Roulette Leader

“For ¼ clover – pulling up” as I ease the formation to 4G and roll right to bring the team back through crowd centre passing belly up at 200 feet. We pass in front of the crowd at a speed of approximately 470 km/h with only three metres separation.

This is one of the more challenging manouevres to fly as the lead aircraft owing to the varying pitch, roll and “g” onset rates required depending on the wind and exact entry speed; especially as I am trying to be as smooth and consistent as possible to make it easier for the wingmen. Any sudden change in roll or pitch rates will cause a ripple effect through the team, and while that may not be noticeable to the crowd I endeavor to be the steadiest platform I can. All the other team members are flying purely reference to me, so it’s my job to get the show right!

Recently, when the job of taking over as Roulette Leader was handed to me I felt excitement, quickly followed by a little trepidation of what I had just gotten myself in for. Flying has been a boyhood dream for me since my first memory as a child almost 35 years ago. I vividly recall watching the Roulettes, then flying the Macchi 326 trainer, and to think I am now the Roulette Leader, or Roulette One, is nothing short of an absolute honour and thrill. I hope I can convey to you the processes we go through to induct new Roulettes to the team and how I go about putting together a six aircraft low level formation aerobatic display.

“Roulettes; check Comm 2” I transmit and “Roulette 2”, “3”, “4”, “5, “6” respond through my helmet and I know the team are ready for taxi. As you can probably guess, a lot of preparation must occur before I can hear that. Countless long hours and practice sessions have been flown and debriefed over a six week period to bring a new team together. However, the pure flying skills required of each new pilot begins many years before. To be eligible, new pilots must already be instructors at Central Flying School (CFS), where they will be teaching military pilots to become Qualified Flying Instructors (QFIs) within the Australian Defence Force (ADF). This in itself takes a number of years to achieve in the military system. Each new Roulette pilot is already at the top of his flying game, yet new demands are placed on him that he has not previously encountered. It’s now my bailiwick to develop and critique each member and check his progress – not just the work up phase of Roulette show practice, but also his development as a QFI at CFS. I find I am relying heavily on my past experiences, and am comforted in the knowledge that I am also a product of the very same system that taught him his skills.

Before the work up of a new team can begin, each new team member must learn formation aerobatics (as a two aircraft formation) and also solo low-level aerobatics. As Roulette Leader, I have the mantle of teaching both of these courses to prospective new Roulette pilots. This is some of the most rewarding flying I have – watching and developing the new guys as they go through their paces, while getting to fly with potential new team mates. It gives me a greater understanding of the pilots flying for and with me. As is the case within any team, personality plays a significant part of team coherence, so the more understanding I have on how each guy operates – both in the air and on the ground – the better job I can do leading them. It also gives me an excellent starting point on where to place team members within the Roulette formation. The pilot’s individual strengths help place them in the formation, as each Roulette position has different challenges within the show.

“Roulettes to brief, Roulettes to brief” blares over the squadron PA system. Roulette work up consists of around twenty-six sorties depending on the make up of the new team and how many new members we have. This happens at the start of every season, with a season lasting six months. Every season there will be at least one change, and sometimes (but rarely) as many as four. Each Roulette pilot, on average, will spend eighteen months with the team and may move positions during his tenure, with experience as Roulette 2, 3 or 4 necessary before moving on to the synchronised pair as either Roulette 5 or 6. Before we fly as a 6-ship we split the formation into two groups; Roulettes 1-4 and Roulettes 5 and 6. The initial sorties are flown not below a base height of 2000 feet, and right off the get go I find myself leading the first four-ship with the previous Roulette Lead in my back seat prompting me as required. Flying loops and barrel rolls have been second nature to me for almost two decades now, but I find I am learning new subtleties to each manoeuvre as I strive to be as smooth and predictable as possible, to make it easier for the guys down the back. Over the course of the work up, I learn the display sequence and gradually piece together all the individual manoeuvres of four different shows. The previous Roulette Lead is with me for just over half the work up, before I take over and fly the rest solo. It is a great feeling, and one of self reassurance of personal ability, having no one else in the cockpit. Each of the newbies who eventually go solo takes great satisfaction in this achievement.

