1 September 2022
A Temporary Danger Area may be setup over RAF Syerston next year to allow the Red Arrows to practice for displays, in an area with a high level of General Aviation traffic passing through.
The proposed TDA has a 5nm radius centred on RAF Syerston (10nm in diameter), surface to 9,500ft.
The Red Arrows are moving from RAF Scampton to RAF Waddington later this year before Scampton is sold off by the Ministry of Defence for development. Originally, the plan was for the Reds to continue to practice over Scampton but that’s been scuppered by the MoD’s desire to sell the airfield “without caveats”, according to the Airspace Change Proposal (ACP-2022-002).
The ACP says RAF Syerston is being looked at as a potential site for early Red Arrow training sorties, with the focus on the Synchro Pair, because it has a runway and is located close to RAF Waddington. A runway is considered essential for safe initial Synchro Pair training to allow effective deconfliction between aircraft. The Synchro Pair use the runway to assess miss distance during head-on pass training, each using a different runway edge.
The RAF warns that if such a training site is not found, “It is highly likely that the entire Red Arrows display will have to fundamentally change and would almost certainly lead to the removal of the Synchro Pair from the display routine.”
The proposed TDA is planned to run from 9 January to 7 April 23 and will only be active Mon-Fri between certain times with slots confirmed the day before by NOTAM.
Airspace Change Proposal ACP-2022-002
Proposed Temporary Danger Area over RAF Syerston for Red Arrow training
