Treble One’s five-ship

The team was formed in 1956 by Sqn Ldr Roger Topp, commanding officer of No. 111 Squadron, the “Treble One” Hunter squadron then at RAF North Weald. It began as a five-ship flying the Hawker Hunter F.4, which by the end of 1956 had been replaced on the squadron by the Hunter F.6, with an uprated engine, wing leading-edge extensions and an all-moving tailplane. Topp had a record of his own: on 8 August 1956 he flew a Hunter from Edinburgh to London at an average of just over 717 mph.

Les Flèches Noires

At the Paris Salon in May 1957 a French journalist called the squadron “Les Flèches Noires”, and the name stuck in English as the Black Arrows, matching the team’s all-black gloss finish. By the SBAC show at Farnborough in September 1957 the team was flying a diamond nine, and it became the RAF’s premier aerobatic team.

Twenty-two Hunters

In June 1958 No. 111 Squadron moved to RAF Wattisham in Suffolk. At Farnborough that September the Black Arrows led a formation of 22 Hunters, departing from Odiham, through a complete loop, followed by a barrel roll of 16 aircraft. The 22-aircraft loop has never been repeated and remains the largest formation loop on record; the squadron association names Peter Jennings among the pilots, flying XE616. The record built on a 16-Sabre loop flown by the Pakistan Air Force’s Falcons in February 1958.

Latham and the last season

Topp handed the lead to Sqn Ldr Peter Latham in late 1958, and Latham kept the team at nine aircraft for two seasons. The Black Arrows flew their final display over Wattisham in November 1960; the squadron association records 173 displays, 33 of them overseas. The premier team role passed to No. 92 Squadron’s Blue Diamonds, and former Black Arrows pilots such as Brian Mercer and Lee Jones went on to lead the Blue Diamonds and the Red Arrows.