During bilateral talks with his UK counterpart in 1976, General Dixon offered Air Chief Marshal Sir David Evans, C-in-C Strike Command, an invitation to send RAF aircraft to participate in Red Flag. An opportunity not to be missed was eagerly grasped, and Honington-based 208 Squadron was selected as the first RAF squadron to participate.
To meet the demands
of flying on Red Flag, some dedicated work-up training was essential. The official work-up required the Squadron to deploy across the Atlantic to Canadian Forces Base, Goose Bay, in Labrador. Goose is in a remote location just south of the tundra and an ideal base from which to practise and develop low-level operations. The terrain was 
perfect, difficult navigation over featureless tracts, no built-up areas (though the odd complaint was still received from a disgruntled trapper) and some dodgy weather to keep the crews alert. The Squadron worked hard and individual low flying was honed to fly safely at 100 feet over and through varied terrain. Similarly, low-level formation penetration tactics were attempted and tested using the Squadron’s own aircraft as aggressors. The detachment was a great sharpener for what was to come.
The deployment to Nellis involved a familiar route for the first leg: a night stop back at Goose Bay. En-route, there were some interesting lunges, in cloud, into a refuelling basket being whipped by a snaking rubber hose. Eventually, after some five-and-a-half hours, the Goose Bay TACAN beacon began to twitch and twenty minutes later the Detachment landed in the barren wastes of Labrador. The odyssey continued the next morning in pairs across the sterile wastes of Canada and across the US. By dint of some nifty speed control, two pairs were able to join up in the descent and, much to Nellis's displeasure, joined the circuit for a four-ship run-in and break. As they taxied in past aircraft pans the size of normal RAF airfields, and crammed tight with the latest modern high-speed pursuit ships, the crews gazed in awe and listened to the mirth of air traffic noting the dated look of their noble coke-bottle shaped steeds; even more laughter when they folded the wings! After six hours and forty minutes in their rubber suits, the crews were glad to step onto the concrete, which was baking in the ninety-degree heat of a Nellis summer’s day. A welcome ice-cold Coors was thrust into their hands, but quickly hidden to avoid the prying eyes of the TV cameras that had turned up to film the ‘Limeys’ arrival. 208 Squadron had arrived as the first non-US participants in Red Flag.
of flying on Red Flag, some dedicated work-
perfect, difficult navigation over featureless tracts, no built-