Big Formation over London next Saturday (14th June)

[Warmtoast]

From NATS AIC site,

RESTRICTION OF FLYING REGULATIONS – HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN’S 82ND BIRTHDAY FLYPAST 14 JUNE AND REHEARSALS 11-13 JUNE 2008.
A large formation of aircraft will form Her Majesty The Queen’s 82nd Birthday Flypast on 14 June 2008; rehearsals for this flypast will be held during the period 11-13 June 2008. The rehearsals will start in the vicinity of Southwold, Suffolk then route to RAF Marham, Norfolk and conclude at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. The Flypast itself will form up at Southwold, route via Ipswich, abeam Colchester, Chelmsford and enter the London City CTR South of Stapleford; the formation will overfly Buckingham Palace and route via RAF Northolt, RAF Halton and disperse in the RAF Brize Norton area. Due to the large number of aircraft involved, the Secretary of State, for Transport has, therefore, deemed it necessary to introduce the following Restriction of Flying Regulations under Article 96 of the Air Navigation Order 2005 (military aircraft should comply with JSP552 201.135.9)

Further details with map of route here:
http://www.nats-uk.ead-it.com/aip/current/aic/mauve/EG_Circ_2008_M_036_en.pdf

Formation Details

49 RAF aircraft up to commerate the Queen's 82nd birthday - Saturday 14th June.

The formation leaders will be the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Hurricane, Spitfire and Lancaster.
The main formation will comprise: a C-130 Hercules with two B200 Super King Airs, nine Typhoons, VC10 K3 air refuelling tanker and Sentry AEW1, nine Tornado F3s in diamond formation, C-17A Globemaster III, Nimrod MR2 with two Tornado F3s, Tristar C2 with two BAe125 CC3s of 32 the Royal Squadron and bringing up the rear 16 Tornado GR4s in diamond formation.

In other words:

Lead - BBMF
1 x C-130 + 2 x King Airs
9 x Typhoons in 'Typhoon' formation
1 x VC10 trailing hose with 1 x Sentry following
9 x Tornado F3s in diamond formation
1 x C-17
1 x Nimrod + 2 x F3
1 x Tristar + 2 x 32 Sqn 125s
16 x Tornado GR4s in diamond formation

ETA Buckingham Palace 13.06

[Riskman]

That's my mums birthday. Her real birthday that is. Which would be the same as her official birthday, if she had one. :)

[Roland Pulfrew]

I shall look forward to a nice sunny day and a pint in the garden of my local and hope the formation passes over my local as it did last year. Low over my village (just NE of Halton) would be much appreciated....... at least by me!! Last year the weather kept the formation at cough, cough a reasonable height.

Good luck to all involved.

[Beatriz Fontana]

What, no Scampton darts team?

[Craven Moorhed]

Any chance Typhoon #3 can get 'in' formation this time ???

[nav attacking]

Beatriz

There is a good reason for that, they are enjoying themselves in the USA.

Are the americans looking for a new pilot trainer by any chance???

[ZH875]

Just had a very large (and very welcome) formation of aircraft over my shed, and very nice it looked too.

Congrats to the 16 GR4's for keeping such a tight formation, I bet it looked great from up there.

I hope I get buzzed again tomorrow....

[popkid]

All passed over RAF Waddington approx 13:05, heading North

[High_Expect]

1301:00 actualy :ok:

[Valiantone]

As someone who watched from the A15 side of the fence, it looked bloody good....:ok:

V1

[nunquamparatus]

Sorry, just trying to do the mental maths. So thats a 9-ship of F3s. Right, brief as a 24-ship (do we have that many, damn), walk as a 12-ship, launch as a ....................

"Neatishead, this is Blacksmith formation, as fragged minus nine.......":E

[Valiantone]

Don't forget the VC10 and C-17 had a pair of F.3s as well

V1

[TEEEJ]

A few quick snaps from my back garden. I'm extremely lucky as the practice formations overfly the village (Ruskington) in Lincs where I live. I reckon I would have needed a wide-angle to fit the 16 ship GR.4s in! I just stood there in awe as they filled the sky!

Congrats to all involved :ok:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/TOMMYJO/4cedceef.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/TOMMYJO/7d8f391f.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/TOMMYJO/2ca8adc6.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/TOMMYJO/0336155a.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/TOMMYJO/ec67732e.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/TOMMYJO/6e7ef94d.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/TOMMYJO/68cc4161.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/TOMMYJO/22f1a48e.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h261/TOMMYJO/1396ae90.jpg

Cheers

TJ

[Doctor Cruces]

Don't wish to be a party pooper, love the RAF, served for ages in it and am very proud of it and fiercly protective of the armed forces in general. Not only that but I saw the tail end of it over Shipdham yesterday in Norfolk as I was driving through and it was very impressive.

However, I would have thought that with UK forces people dying in 'stan because we can't afford the helicopters to keep them safe, that the money spent on this annual flypast and the practice flypasts beforehand could be better spent on other things.

Just one viewpoint and fully expecting to be comprehensively shot down, but as both of my nephews are serving army people and one is in 'stan and one in Kosovo I may have an even stronger viewpoint if the unthinkable happens to either of them.

