Taking To The Skies With The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Red Checkers
Sporting a bright yellow and black paint scheme on their CT-4E Airtrainers, the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Red Checkers Aerobatic Team are amongst the best of the best. The RNZAF first began aerobatic flying in the years following World War II. The Harvards they flew were painted with a red and white checkered pattern, thus leading to their aerobatic team being named “Red Checkers”.
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The Red Checkers Aerobatic team is made up of senior flight instructors from the RNZAF Central Flying School and other top-notch pilots. Each member of the team is extremely skilled and each are honored to volunteer as a Red Checkers’ pilot. As a team the Red Checkers rank up there with the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, the Royal Air Force Red Arrows and the Canadian Snowbirds.
In the beginning the Red Checkers flew Harvards in a four-plane and then later a five-plane formation. They switched to the CT-4B Airtrainers in 1980, following a 7-year disbanding of the team due to an international fuel crisis. Thankfully, due to the team’s expertise, you’d never have known the CT-4B Airtrainers had very limited power. The pilots continued to fly in extremely daring and crowd-pleasing formations. At times the wings of their planes were a mere 1.5 meters apart.
In 1999, the CT-4E Airtrainers became the official plane for this now six to nine-plane flying team. But it’s not really the planes that have made this aerobatic stunt team a sight to see. It is the pilots and their never-ending search for excellence that have brought the Royal New Zealand Air Force Red Checkers international recognition and fame. Take a look and you’ll see what we mean:
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