A BRADFORD man is stepping up his training to make his Red Arrows debut next year.

Flight Lieutenant Tom Bould, 32, has been named as one of three new recruits to next season’s nine-strong squad for the Royal Air Force’s aerobatic team.

The former pupil at Woodhouse Grove School, Apperley Bridge, is undergoing winter training at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. He says the experience has been a “learning curve” so far.

The training started in October, with small groups of three or four aircraft formations in action.

Each pilot flies three sorties a day, five days a week, to train and the formations grow in aircraft number as training progresses.

These flights involve a thorough brief, debrief and discussion to make sure safety is paramount and the formations are precise.

Winter training will last until mid-March, when the team will move to a location overseas to maximise flying hours and perfect the display.

This winter period also allows the team's engineers to carry out work on the jets, including overhauls.

Ft Lt Gould paid a visit to his family in Bradford shortly before Christmas, after his RAF winter training took a two-week break for the festive season from December 18.

He said: "It will be full steam ahead after Christmas. I absolutely can't wait to start.

"I'm feeling an immense amount of pride.

"We will be working up to all nine pilots working together in February.

"The training will end in April or the beginning of May. The winter training is very intense. It's been a very strong learning curve.

"We are flying three times a day, five days a week.

"I'm learning more stuff all of the time. It's not just the nine Red Arrows pilots, everyone is working hard.

"We don't know where we will be doing our displays yet. The bids still have to be ratified."

He previously undertook jet training in Anglesey in autumn.

The line-up of displays has yet to be finalised for the Red Arrows' 2015 season, due to start next summer, but dates are expected to be held across the UK and Europe.

Ft Lt Gould grew up in Heaton and left school in 2000 and, after a year out travelling, he went to Manchester University to study for a degree in aerospace engineering.

The squadron uses BAE Systems’ Hawk T1 jet and are known for its trademark formation.

His fellow new Red Arrows recruits are Flight Lieutenants Michael Bowden, 33, and Emmet Cox, 35. They were selected following the submission of a written application, interview and then fulfilling a series of flight tests in Cyprus last summer.

Flt Lt Bould joined the Royal Air Force in 2005 and has previously had several deployments to the Falkland Islands and exercises in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.