‘A dream come true’: Northamptonshire corporal flies over his mother’s home in world famous Red Arrows

The Red Arrows flew over Northamptonshire last weekend as the aircraft performed a display at Silverstone.

Corporal Andrew Collins, a 28-year-old aircraft technician, was on board one of the iconic jets that had earlier put on a show in the area on Sunday (July 7).

Several areas of the county witnessed the aircraft passing overhead, including Andrew's childhood home in Long Bucky.

The location happened to be on an existing flight path as the jets returned to the Red Arrows’ home of RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, from RAF Brize Norton – where the aircraft had been based for the Silverstone display earlier in the day.

He said: “It is a surreal experience. (...) We've had the opportunity to fly over the house that I grew up in, so that was quite a special moment for me.

“I was standing down there looking up at the aeroplanes 15 years ago. I'm now up in the aeroplane looking down at other children who, hopefully, are aspiring to do the same thing. It's definitely a pinch-yourself moment.”

Andrew moved to Long Buckby with his family at a young age, having been born in Oxford.

“So growing up in Long Buckby, as I'm sure many of the other locals can attest to, we used to get a lot of Royal Air Force (RAF) aeroplanes flying over.

“I'd sprint out into the garden as fast as I could just to catch a glimpse of it. That was always in me,” he said.

Andrew's father used to take him to air shows all the time. They never missed the Royal International Air Tattoo in the Cotswolds.

“It was the only time I'd ever really sit in my pushchair, absolutely silent, just staring up at the aeroplane.

“So really, I could put the blame on him (his father). He said that I was just captivated by it,” said Andrew.

In January 2015, at the age of 18, he joined the Royal Air Force, and it took him three years to finish his training and become an aircraft technician.

“It was a very big point in my life. It was certainly a very big shift in my life.

“Having the support from my mum, my dad and my family back home definitely helped me get through what was quite a big transition,” he said.

Prior to joining the RAF's world-famous aerobatic display team in 2021, Andrew worked at the RAF in Coningsby, home to two frontline, combat-ready squadrons and one of two Quick Reaction Alert stations in the UK, including a training station for Typhoon pilots.

“It's a lot of long shifts fixing the aeroplanes. We do travel a fair amount, mostly within the UK. “I've been all up and down the UK going to air shows,” said Andrew.

A group of 10 volunteers from the Red Arrows’ wider engineering and support staff is chosen annually to fly with the RAF's aerobatic display team.

Known as the Circus, these highly-trained individuals fly in the two-seat Hawk jet cockpit, sitting behind the pilot.

As with the aircrew, its members have individual numbers – denoting which pilot they fly with and Andrew is Circus 8.

These team members accompany the aircraft on transit flights between airfields, but not in public displays, and ensure the jets are serviced at each location when operating away from the Red Arrows’ home base.

It allows the Red Arrows to display in multiple locations across several days, being seen by millions of people at events and airshows.

Andrew flew with the team for the first time this year.

“It's a very close-knit team each year, selected based on merit. I've had to work to get to that position. It's all a volunteer process as well. Lots of teamwork and lots of hard work go into that.

“I'm lucky enough this year to have been selected to fly in the back of the Red Arrows. So it's quite a full-circle moment for me. While I'm not a pilot flying the aeroplane, getting the chance to fly into the airshow in the back of the Red Arrow is a dream come true,” he said.

The jets were in a diamond formation over Andrew’s mother’s house in Long Buckby.

“It was a happy coincidence.

“A great moment perhaps to remind her of how much my family’s done to help me realise my career dream,” said Andrew.