MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
News Release (118/2008) issued by The Government News Network on 13
June 2008
The Royal Air
Force (RAF) is to provide a flypast to mark the Queen's
official birthday following the traditional Trooping the Colour
ceremony in Horseguards Parade, London, on Saturday 14 June 2008.
The flypast will involve 55 aircraft, the largest number for many
years, of 14 different types, from World War ll (WWll) Spitfires,
Hurricane and Lancaster, to high-tech Typhoon multi-role fighters,
flying over Buckingham Palace.
The first of nine elements which will make up the flypast will be
five aircraft from the Battle of Britain Flight (BBMF), based at
RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. The only airworthy Lancaster bomber
in the United Kingdom, will lead two Spitfires and two Hurricanes.
Two aircraft types will be new to this annual event this year,
King Air 200 multi-engined trainers of 45 (Reserve) Squadron,
based at RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire, and BAe 125 transport
aircraft from 32 (The Royal) Squadron, based at RAF Northolt, Middlesex.
For the first time since the 1990 flypast over London to mark the
50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, this years flypast will
include a formation of 16 aircraft, consisting of Tornado GR4
strike aircraft from RAF Marham, Norfolk, of which the Queen is
Honorary Air Commodore.
The formation elements will fly over Buckingham Palace at
altitudes of between 1,300 feet and 1,700 feet starting at 1.00 pm
precisely.The flypast will be approximately 20 nautical miles
long, and will take four minutes to fly past overhead. Should the
Trooping the Colour ceremony be delayed by weather, the Flypast
will also be delayed, until 5.00 pm that day.
The bulk of the flypast formation will assemble over the North
Sea near Southwold, on the Suffolk coast, before routing to The
Mall and onward to Buckingham Palace. The WWll aircraft of the
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will join the flypast route near
Fairlop to lead the stream over the Palace.
The remainder of the formation flying at 280 knots (320 mph) will
continue past RAF Northolt, and then pass over RAF Halton,
Buckinghamshire, which will be holding its annual Families Day.
Supporting the flypast will be two Hawks from 100 Squadron, RAF
Leeming, North Yorkshire, acting as "whip" and spare,
keeping the formation elements in place, and an A-109E helicopter
conducting weathers checks and acting as a camera platform.
A practise flypast took place over RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire,
just after 1.00 pm on Wednesday 11 June.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
The formation will consist of the following elements:
Element 1: This will consist of five historic aircraft of the
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), with the Lancaster
leading two Spitfires and two Hurricanes. The Flight, which
celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, flies a total of five
Spitfires, two Hurricanes, a Dakota and two Chipmunk trainers in
addition to the Lancaster and appears at many events each year as
a flying memorial to RAF's involvement in all the campaigns
of WWll.
The pilot of the Lancaster is Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Mike
leckey, who is in his eighth season with the BBMF. After joining
the RAF in 1988 he flew mainly Canberra aircraft until they
retired from service two years ago.
One of the Spitfires is being flown by Group Captain (Gp Capt)
Stuart Atha, Station Commander of RAF Coningsby and the Typhoon
Force Commander. He flew Harrier aircraft from 1990 including
combat missions over the Balkan and Iraqi theatres. He was awarded
the Distinguished Service Order in 2003 following his command of
3(Fighter) Squadron in Iraq. This is his second season flying with
the BBMF.
One of the Hurricanes is being flown by the Officer Commanding
BBMF, Sqn Ldr Al Pinner. He has over 4,000 flying hours to his
credit during six flying tours on Harriers, including more than
100 operational missions over the Balkans and Iraq, and Canadian
Defence Force F-18 Hornet aircraft on an exchange tour in Quebec,
Canada. This year is his sixth season with the BBMF and his third
as its OC.
Element 2: A C-130J Hercules transport aircraft from RAF
Lyneham, Wiltshire, will lead the second element, representing the
four squadrons of these versatile aircraft based there. It will be
accompanied by two King Air 200 multi-engined trainers of
45(Reserve) Squadron, based at the RAF College at Cranwell,
Lincolnshire, the first time these aircraft have participated in
the Queen's Birthday Flypast.
The Hercules Aircraft Captain will be Birmingham-born Flt Lt Pete
Astle, 53, who joined the RAF in 1974. He served as a non
commissioned aircew member on Nimrod aircraft for some 18 months,
but was later commissioned and transferred to the Hercules fleet,
and is currently a qualified flying instructor on the C-130J fleet.
