/L John Grant; "Titch" Reid (ground crew); S/L Mike Panther; Terry Vulleta (ground crew); F/L John Benfell; Sgt Steve Preest; F/Lt Hamish Brice; David Crake (ground crew); F/L Keith Adair; Pete Lees (ground crew), and F/L Pete Wooding. Absent: F/L Glenn Edwards. RNZAF Official Photo
1989-90 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
			Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
1990-91 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
5 Feb 1991 _ 16 Feb 1991 _ 10 Mar 1991 _ 3 May 1991 _	RNZAF Base Wigram for Air Race Competitors and Crowd RNZAC Pageant, New Plymouth Waikato Airshow '91 Hamilton Airport Flypast and Formation Aeros for 1/90 Wings Course Graduation, Wigram	Sqn Ldr Steve Bone Lt Hoani Hipango Flt Lt Peter Mount Flt Lt Brian Coulter Flt Lt Nick "Oz" Osborne Chris Melhopt	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 (s) Reserve
Notes: Red Checkers Engineer Team 1990-91 Flt Lt Teresa Cunningham Sgt Philip Mackie Sgt Steven O'Shaughnessy Cpl Sean Tucker AC Kimbal Hugh Engineering Officer Teresa Cunningham was the first female member of the Red Checkers team Four out of the five members in the display team were helicopter pilots, the first time so many who specialised in that field had dominated the team The team only performed four shows this season, according to the Waikato Times dated 9th of March 1991, with Hamilton being their final show for the summer. The article quotes Steve Bone as saying the team had formed in August 1990 in preparation for their first show in November 1990 Steve Bone recalls that the Waikato Airshow '91 at Hamilton was raising funds for the Crippled Children's Society   Above: The Red Checkers Team at the Waikato Airshow '91, Hamilton Airport. Photos - Dave Homewood
1991-92 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
9 Feb 1992 _ 18 Feb 1992 1 March 1992 7 March 1992 28-29 Mar 1992 _ 17-19 Apr 1992 (Easter) 20-22 of Nov 1992 ?? _ _	South Otago Aero Club 60th Anniv. Airshow, Balclutha Dunedin Festival Whenuapai Wings & Wheels Wigram Wings & Wheels RNZAC Pageant, Nelson (two performances) Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow, Luggate Air Expo 92, Mangere Over Lancaster Park, Christchurch during NZ Cricket Game	Sqn Ldr Ian McLelland Sqn Ldr Hoani Hipango Flt Lt Nick 'Oz' Osborne Flt Lt Phil Murray Flt Lt Mike Tomoana Sqn Ldr Pete Cochran	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 (s) Reserve
Notes: Red Checkers Engineer Team 1990-91 Flt Lt Teresa Cunningham Sgt Trevor Wood Sgt Philip Mackie Cpl Glenn Hughes LAC Doug Hilliard AC Blair Hopkins - Ian McLelland was Commanding Officer of CFS, and had been involved previously in Peacekeeping in the Middle East - The No. 2 position was intended to be filled by Sqn Ldr Glen Edwards but at the last minute he was posted away from Wigram and he was relaced in the team by Hoani Hipango, who was formerly a Royal New Zealand Navy pilot before transferring to the RNZAF and had served as No. 2 in the team the previous year - Nick Osbourne was previously well known as a Skyhawk pilot with the Kiwi Red team - Phil Murray had previously been an agricultural pilot, and then joined the RNZAF. He was a helicopter instructor during this time. He was also well known for other airshow acts such as his 'crazy flying' routine in a Piper Cub, and as a warbirds pilot flying Sir Time Wallis's P-40K Kittyhawk - Mike Tomoana had previously flown Lockheed P-3K Orions with No. 5 Squadron from 1985-88 and then Cessna 421C Golden Eagles with Woodbourne-based No. 104 Flight for the next two years. On becoming an instructor, Mike served through 1990 with the Central Flying School, and then moved to the Pilot Training Squadron where he instructed through 1991-92. He then returned to flying Orions till 1995, when he left the RNZAF to fly for Air New Zealand. - Pete Cochran was the Commanding Officer of the RNZAF Historic Flight, and the Red Checkers team's regular commentator and reserve pilot for this season. - At the Balclutha airshow the regular team commentator Pete Cochran was unavailable so Flt Lt Jim Finlayson stood in. - At the Air Expo 92 airshow, the five aircraft used in the display were NZ1931, NZ1932, NZ1938, NZ1940 and NZ1944) - Some good footage of the 1992 Red Checkers team performing appears in the official video of the Air Expo 92 airshow held at Auckland International Airport, Mangere, Auckland. As well as footage it includes radio calls from Ian McLelland. The video was released in 1993 by Endeavour Entertainment - The team this season had three pilots of the five of Maori descent, and they affectionately called themselves jokingly 'The Brown Checkers'.
