The Red Arrows at South Shields

nobody@ipernity.com (Stephen M.) — Sat, 13 Sep 2025 14:19:44 +0000

Stephen M. has posted an article:

On Sunday 8 September, the Royal Air Force aerobatic team, the 'Red Arrows' performed a display over South Shields to celebrate the conclusion of the annual Newcastle to South Shields marathon (the Great North Run). The display started with the Red Arrows flying over central Newcastle and then continuing east to the Durham coast. Due to road closures and general congestion, I based myself at Souter lighthouse a little south of the finishing line in South Shields.

Unfortunately the weather was far from ideal with grey skies and occasional light drizzle. Despite this, it was an interesting display, with the Red Arrows team showing some of their signature moves, the most famous of which is the 'Tornado' with one or two planes twisting around trail left by their wingmen.

The Red Arrows have used the BAe Hawk T1A since 1979, though the aircraft have undergone various upgrades an modifications since then. The team had previously used the Folland Gant, English Electric Lightning and BAC Jet Provost amongs others.

The Red Arrows team was established in 1966 following the merger of several other display teams, including the Red Pelicans and Black Arrows. The red coloured aircraft of the former was combined with the name of the latter.

The coloured smoke is produced through colour added to the diesel fuel, with seperate tanks for the white, red and blue colours.

Another of the Red Arrows signature moves is the 'Heart', with the two aircraft performing a knife-edge pass to 'close' the heart. A third aircraft flies through the shape to add the 'arrow'.

The display lasted approx. 25 minutes, with the Red Arrows team departing south towards York and their home base at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. Souter lighthouse makes for interesting spot to watch the display though the planes were a bit distant at times. It seems very likely the team will return for the Great North Run 2026 on 13 September.

The Red Arrows website lists all other display dates as well as some very helpful graphics illustratinheir display moves: www.raf.mod.uk/display-teams/red-arrows/displays/

A close call for the Saaremaa

nobody@ipernity.com (Stephen M.) — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:12:11 +0000

Stephen M. has posted an article:

On the 9 July 2025, the cargo ship 'Saaremaa' was due to arrive into the Port of Sunderland having travelled from the Port of Karlsborg at the very northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia in Sweden.

The ship met the pilot vessel offshore and proceeded past Roker lighthouse into the River Wear channel. A couple of hundred metres past the lighthouse and entering the trickiest part of the route, the ship appeared to lose power and drift off course towards Starboard (right). This meant it was now headed for Roker Marina, as well as the undredged edges of the shipping channel. The photo shows the Saaremaa drifting off course:

Thankfully, the crew onboard the Saaremaa appeared to regain manouverability of the ship and managed to stop it prior entering the Marina or grounding the vessel. The picture below shows the ship after having come to a stop.

The ship then reversed back to main channel and very slowly made its way through the sealock to the Hudson Dock. I suspect there may have been a few choice words on the bridge!

The map below shows the intended (green) and actual (red) course of the Saarema into the Port of Sunderland. While the course was also plotted on ship tracking websites, these were not granular enough to show the incident.

Articles from Stephen M.

The Red Arrows at South Shields

A close call for the Saaremaa