His co-pilot, Flt Lt Ed Tudge, was born at Shrewsbury in 1971,
and joined the RAF in 1992. After flying training he graduated
into the Hercules fleet, and like Flt Lt Astle, is a qualified
flying instructor on the C-130J fleet.
The King Air to the right of the Hercules is being flown by Sqn
Ldr Jad Reece (correct), who is Officer Commanding 45 (R) Sqn. He
was born in Wolverhampton in 1971, and joined the RAF in 1994 and
went on to fly Nimrod operationally in Iraq and Afghanistan. After
a spell as a flying instructor on Tucano aircraft, he assumed
command of his current squadron, which trains all RAF and Army
multi-engined pilots.
The other King Air is being flown by Flt Lt Nelly (alias
Neil/Neal) Cottle, from Sunnybrow, County Durham. He flew Hercules
transport aircraft after joining the RAF in 1986, and in 2004 he
became a Qualified Flying Instructor on Jetstreams, which have
recently been replaced by the King Air.
Element 3: The RAF's newest fighter aircraft, the
multi-role Eurofighter Typhoon, will be represented by nine of
these highly capable jets representing each of the four squadrons
based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, numbers 3 (Fighter), XI,
17 (Reserve) and 29 (Reserve) Squadrons. The Flypast Leader will
be Wing Commander Johnny Stringer, Officer Commanding 29 (Reserve)
Squadron, the Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit, who will be
flying the lead Typhoon.
Born in Sale, Cheshire, he joined the RAF in 1990 and flew
Jaguars from 1993 for ten years including operations over Iraq and
the Balkans. After some staff appointments, including as Military
Assistant to Director General Typhoon, he assumed command of 29
(R) Sqn in September last year.
Element 4: The fourth element will be led by a VC-10 in-flight
refuelling tanker aircraft from 101 Squadron based at RAF Brize
Norton, Oxfordshire, flanked by two Tornado F3 fighter aircraft
representing 43(F) and 111(F) Squadrons based at RAF Leuchars,
Fife, Scotland. Closely following the VC-10 will be a Boeing E-3D
Sentry airborne early warning aircraft simulating in-flight
refuelling, representing 8, 23 and 54 (Reserve) Squadrons from RAF
Waddington, Lincolnshire.
The VC-10 is being flown by Flt Lt Phil Burlingham. Born at
Emsworth and educated in Ayrshire he joined the RAF as an Air
Loadmaster in 1985 on Wessex helicopters, later retraining as a
Search and Rescue winchman on Sea King helicopters at RAF
Lossiemouth, Moray. He commissioned as a pilot in 1992 and flew
Puma helicopters in Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Bosnia, Norway and
on flood rescue duties in Mozambique He crossed over to VC-10s
2001 and has flown air-to-air refuelling missions over Iraq,
Afghanistan and the Falkland Islands. He has amassed 7,400 flying hours.
The E-3D Sentry is being flown by London-born Wg Cdr Stuart Reid,
who joined the RAF in 1978. He has flown Jaguar and Tornado
aircraft with the RAF in Germany, and served as a flying
instructor in the UK and USA. He has flown the E-3D from RAF
Waddington since 1997. He is also "Bomber Leader" with
the BBMF, training pilots to fly the Lancaster and the Dakota;
this is his ninth season with the BBMF.
Element 5: The fifth element will be a Diamond-nine formation of
Torndao F3 fighters from numbers 43 (Fighter) and 111 (Fighter)
Squadrons at RAF Leuchars, Fife, Scotland. The Tornado fighters
are in the process of being superceded by Typhoons and under
current plans it is expected that three Typhoon squadrons will
eventually be based at Leuchars.
In addition to the main Tornado F3 formation six other F3s are
also acting as wingmen to most of the larger single aircraft in
the formation.
Leading the Leuchars contingent is Wg Cdr Peter Cracroft
(correct), OC of 111 (F) Squadron. He was born at Solihull and
joined the RAF in 1986. After training at the RAF College at
Cranwell he undertook flying training in the United States. Upon
completion he joined the Tornado F3 force, where he has been ever
since apart from two ground Staff Tours. He has undertaken
operational detachments to Bosnia, the Falkland Islands and Iraq.
He is married with two children.