1992-93 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
20 Jan 1993 March 1993 _	Waikato Aero Club 60th, Hamilton Wigram Wings and Wheels Christchurch	Sqn Ldr Ian McLelland Sqn Ldr Pete Cochran Flt Lt Phil Murray Flt Lt Bruce Craies Flt Lt Paul Hughan	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5
Notes: - I'm uncertain the team positions for this year's team. The info above is based purely of the video 'Wings and Wheels: The Final Wings And Wheels At Wigram" (1993, RNZAF Museum) which lists the team in this order - Ian McLelland was certainly No. 1 - In December 1992 at the RNZAF Base Wigram 'Village Green' Day (which is a special annual sports day and Christmas party held on all the bases) this Red Checkers team performed a stunning routine of aerobatics for the whole base - on their bicycles! They wore their flying overalls and helmets with the Red Checkers markings, and rode in formation performing several 'stunts', much to the delight of the crowd who enjoyed this with great humour.
1993-94 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
24 Oct 1993 _ 30 Jan 1994 19 Feb 1994 _ 25-26 Feb 1994 27 Feb 1994 13 Mar 1994 20 Mar 1994 1-3 Apr 1994 (Easter)	Stratford Aero Club/ATC Anniversary Air Show NZ Grand Prix, Manfield RNZAC/AACA Air Expo, Paraparaumu Wanganui Festival Wigram Wings and Wheels Ohakea Wheels Whenuapai Wings and Wheels Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow, Luggate	Sqn Ldr Ian McClelland Sqn Ldr Pete Cochran Sqn Ldr Ron Thacker Flt Lt Phil Murray Sqn Ldr Phil Wilson	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Note: One of the members of the ground maintenance staff was Sgt Barry Moore
1994-95 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
4th of Dec 1994 _ 20th of Dec 1994 6-7 Jan 1995 _ 4-5 Feb 1995 17th of Feb 1995 17th of Feb 1995 _ _ 18th of Feb 1995 19th of Feb 1995 3rd of Mar 1995 _ 14-16 Apr 1995 (Easter)	Exercise Wise Owl 63, Tauranga Airport Patea World Gliding Champs, Omarama Paraparaumu Airshow RNZAF Woodbourne Meadow Fresh Children's Fiesta Day, Hagley Park Christchurch Rangiora Wigram Wings and Wheels RNZAC/AACA Airshow, Waipukarau Warbirds Fighter Meet, Hamilton Airport	Sqn Ldr Ron Thacker Sqn Ldr Phil Wilson Flt Lt Shane Harrison Sqn Ldr Peter Cochran Sqn Ldr Jim Rankin	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5
Official Team Photo - left to right are Sqn Ldr Peter Cochran (Red 4), Sqn Ldr Phil Wilson (Red 2), Sqn Ldr Ron Thacker (Red 1), Flt Lt Shane Harrison (Red 3) and Sqn Ldr Jim Rankin (Red 5). RNZAF Official Photo kindly supplied by Sqn Ldr Ron Thacker Note: One of the members of the ground maintenance staff was Sgt Barry Moore
1995-96 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
19th of Jan 1996 20-21 Jan 1996 10th of Feb 1996 24th of Feb 1996 9th of Mar 1996 10th of Mar 1996 19th of Mar 1996 _ 21st of Mar 1996 _ 4-8 Apr 1996 (Easter) 5th of April 1996	Ohakea Open Day SVAS Airshow, Masterton SAA Expo, Matamata Whenuapai Wings and Wheels Auckland Harbour Skyshow 96 Ohakea Wings and Wheels Wanganui International Police Games RNZAF Base Woodbourne GSTS Graduation Parade Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow, Luggate Dunedin Harbour	Sqn Ldr Graham Cheal Sqn Ldr Pete Doole Flt Lt Damien Gilchrist Sqn Ldr Peter Cochran Sqn Ldr Murray Neilson	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5
