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.