WIREDGOV

Air Forces combine for ceremonial flypast

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE News Release (250/2007) issued by The Government News Network on 26 October 2007

Aircraft of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Air Force (USAF) will mount a unique flypast over Wembley Stadium on Sunday 28 October to mark the start of the first ever American National Football League (NFL) game to be held outside the United States.

The flypast will be led by three Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. They will be followed 20 seconds later by a KC-135R tanker aircraft of the 351st Air Refuelling Squadron, USAF, from RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, flanked by two F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft of the 493rd Squadron, 48 Fighter Wing, from RAF Lakenheath, also in Suffolk.

The football match - which sold out Wembley in two hours - will attract more than 5,000 American fans to the Stadium, and is also likely to be watched by many millions of television viewers in the United States alone.

The flypast was requested by the NFL through the United States Embassy for British and British-based American air assets to take part in a joint flypast.

Notes to Editors

1. The lead pilot for the RAF element is Australian-born Squadron Leader Jim Walls, whose family immigrated to Britain when he was aged 11. After school in Surrey and university in Aberdeen he joined the RAF and after flying training was posted to 41(F) Squadron flying Jaguars. He converted to Typhoon in 2005, became an instructor, and was the Typhoon Display Pilot for the 2007 air display season. He has since transferred to XI Squadron on promotion, and is currently a Flight Commander.

2. The second RAF Typhoon pilot is Flight Lieutenant Andy King. Born in the Peak District, where he went to school, he went on to study engineering at Sheffield University and was commissioned into the RAF in 2001. After flying training in the UK and Canada he, too, joined 41(F) Squadron flying Jaguars, subsequently converting to Typhoon in November last year and is also now with XI Squadron.

3. The other Typhoon pilot is Major Paul Carlton of the United States Air Force. He is the first US exchange officer on the Typhoon, and brings his experience as Flight Examiner, Instructor Pilot, and Mission Commander in 2,500 hours flying time. He joined the US Air Force in 1996, and has flown T-37 and T-38 trainers, F-15 Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons. His exchange posting brought him to the RAF in 2005 since when he has served with No 3 (Fighter) Squadron, currently as a combat ready instructor pilot.

4. The lead pilot for the USAF F-15s, Major Courtney Hamilton, is from Reno, Nevada. She has served with the US Air Force for over nine years and previous assignments have included Air Force bases in Texas and Florida in the USA, as well as Japan and South Korea. She has flown a total of 1,350 hours in T-37 and T-38 aircraft plus three versions of F-15.

5. The second F-15 pilot is Captain David Anderson whose home town is Houston, Texas. He has served with the US Air Force for over five years during which time he has been assigned to Air Force bases in New Mexico, Texas, Georgia and Florida as well as the UK. He has flown a total of 880 hours in T-37, T-38 and F-15 aircraft.

6. The Aircraft Commander of the KC-135 is pilot Captain Darin Dial. Aged 28 his home town is Tucson, Arizona, and he attended the United States Air Force Academy Class of 2002. The second pilot is Captain Kevin Parsons, aged 27, from Morton, Illinois, who also attended the United States Air Force Academy at the same time. The third member of the KC-135 crew is Airman First Class Jon Lemessurier, aged 24, the in-flight refuelling boom operator. His home town is Syracuse, New York, and he attended Hobart College, New York.