Notes: Sadly, Sqn Ldr Murray Neilson was later killed while practising for an aerobatic display whilst commanding No. 2 Squadron (Skyhawks) at Nowra, Australia This was the final Red Checkers team to fly in the International Orange and Dove Grey colour scheme (ie: Red and Grey as seen in the photos). The CT/4B's were subsequently repainted in the yelow and black scheme of today. The following photographs show the 1995-1996 season: Above: The Team - the pilots in the front row are - left to right - Pete Cochran, Damien Gilchrist, Graham Cheal, Pete Doole, Murray Neilson. The back row are members of the ground maintenace staff staff are, left to right, are believed to be LAC Corey Price, Sergeant Barry Moore (Aircraft Technician), Flying Officer Greg Poole (Engineering Officer), Corporal Lynne Hill (Safety and Surface Technician) and LAC Chris "Fetus" Bevan. Though the three inner ground staff are confirmed as correct, if you can confirm or correct the two outer ground crew names please contact me (RNZAF Official)   Another formal team shot, this time with the pilots to the rear, and the groundcrew to the foreground. Lef to right front row, believed to be LAC Corey Price, Sgt Barry Moore, Flying Officer Greg Poole, Corporal Lynne Hill and LAC Chris Bevan. Back row, left to right, Pete Cochran, Damien Gilchrist, Graham Cheal, Pete Doole, and Murray Neilson. NZ1940 is seen to the left of the background. (RNZAF Official, supplied by Barry Moore)   The team at Wanaka for the Easter airshow. Left to right, standing, are Lynne Hill, Pete Cochran, Graham Cheal, Barry Moore, Cpl Murray Wyatt, Murray Neilson on wing, Greg Poole and Damien Gilchrist. Kneeling in front, Sgt 'Skip' Ward, Chris Bevan and Coey Price. The Airtrainer is NZ1946 (RNZAF Official, supplied by Barry Moore)   A loop over Queenstown.   Above: The Mirror Formation. Graham Cheal says: "As leader, I did the inverted part of the mirror so it was important I got to know exactly how long that particular aircraft would run inverted before running out of gas - around 40 secs (some were only 25 secs). For this reason we normally tried to keep the leaders aircraft the same for all displays. I would pull ahead and roll inverted and #4 (Pete Cochran) flew in underneath. In this shot he is actually moving forward into position. Normally the tails are inline with a minimum of 4 feet between the tail tips. When in position, Pete would have his head hard back, as far as he could, but he could only really see from the nosewheel forward. Pete couldn’t wear a Mae West (lifejacket) as it restricted his head movement so he could only see the propeller spinner. The worst aspect of this manoeuvre was, the possibility of an engine failure for me inverted at 500 feet, with another aircraft underneath me. After an engine failure, I had to hold it inverted, with speed decaying until #4 got out of the way. Once clear, I would slow roll out with very little airspeed left and accept the terrain in front of me, for a forced landing. We practiced this manoeuvre regularly to ensure