Short History

In June 1945 the Luftwaffe formed an acrobatic team to perform on the 1947 Berlin air show. Pilots were drawn from a number of Geschwader to form a nine member team. After trying out several types of aircraft such as the Me-109, the Ta-152 and even the Ju-87 the team first flew a short time with the Focke Wulf FW-190 but then settled on the Dornier Do-335 Arrow. The Messerschmitt Me-262 was also considered but was rejected because of the unreliability of its engines.

As the Dornier Do-335 was called the "Pfeil" or Arrow, the team was given the name "Rote Pfeile" or Red Arrows. Its aircraft were painted bright red with polished bare metal stripes on their wings. The badges of all units from which pilots were drawn were painted on all aircraft. Some pilots with war decorations put the symbols of those decorations on the tail of their aircraft.

The team performed in Berlin in May 1947 and on several subsequent air shows. Soon they were famous for their tight formation flying, their trademark formation becoming the "Neuner Diamant" or Diamond Nine.

In 1949 the team changed to the Focke Wulf Fw-226 Flitzer. Despite this change the team remained known as the "Rote Pfeile".

The model

The model is a Monogram 1/48 Dornier Do-335.