The UK Royal Air Force has rehearsed for part of its role in the Royal Wedding celebrations in London tomorrow, with four of its aircraft having performed a practice sortie over its Coningsby base in Lincolnshire on 27 April.
Two Panavia Tornado GR4s from Coningsby-based 41 Sqn were involved in the formation flight, along with a pair of Eurofighter Typhoons from 6 Sqn, ordinarily based at RAF Leuchars in Scotland.
"The squadron have been very busy over the last few years and this is an excellent reward for their hard work," says Wg Cdr Richard Davies, officer commanding 41 Sqn.
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© SAC Graham Taylor/Crown Copyright |
Flying in a box formation (above), the strike aircraft will be flown over Buckingham Palace at 13:30 local time on 29 April, "weather permitting". Both types are currently involved in combat action over Libya as part of NATO's Operation Unified Protector, with Tornado GR4s also deployed in Afghanistan.
The fast jet formation will follow a lead group drawn from the RAF's Coningsby-based Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, comprising an Avro Lancaster bomber flanked by a Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire.
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© Flyer1 gallery on flightglobal.com/AirSpace |
The BBMF's Lancaster bomber will lead the Royal Wedding flypast |
The BAE Systems Hawks of the RAF's Red Arrows will not be involved in the flypast, as the team is involved in its pre-season work-up before performing its first display in Crete on 22 May.
Source: Flight International