the safety of the crowd." Above: The Heart Break. Graham Cheal says: "In this photo, I have just called ‘Heartbreak …Go” and #2 and 3 roll 90 degrees outward, and myself and #4 continue up for a few seconds. #4 slips back an aircrafts length and sits a little deeper (to avoid my wash), and after a few seconds I call “pull” and we both simultaneously pull over the top and change the lead, and I slot into line astern behind # 4, and we pull out moving to line abreast as we come through the middle of the heart made by #2 and 3." Above: The Box Formation Loop. Graham Cheal says: "Note the position of #4 (aircraft 33). As we dive down for the loop, #4 goes to full power and ends up almost directly underneath me when I pull up for the loop. He maintains full power, but as he has to fly a bigger circle than the others, he slowly drifts back (despite full power), so by the time of the exit of the loop he has drifted back to the normal line astern position. A nifty bit of flying and very hard to tell from the ground, but this photo shows quite clearly, he is well forward of his normal position. In more powerful aircraft, this technique is not required as they can just add lots more power to hold the normal line astern position."     Red Checkers team members and other Pilot Training Squadron staff celebrate as the Airtrainer fleet's 50,000th hour of service ticks over. From left, Barry Moore, Shaun Clark, AC Bucan, Brian Caruthers, Wing Commander Ian 'Iggy' Wood, Greg Poole, Tim Sherbourne, Chris Bevan. Kneeling in front: Mike French, Bryce Rodgers, Corey Price
1996-97 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
19th of Jan 1997 _ 27th of Jan 1997 27th of Jan 1997 8th of Feb 1997 15th of Feb 1997 21st of Feb 1997 21st of Feb 1997 22nd of Feb 1997 22th of Feb 1997 28th of Feb 1997 15th of Mar 1997 16th of Mar 1997	SVAS, Hood Aerodrome, Masterton Auckland Regatta Flypast North Shore Hamilton Flypast Wellington Flypast RNZAF Base Woodbourne Christchurch Flypast Nelson Flypast Westport Auckland Flypast Gisborne Napier	Sqn Ldr Ron Thacker Sqn Ldr Steve Alderton Sqn Ldr Pete Doole Sqn Ldr Pete Cochran Sqn Ldr Cameron Smith Sqn Ldr Andrew "H" Greaves	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Notes: Sqn Ldr Steve Alderton is better known in the RNZAF as "Rah" Sqn Ldr Andrew Greaves, also known as "H", was the commentator and spare pilot for this season The Airtrainers for this season wore a special emblem on their tails marking the 60th Anniversary of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Here is the emblem, as worn on former NZ1935 (now ZK-JMV) which is based at the Classic Flyers Museum at Tauranga (photo taken February 2010)   The following photo shows the 1996/97 team   Back Row: Maintenance staff, left to right, Corporal "Gov" ?? (Aircraft Technician), AC Wayne Cook (Aircraft Mechanic), Sergeant Murray "Muzz" Wyatt (Aircraft Technician), Flight Lieutenant Charlie Morris (Mainteance Flight Commander), Sergeant Don Simms (Avionics Technician), LAC Brent Woodly (Aircraft Technician). Front Row: Pilots, left to right, Squadron Leaders Pete Cochran, Steve "Rah" Alderton, "H" Greaves (at rear), Ron Thacker (in front), Pete Doole, Cameron Smith.