Once we have flown all the display sequences as a four-ship, and when the synchronised pair of Roulette 5 and 6 are ready, we bring the team together as a six-ship formation. The individual formations have worked most of the show down to 500 feet by this stage, but as a six-ship we initially step back up to 1000 feet for a greater safety margin. All the display shows are practiced repeatedly, as well as emergency procedures that may be required, before we step down to 500 feet and fly some practice shows over RAAF Base East Sale to be videoed. We use the video to debrief and refine our show and step through each individual manoeuvre. We actually fly what we call ’step’, which is where the wingmen fly differing formation positions depending on the angle between the formation and the crowd; so that we appear as if the formation is constantly in the exact same shape. Upon completion of the work up sorties we fly the display in front of the Commander of Air Force Training Group, who awards the team a clearance to display for the display season – only if he is satisfied!

As you may well imagine, nothing happens in a Roulette show without appropriate risk management. As Roulette Leader, the risk management plan is my responsibility. The show is very carefully choreographed to achieve a maximum ’wow‘ factor, with the appearance of aircraft crossing close, but with safety margins and ’what if‘ factors built in. The four different shows we have account for different show locations, terrain and weather at the time. Many emergency situations are not only talked about but also flown in the practice work up sorties. Public safety is my absolute number one concern and at the top of all our risk matrixes. Not only are all Roulette procedures heavily analysed and amended routinely, but each individual show and location have a thorough authorisation process and risk management plan that goes up through the chain of command, for sign off. Risk management is a serious process. I have full confidence that our show is as safe as can be and is appropriately scrutinised by the Air Force hierarchy as a check and balance.

One thing I’d like to mention here – the Roulettes are a secondary duty. Contrary to popular belief, the Roulettes are not a full time team, unlike most other military display teams around the world. The RAAF is not resourced to have a full time team, so we spend our days training and testing all the military QFIs in the system across all aircraft types, and fly the Roulette displays in our spare time. I personally feel that the fact that we are able to achieve what we do, as well as conduct the day to day business of CFS, showcases the RAAF in a very strong and positive light. I feel proud to be a small part of it.

Today is windy, gusting 30 knots, so I delay the call “Roulettes; Delta – go”. I am always wary of rolling too fast or changing my angle of bank whilst the team is in either the six-pack or Delta formation, more so than any other formation type. Both of these formations require Roulettes 2 and 3 to be flying in Line Abreast (directly abeam me) – which is a very difficult position to fly. Normally when flying formation, the wingmen will align cues on the lead aircraft’s wing with some part on the lead aircraft’s nose, and when coupled with a cue using the rear of lead’s aircraft, the pilot can triangulate exactly to the nearest half-foot where he is relative to the leader. The wingmen simply fly their aircraft to this position using nothing more than pure hands and feet flying skill – there is no instrument to tell us how close we are! When in Line Abreast however, the pilot only has one cue to work from, which can easily be obscured by his own wing, making his job very hard and very susceptible to any abrupt change from the leader. I need to be alert to this, ensuring I have manoueuvred the team into the desired position relative to the crowd, with the correct energy state for the up coming aerobatic manoeuvre before I call for these formations positions. Get it wrong, and it can mean one of the guys may have to “bug out” of the formation! Not so good.

Planning for a Roulette show and deployment is no easy task, and is one of my most time consuming jobs. I am responsible for the safety and conduct of the team while we are away, conducting up to seventy shows per year all over Australia and sometimes abroad. All aspects of each and every Roulette trip are carefully planned including any ground public relations requirements we may have. We often conduct TV and radio interviews, as well as signing posters and handing out stickers to young (and some not so young) kids and when lucky, we also get the chance to visit schools or charities. If we can bring a smile to someone, I feel its been a great day! Part of my new role will be to guide the new team members in dealings with the media – it is not a natural thing to do for anyone that has spent time in defence. The normal day-to-day challenges members of the ADF routinely face is quite a workload in itself, and media contact is quite rare for most personnel.

