One of the men responsible for the formation of the Red Arrows display team has died at the age of 90.

Retired Squadron Leader Henry Prince, callsign Red 7, was part of the founding team that Lee Jones put together to establish the Red Arrows 60 years ago.

"We didn't realise we were doing anything tremendous," he told BFBS Forces News in March.

"We were enjoying our flying, we were enjoying showing our team to the country.

"It certainly is nice to know that you were there at the start."

He also explained how the famous Red Arrows almost didn't last, saying "the team was disbanded at the end of '65".

Sqn Ldr Prince said the team had been split up because the pilots were posted elsewhere – until one day someone questioned what had happened to the Red Arrows.

From that point, the team were brought back together.

"We reformed in '66. I came back to the team as the deputy leader to Ray [Hanna] and we went from there," he explained.

"Thank goodness they kept it going."

While other teams have come and gone, he also told BFBS Forces News he could not believe how the Red Arrows have now been flying for 60 years.

"We thought it was only going to last a couple of years," he said.

One incredible photo of Sqn Ldr Prince in the cockpit showed him flying low in one of the first Red Arrow aircraft.

Henry Prince's Red 7 flying 6ft off the ground in the 1960s (Picture: Ron Turrell)

"The boys were sitting out on the grass and I'd just done an air test and they asked me... if I'd give them a flyby," he said.

"So I did. They had to duck out of the way," he laughed.

"At that point, I'm about 6ft off the ground.

"They've got a great sense of self-preservation, so a lot of them jumped out of the way."

The funeral for the former pilot is set to take place later this month.

Depending on the weather, there will be a Gnat flypast, the aircraft used by the Red Arrows when they formed in 1964 until 1980. 

Quelle: bfbs Forces News