1997-98 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4B Airtrainer
18th of Dec 1997 18th of Jan 1998 7th of Feb 1998 8th of Feb 1998 28 Feb-1 Mar 1998 19th of Mar 1998 22nd of Mar 1998 31st of Mar 1998 10th of Apr 1998 11-12 Apr 1998 (Easter) 10th of June 1998	Ohakea Flypast Masterton Matamata Tauranga Whenuapai Woodbourne Ohakea New Plymouth Dunedin Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow, Luggate Hamilton Flypast	Sqn Ldr Ron Thacker S/L Andrew "H" Greaves Sqn Ldr Peter Doole Sqn Ldr Pete Cochran Ian Saville Tim Styles	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Official Team Photo - left to right are Sqn Ldr Peter Cochran (Red 4), Sqn Ldr Andrew Greaves (Red 2), Sqn Ldr Ron Thacker (Red 1, at front), Tim Styles (Reserve/Commentator, behing Ron Thacker), Sqn Ldr Peter Doole (Red 3) and Ian Saville (Red 5). The names of the five maintenance staff at rear are still needed. RNZAF Official Photo kindly supplied by Sqn Ldr Ron Thacker
1998-99 Red Checkers Team ____________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
24th of Jan 1999 20th of Feb 1999 _ 26th of Feb 1999 28th of Feb 1999 18th of Mar 1999	Masterton 13th World Precision Flying Championships, Hamilton Wigram Flypast Westport RNZAF Base Woodbourne	Sqn Ldr Ron Thacker Goodwin Ian Saville Sqn Ldr Pete Doole Sqn Ldr Andrew "H" Greaves Sqn Ldr Pete Cochran George Evans	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Red 6 Reserve
Official Team Photo - left to right are Sqn Ldr Peter Doole (Red 4), Goodwin (Red 2), Sqn Ldr Ron Thacker (Red 1, at front), Sqn Ldr Peter Cochran (Red 6, behing Ron Thacker), Ian Saville (Red 3) and Sqn Ldr Andrew "H" Greaves (Red 5). George Evans (Red 7, the spare pilot and commentator, is in the back row in the 'zoombag' flight suit. The names of the five maintenance staff at rear are still needed. RNZAF Official Photo kindly supplied by Sqn Ldr Ron Thacker Notes: This team had six aircraft in the actual display team, with a seventh aircraft as spare flown by George Evans, who was also the commentator This was the first Red Checkers team to use the new Pacific Aerospace Industries CT-4E Airtrainers
1999-2000 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
11 -13 Feb 2000 21-23 Apr 2000 _	Sport Avex, Matamata Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow, Luggate	S/Ldr Andrew "H" Greaves	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Red 6 Reserve
2000-01 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
13-15 Apr 2001 (Easter)	Classic Fighters Airshow, Omaka, Blenheim		Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Red 6 Reserve
2001-02 Red Checkers Team _____________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
29-31 Mar 2002 (Easter)	Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow, Luggate	Sqn Ldr Jim Rankin Flt Lt Mark Casey Flt Lt Sarah Hodges Sqn Ldr Peter Cochran Sqn Ldr Wal Thmpson Flt Lt Andy Greig	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Notes: Flt LT Sarah Hodges (who later became Sqn Ldr Sarah Curry) was the first female pilot to fly with the Red Checkers team
2002-03 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
Jan 2003 19th of Jan 2003 _ _ 8-9 of Mar 2003 18-20 Apr 2003 (Easter)	Twizel Airshow Round 2 NZ Inflatable Boat Championships, Himatangi Beach Ardmore Airshow Classic Fighters Airshow, Omaka, Blenheim		Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Note One of the CT/4E's seen at the Ardmore Airshow was NZ1995
2003-04 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
4th of Mar 2004 9-11 of Apr 2004 (Easter)	Over Wellington (see here) Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow, Luggate		Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Red 6 Reserve
2004-05 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
22nd of Jan 2005 _ 25-27 Mar 2005 (Easter) 9th of April 2005	Wings Over Wairarapa, Hood Aerodrome, Masterton Classic Fighters Airshow, Omaka, Blenheim RNZAF Station Whenuapai	Sqn Ldr Ian McPherson Sqn Ldr Pete Cochran Flt Lt Scott McKenzie Sqn Ldr Sean Perrett Sqn Ldr Ian "Sav" Saville Flt Lt Al Hay	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
2005-06 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
_3rd Sept 2005 __ _ 25-26 Mar 2006 __ 14-16 Apr 2006 (Easter)_	Flypast at Paraparaumu Aviation Museum's Open Day and VJ Commemorations RNZAF Museum Wigram Open Days Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow, Luggate	Sqn Ldr Mark Casey Flt Lt Ken Spiers Flt Lt Nick Cree Flt Lt Aussie Smith Flt Lt Brent Smith	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Note: CT/4E Aircraft used by the Red Checkers display team at the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow in April 2006 were NZ1985, NZ1990, NZ1991, NZ1992 and NZ1993.