However, it’s not all about the pilots – from Roulette 7 who commentates on our displays and the Roulette ground crew, through to our support staff preparing paperwork – we are all one team. They get my personal gratitude, and although they are not as visible to the public as the pilots, I wouldn’t be able to do my job without them. It’s my intent to get the Roulette ground crew more involved with public relations (much to their chagrin, no doubt, as they read this), as they have an equally important message to convey about the broader work that Air Force does to support pilots.

Having had extensive experience flying low level aerobatic displays before becoming Roulette Leader, I must admit I was quite surprised at how challenging I found it. Trying to be smooth and slow with roll, pitch and g onset rates, is not really synonymous with aerobatic displays. Having said that, I am acutely aware that the softer I am with application rates, the larger the show will be, and I am always pressing for a tight display which makes for a much better spectacle. I find it a constant juggling act between flying a tight show, meaning running the risk of spitting out a wingman, or flying a longer, larger show. This requires me to be constantly thinking more than two manoeuvres ahead of where we are – much more so than when flying solo displays. I find this is the great challenge of leading, and also the most rewarding aspect when I get it perfect! One of my most vivid memories was flying my first Roulette show when I was Roulette 3, conducting a display over Lake Burley Griffith in Canberra. It was an evening show, and coming out of a loop I took a sneaky half-second peak out the front to be confronted with almost one hundred thousand people and camera flashes going off everywhere – I can’t wait to see what that looks like as Roulette Leader!

The show continues with various aerobatic sequences, including loops, barrel rolls, breaks and bomb-bursts all from different formation positions, as well as the world famous mirror and Roulette heart performed by Roulettes 5 and 6. The Roulette break invariably pulls an “oooh” from the crowd!

Without the encouragement of the crowd, the display would simply not exist. I would like to be able to personally thank everyone that has seen and supported us in the past, and hope I can bring smiles and enjoyment to those who see us in the future. I’m always grateful to those that see us in the sky to give us a wave – I’m always looking! Please come up and say g’day at a show if you can. My aim is to ensure that the Roulette tradition not only remains intact but improves the great national icon that the team has become. The Roulette legacy is bigger than any one of us, so I plan to pass on the baton in a healthy state to the next Roulette Leader when my time concludes. From myself and the rest of the Roulette team we wish you all the best. Aim high!

“Roulettes; smoke off – go!”.

Stephen, originates from Melbourne, and has twenty years of flying experience that began in the Air Force when he graduated as a pilot from RAAF Base Pearce, Western Australia, at the tender age of 19.

Stephen was posted to fly Caribou tactical transport aircraft, where he gained a full tactical captaincy at the age of twenty-one, one of the youngest Air Force pilots to do so.

Stephen then became one of the youngest instructors in the Air Force since WWII at twenty-three, graduating from Flying Instructors Course and going on to instruct on the PC9 high performance turbo-prop trainer.

During his tenure on the PC-9/A, he was selected for an exchange tour with the Royal New Zealand Air Force, where he instructed on the Macchi 339 advanced jet trainer. Whilst in New Zealand, Stephen was a member of the low-level formation aerobatic team, The Black Falcons. When flying with the team, he found himself bringing in the dawn of the new millennium airborne and upside down.

Upon his return to Perth, Western Australia, Stephen completed the first Australian instructional course on the then brand new Hawk 127 advanced supersonic jet trainer, and going on to display the aircraft. Stephen was subsequently selected to join the RAAF Roulette aerobatic team where he flew in the world famous mirror formation over many a grand prix.

In 2007 Stephen took a sabbatical traveling the world for seven months as well as completing his diploma in photography. He concurrently runs his own part time photographic business, and enjoys traveling, scuba diving and riding his motorbike.

Following a posting to the RAAF Museum Point Cook, where he was displaying some of the old warbirds, he is now an active RAAF pilot currently working at Central Flying School and Roulette Leader. Stephen, now 39, has amassed almost 5000 flying hours during his career.