His navigator, Sqn Ldr Blyth Crawford, joined the RAF in 1993 and
undertook navigator training before being posted to the Tornados
of 111 (F) Sqn at Leuchars He subsequently served as a Tornado
instructor at Leuchars. Sqn Ldr Crawford spent over two years with
NATO's Tactical Leadership Programme based at Florennes in
Belgium, and was also attached to an operations centre conducting
events in the Middle East. Back in the UK he served with 25 Sqn at
RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire, until it disbanded earlier this
year, and is now Executive Officer with 111 (F) Sqn.
Element 6: One of the RAF's five C-17 Globemaster lll
strategic transport aircraft will lead the sixth element of the
flypast. The aircraft, from 99 Squadron, also based at RAF Brize
Norton, will be flanked by two further Leuchars-based Tornado F3s.
A sixth C-17 is expected to join the fleet imminently.
Flt Lt James Thurrell is flying the C-17 in the Flypast. Born at
Kingston-upon-Thames in 1970, he joined the RAF as an Air
Engineer, but changed branch to Pilot in 2000, and was posted to
the C-17 Globemaster. Currently he instructs pilots within 99
Sqn's Operational Conversion Unit He is married and has two
young children.
Element 7: The Nimrods from RAF Kinloss, Morayshire, will be
represented by an aircraft from 201 Squadron. The other Nimrod
squadron, 120, is this year celebrating its 90th birthday. It will
be escorted by two more Tornado F3s from RAF Leuchars.
Sqn Ldr Carl Melen (pronounced Meelen), 37, of 201 Squadron,
"Guernsey's Own", is the captain of the Nimrod
aircraft. Between June 2003 and July 2006 he was on exchange with
the Royal Australian Air Force during which time he was awarded
the Australian Conspicuous Service Medal (CSM) for displaying
outstanding professionalism and leadership under pressure during a
serious in-flight emergency at low level in an Australian Lockheed
P-3 Orion in June 2005. He has amassed over 3,500 flying hours,
and this year is the second occasion he has flown over the capital
for the Queen's Birthday Flypast, the previous occasion was
in 2002.
Element 8: The RAF's strategic tanker/transport aircraft,
the Lockheed Tristar, of 216 Squadron, based at RAF Brize Norton,
will lead the eighth element of the flypast, flanked by two HS 125
liaison aircraft from 32 (TheRoyal) Squadron, from RAF Northolt,
Middlesex. Both types have served extensively in the Middle East,
the Tristar refuelling other aircraft and transporting troops, and
the HS 125s providing high speed transport for senior military personnel.
The Tristar is being flown by Flt Lt Steve Margetts, who was born
in Chelsea in 1979, and joined the RAF in 2001. He was posted to
the Tristar squadron in March 2004, and after three years as a
co-pilot is now an aircraft captain. He was married last month
(May) to a Flt Lt also serving at RAF Brize Norton.
The lead HS 125 pilot is Sqn Ldr Dave Catlow, currently OC of C
Flight, the HS 125 Flight, on 32 (TR) Sqn. He joined the RAF in
1992 and flew Hercules before becoming a flying instructor on
Tucanos. He then served as an Air Advisor to a Marine Unit in Iraq
before returning to the UK for a short tour on Hercules, followed
by a move to his current position. He has undertaken operational
service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and the Balkans, and is
soon to become involved with the introduction into service of the
new Airbus A400M Tactical Airlift Aircraft.
Element 9: The final element is the 16-strong formation of
Tornado GR4 strike aircraft described above. The aircraft
represent all four of the squadrons based at RAF Marham, Norfolk,
and the formation will be led by Wing Commander Dave Waddington,
Officer Commanding IX Squadron, with Squadron Leader Roger Smith,
also of IX Squadron, as his navigator.
Among Marham's aircrew in the formation will be Air
Commodore (Air Cdre) Phil Osborn, the Station Commander at RAF
Marham until Friday 13 June, and his successor, Gp Capt Colin Basnett.
There is no participation this year from the other Tornado GR4
base, RAF Lossiemouth, Morayshire, Scotland, as those squadrons
are currently preoccupied withcontinuing operations in Iraq.
Born in Bolton, Lancashire, Wg Cdr Waddington joined the RAF in
1985 and went on to fly Tornado ground attack aircraft after
training. He was shot down in Iraq by a surface to air missile at
low level during the first Gulf War, in January 1991, and was
released six-and-a-half weeks later on his 25th birthday in March.
He spent two years as an exchange officer in France, flying Mirage
2000s, and is approaching the end of his two year tour as OC of IX
Squadron. He has yet to learn where his next posting will take him.
ENDS