2006-07 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
12th Nov 2006 _ 20-22 Jan 2007 _ 21st Jan 2007 22nd Jan 2007 _ 27th Jan 2007 _ 27th Jan 2007_ 28th Jan 2007 _ 8th Feb 2007 10-11 Feb 2007 _ 11th Feb 2007 _ 10-18 Feb 2007 _ 16-18 Feb 2007 3rd Mar 2007 _ 9th Mar 2007 _ 10th Mar 2007 _ 10th Mar 2007 18th Mar 2007 _ 24th Mar 2007 31st Mar 2007 _ 6-8 Apr 2007 20-22 Apr 2007	Flypast for Armistice in Cambridge, at 11.11hrs Wings over Wairarapa Masterton Exercise Skytrain, Napier Walsh Memorial Trophy Matamata Stratford Aero Club 70th Anniversary Little Day In, Waiheke Island Auckland Match Racing Cup Auckland Harbour Otago Boys High School Cost to Coast Finish, Sumner, Christchurch Wigram Warriors - RNZAF Museum Open Day, Wigram NZ Masters Games, Wanganui Art Deco Festival Napier RNZAF 70th Anniversary Open Day, Whenuapai Wild Food Festival Hokitika Trolley Derby Collingwood, Nelson Motueka Airshow NZ Surf Lifesaving Champs , Gisborne Halcombe School Gala Maadi Cup, Lake Karapiro (four-ship only) Classic Fighters, Omaka V8 Supercars Pukekohe	Sqn Ldr Steve Hunt Flt Lt Craig Mason Flt Lt Al Hay Sqn Ldr Mark Casey Flt Lt Oliver Bint Sqn Ldr Kennedy Speirs	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Notes: Thanks to Squadron Leader Glenn Davis of the RNZAF for information on the 2006/2007 team displays The commentator for this year's team was Flight Lieutenant Kate Clark, and the team's administrator was Flying Officer Trish O'Neill. In addition, the contractor Aeromotive (who lease the CT-4E's to the RNZAF) provided two maintenance staff members to the team when on deployments. Two media stories from this season's Red Checkers can be read here
2007-08 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
20th Jan 2008 9th Feb 2008 _ 10th Feb 2008 - 15-16 Feb 2008 17th Feb 2008 24th Feb 2008 2nd Mar 2008 March 2008 - 16th Mar 2008 22-24 Mar 2008 16-17 Mar 2008 5th Apr 2008 6th Apr 2008	Taupo A1GP Race Coast to Coast Race Finish Line, Christchurch RNZAF Museum Open Day, Wigram Art Deco Festival, Napier Sport Avex, Tauranga Taieri Airshow, Dunedin Levels, Timaru (Wise Owl) Exercise Skytrain, RNZAF Woodbourne RNZAF Open Day, Ohakea Warbirds Over Wanaka V8 Supercars at Hamilton Maadi Cup, Lake Ruataniwha Timaru Super trucks meeting	Sqn Ldr Shaun Clark Sqn Ldr Pete Cochran Sqn Ldr Paul Stockley Sqn Ldr Scott McKenzie Flt Lt Dwight Weston Flt Lt Charles Weston	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Notes: The support crew for this season were Warrant Officer Ty Cochran as commentator and airshow organiser, and Flight Lieutenant Michelle Christie as administrator for the team.
