RAF plans 'epic' flypast

Up to 100 RAF aircraft will perform a flypast on an epic scale over central London one week tomorrow, 10 July, to mark the centrepiece of the Royal Air Force’s 100th anniversary celebrations.

Historic aircraft, including Spitfires and the Red Arrows, will form part of the largest concentration of military aircraft seen over the capital in recent memory. The formation is due to pass over Buckingham Palace at 13:00 BST.

The range of aircraft is designed to mark different eras of the RAF’s 100-year service history, and is hoped to include the first opportunity for the general public to see the RAF’s next generation aircraft, the Lightning.

The formation will gather over Ipswich at 12:45 and then progress to Maidenhead via Chelmsford, then various London locations including the Mall, Hendon – site of the London branch of the RAF Museum – and Heathrow, then Runnymede and Windsor (see map below).

Ahead of the flypast there will be a parade of 1,000 RAF personnel and another 300 lining the route, along Horse Guards Road and The Mall towards the Palace.

Another element in the celebrations, the RAF Museum at Hendon, reopened officially on Saturday after major refurbishment and installation of new exhibits.

www.raf.mod.uk/raf100/news/10-july-centenary-celebrations

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