Senior Engineer Officer

Squadron Leader

Ross Priday

Ross has responsibility for all engineering and logistical matters for the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team.

Age - 40

Education - Chosen Hill Comprehensive, Churchdown, Gloucestershire.

Career - Joined the Royal Air Force in 1990 as an aircraft engineer. He was commissioned as an officer in 2001. He was Officer Commanding Aircraft Maintenance Flight at Royal Air Force Kinloss and in 2003 went out of area on Operation TELIC with the Nimrod MR2. Following this operational tour he completed a further tour at RAF Kinloss in Fleet Planning. In 2006 he was then posted to BAES Warton in Lancashire as the Royal Air Force Liaison Officer for the Typhoon upgrade programme. During this time he had responsibility for the acceptance and dispatch of aircraft to and from operational Royal Air Force Typhoon squadrons and for the development of the Typhoon in-service support contracts, working closely with BAE Systems. Promoted to Squadron Leader in 2007, he took up the role of Engineering Authority for Tornado General Systems with responsibility for the safety and reliability of both Tornado GR4 and F3 systems. This role involved dealing with both the German and Italian Air Forces for the introduction of aircraft modifications. In 2009 Ross was then posted to Royal Air Force Lossiemouth as the Executive Officer for Engineering Wing where he was responsible for Fleet Planning and for the prioritisation and co-ordination of maintenance activity on the Tornado GR4 force in Scotland. During this time he supported overseas deployments to Afghanistan, North America and Canada. This will be Ross’ second year with the Red Arrows, leading the famous ‘Blues’ engineering team.

Background - A keen sportsman, Ross enjoys running and weight training and he has completed several marathons and other ‘ultra’ long-distance running events. His other interests include fishing, horse riding and watching Moto GP motorcycle racing.