2008-09 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
Jan 2009 _ 15-16 Jan 2009 _ 25th Jan 2009 8 Feb 2009 21st Mar 2009 10-12 Apr 2009	Walsh Flying School, Matamata Wings Over Wairarapa, Masteron Taupo A1GP Wigram, Christchurch Whenuapai Open Day Classic Fighters, Omaka	Sqn Ldr Scott McKenzie Sqn Ldr Pete Cochran Flt Lt Donovan Burns Sqn Ldr Dan O'Reilly Flt Lt Charlie Beetham	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Reserve
Notes: The team commentator for this season is Flight Lieutenant Ty Cochran, with Pilot Officer Neil Chappell as administrator for the team. Further team notes are on the RNZAF Website here: During the A1GP display at Taupo the Red Checkers aircraft landed on the main straight of the track, and did some doughnuts before taking off again. Superb! During the Classic Fighters Airshow at Omaka leader Scott McKenzie did some of the commentating for the team from the cockpit. During the Classic Fighters Airshow at Omaka the team performed perhaps their most remarkable and spectular display ever, with lights on in the twilight as the sun was setting. The pilots maintained their extremely close formation despite the poor light - which was dark blue in the east and pink in the west - and the whole normal routine was flown with great skill.
_ 2009-10 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
28 Nov 2009 6 Dec 2009 _ 6 Dec 2009 _	Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge Pearl Harbor Open Day, NZ Warbirds, Ardmore Browns Bay Christmas Festival	Sqn Ldr Scott McKenzie Sqn Ldr Nick Cree Flt Lt Campbell Harvey Flt Lt Hayden Sheard Flt Lt Jeremy Church Flt Lt Mike Williams	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Red 6
Notes: The Red Checkers sadly suffered their first ever fatal accident on the morning of the 14th of January 2010, during a routine practice over the Raumai Weapons Range at Sandtoft, near to Ohakea. Squadron Leader Nick Cree, aged 32, lost his life. RIP The team was scheduled to fly the following displays but due to the accident they were cancelled (as it stands now in January 2010, this may change): Bruce McLaren Festival of Speed, Hampton Downs (23 - 24 Jan 2010) Speights Coast to Coast (13 Feb 2010) Art Deco Festival, Napier (19 - 21 Feb 2010) Wild Food Festival, Hokitika (13 Mar 2010) Warbirds Over Wanaka (2 - 4 Apr 2010)
_ 2010-11 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
30th of Jan 2011 30th of Jan 2011 30th of Jan 2011 13th of Feb 2011 _ _ 13th of Feb 2011 20th of Feb 2011 of Mar 2011 9th of April 2011 15th of Oct 2011 _ 16th of Oct 2011 _	Hampton Downs, Meremere Auckland Hamilton Speights Coast to Coast Finish Line Flypast, Christchurch Helicopter Heroes, Wigram Art Deco Weekend, Napier Wings Over Wairarapa Dargaville Queens Wharf, Auckland for Rugby World Cup 2011 Queens Wharf, Auckland for Rugby World Cup 2011	Sqn Ldr Jim Rankin Flt Lt Matt Alcock Sqn Ldr Baz Nicholson Flt Lt Graham Burnnand Sqn Ldr Anthony Budd	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5
Above: The 2010/11 Red Checkers Team, left to right, Flt Lt Graham Burnnand, Flt Lt Matt Alcock, Sqn Ldr Jim Rankin, Sqn Ldr Baz Nicholson and Sqn Ldr Anthony Budd Notes: This team was scheduled to appear at Classic Fighters Airshow at Omaka, Marlborough, but they were forced to withdraw due to illness with a team member
_ 2011-12 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
25th of Mar 2012 25th of Mar 2012 26th of Mar 2012 27th of Mar 2012 27th of Mar 2012 28th of Mar 2012 31st of Mar 2012 _ 2nd of Apr 2012 2nd of Apr 2012 3rd of Apr 2012 4th of Apr 2012 6-9 Apr 2012	Auckland Waterfront Tauranga Rotorua Waterfront Gisborne Waterfront Taupo Waterfront New Plymouth RNZAF 75th Anniversary Airshow, RNZAF Base Ohakea Wellington City Waterfront Kaikoura Timaru Dunedin Warbirds Over Wanaka	Sqn Ldr Oliver 'Binty' Bint Sqn Ldr Matt Alcock Sqn Ldr Barry Nicholson Sqn Ldr Pete Cochran Lt Cdr Wayne Theobold	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5
Notes: The year 2012 marked the Royal ew Zealand Air Force's 75th Anniversary as a seperate air arm. To celebrate the RNZAF Red Checkers did a tour of displays over cities and towns This was Squadron Leader Pete Cochran's final season with the Red Checkers team, following a long career with the RNZAF that began in 1966, and having displayed in 19 different Red Checkers teams since 1975
_ 2012-13 Red Checkers Team __________________________________CT/4E Airtrainer
26-27 Jan 2013 27 Jan 2013 28 Jan 2013 28 Jan 2013 6 Feb 2013 8 Feb 2013 9 Feb 2013 10 Feb 2013 15-17 Feb 2013 2-3 March 2013 5 March 2013 5 March 2013 6 March 2013 7 March 2013 7 March 2013 9 March 2013 23 March 2013 29-31 Mar 2013 6-7 April 2013 9 April 2013 9 April 2013 10 April 2013 10 April 2013 11 April 2013 13-14 Apr 2013	Hampton Downs Motor Racing Track V4 Drag Racing, Meremere Mission Bay, Auckland Waterfront NZ International Airshow, North Shore Waitangi, Northland (Waitangi Day) RNZAF Base Woodbourne Coast to Coast Race Finish, Sumner Tahunanui Beach, Nelson Napier Art Deco Weekend NZ PGA Tournament, Queenstown Te Anau Invercargill Oamaru Wanaka Tekapo Hokitika Wild Foods Festival Maadi Cup, Lake Karapiro, Cambridge Classic Fighters Airshow, Omaka Balloons Over Waikato, Hamilton Rotorua Tauranga Whangamata Whitianga Whangarei V8 Supercars, Pukekohe	Sqn Ldr Oliver 'Binty' Bint Flt Lt Stuart Anderson Flt Lt Mick Walls Sqn Ldr Matt Alcock Flt Lt Jimmy Davidson Flt Lt Robert Cato	Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Red 6
Notes: The Red Checkers Display Director this season was Warrant Officer Ash Wilson Aircraft Allocated to the pilots this season are: Sqn Ldr Oliver Bint Flt Lt Stuart Anderson Flt Lt Mick Walls Sqn Ldr Matt Alcock Flt Lt Jimmy Davidson Flt Lt Robert Cato Red 1 Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red 5 Red 6 NZ1993 NZ1992 NZ1989 NZ1999 NZ1987 NZ1986 (Spare Aircraft)             However during Classic Fighters 2013 at Easter F/Lt Stu Anderson was flying NZ1986 with his name on the side, and S/Ldr Matt Alcock flew NZ1988 with his name on the side too. And in the final display of the massed formation pass at this show the leader, S/Ldr Oliver Bint, was flying NZ1991, probably the spare aircraft, whilst in earlier displays at the show he was in the 75th Anniversary marked NZ1993 as usual.
End of an Era
At the end of 2013 the Airtrainers were suffering from structural issues in their wings and the fleet was grounded for a period, with some of the aircraft returning to service after major checks. However by January 2014 it had been decided that there would not be a 2014 Red Checkers team. And in that month the Government signed a deal with Beechcraft to purchase Texan II turboprop advanced trainers to replace the Airtrainer fleet. As the Texans began to arrive in New Zealand in mid and late 2014 it was announced that Pilot Training School would be disbanded and replaced by the reformation of No. 14 Squadron RNZAF, to which the new Texans would be assigned. As a result of the new squadron, and despite the fact CFS would also continue to exist and use the new Texans, it was decided to retire the Red Checkers team name for good. A competition opened to name the new No. 14 Squadron display team, which would open its first season in 2016. After 47 years of sterling service to the RNZAF in showing the public the skills of our Air Force pilots, the Red Checkers who'd flown Harvards, CT/4B Airtrainers and CT-4E Airtrainers, were no more. The CT-4E's left RNZAF service in December 2014.

 

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