Doc C

[nunquamparatus]

Would someone please tell me, and I'm sure there are enough Pruners out there from the various stations that put the aeroplanes in the sky for this, just how much, whole station, effort went into this PR campaign. ALL those aircraft, all those maintenance hours, all that gas, all the sodding deconfliction and hours, nay days, spent planning this sodding thing. All for HMQ's birthday!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I understand the Army wear silly outfits and stand around having pictures taken outside Buck palace - I think thats dumb too (someone will no doubt sell it as Ceremonial=Public Awareness). What I find mind blowing is that, in this era where we are all (or so i thought) trying to save money everywhere to make the defence budget go that little bit further, when money was so tight that we can't find enough cash to pay for people's travel claims - that this sort of :mad::mad::mad: is being approved?!? BoBMF, yes, some Typhoons, sure. But the whole bloody Air Force - and don't try and fob me off with the argument that they would have been flying anyway. Of course they would. The VC10/C-17 would have been ferrying people (Army) in and out of warzones. The E3D would have been conducting training/an exercise. The mud-movers would have been slotting Terry Taleban or training for it and the Air Defenders...........ok, thats a tough one. Why not just put a prime time advert on Sky that says "We're short of attention and feeling a little sensitive about it":ugh:

[nunquamparatus]

If this is just for HMQ's 82nd just wondering what the RAF will do if the old duck reaches a ton? :eek:

[Melchett01]

If this is just for HMQ's 82nd just wondering what the RAF will do if the old duck reaches a ton?

Probably not much. Given the current state of things, I think the photos above are a pretty good representation of our potential total ORBAT in 18 yrs time!

And if we do move to UAVs, I really can't see a 16-ship of spotty teenagers carrying Playstation handsets down the Mall having the same sort of impact!

[taxydual]

The Red Acne's? Nah, doesn't have the same ring.

[Taildragger67]

All the logistics/co-ordinating is good training. You raise your game when you have 12 million or so people looking at your work.

Yes the pilots 'train' for close formation work, but getting to actually do it is a bit different.

All the money being spent on this when it could be spent on kit for the bods in the 'ghan? Sure. But then again maybe this gives the civvies a reminder as to just how good HM forces are and why it's worth pressuring our elected reps to keep giving them the best kit, keeps them in the public profile and makes sure they're not out of sight & therefore out of mind. Hence it actually works in favour of the front-liners.

If the noisy wheel gets the oil, then I hope they go over with burners on & make as much noise as they can.

I recall a few years back when the RAAF and RAN spent much time & effort locating and rescuing Tony Bullimore and Rafael Dinelli in the Southern Ocean. Some :mad: press idiot complained to the then defence minister about the cost. "Cost?" Sir Ian Killen thundered straight back. "You couldn't pay for this kind of training!" Apparently they'd packed every ship and aircraft involved with as many bods as possible, to give them the exposure to high-intensity ops. Headline cost ain't everything. The aircraft are there to fly, not sit on the tarmac, and if Saturday's task is to make a lot of noise over London, then so be it.

I for one will be on my roof on Saturday, camera in hand (and tear in eye as the BBMF drones over!). :ok:

[Melchett01]

Taildragger - your comment ref Tony Bullimore rescue is probably the most sensible rebuttal of press / bean counter compaints about this sort of activity that I have heard in a long while. I hope people take note!

[Stitchbitch]

As it's our 90th year as well as the Queens birthday I don't think too many in the nation will be complaining about the cost of flying a formation of aircraft over London on a Saturday. In fact, I would go so far as to say if you're British, you may well be celebrating the fact that we can do this at all.
I for one will be justifiably proud as I help launch our aircraft on Saturday; I just hope people will take an interest and watch it live, it’s going to be good.:ok:

nunquamparatus not every aeroplane the RAF fly is on Ops every day of the year, some are held back for little things such as training, maintenance and trials work. You may even find that some of the aircrew are reservists. Some will even gain some usefull training, a few may even find it a nice change from Ops.

[Green Flash]

Why no rotary? Eg a Chinook/Merlin combo on the ground in the East End to tuck in behind BBMF down the Mall and then break out behind the palace before the FJ's catch up?

[Warmtoast]

A bit more about tomorrow's flypast from MOD via www.whitehallpages.net (http://www.whitehallpages.net) in particular if bad weather delays the planned 13.00 flypast it'll be delayed to 17.00.

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.

[Geezers of Nazareth]

I for one will be on my roof on Saturday, camera in hand (and tear in eye as the BBMF drones over!).


Taildragger67 ... you're not the Queen are you?

Actually, I was at Marham today to watch them all launch and recover. Bloody impressive!, thanks guys.

[BOAC]

Congratulatons to all on the flypast, and a TOP 16 ship:ok:

[Romeo Oscar Golf]

[/URL][URL="http://www.pprune.org/forums/member.php?u=177671"]nunquamparatus (http://www.pprune.org/forums/member.php?u=177671)

Join Date: May 2007
Location: australia
Posts: 41


WTFO?
(http://www.pprune.org/forums/member.php?u=177671)

Hi nunq, just out of interest are you a wingeing Pom living in Oz, a genuine chav working class Brit sponging off the Aussies, or a dedicated indigenous Republican ?
Your love and support for our Queen is clear.
The reason for the fly past has been well stated by more erudite Pruners, but I will add that the RAF did it because they could!:ok:

[Roland Pulfrew]

Would someone please tell me, and I'm sure there are enough Pruners out there from the various stations that put the aeroplanes in the sky for this, just how much, whole station, effort went into this PR campaign. ALL those aircraft, all those maintenance hours, all that gas, all the sodding deconfliction and hours, nay days, spent planning this sodding thing.

Nunq

Who gives a toss? The answer is because its the RAF's 90th, HMQ's Official Birthday and because we can. Oh and because that tw@t Brown believes that "every pound spent on Defence is a pound wasted", how he must have been grinding his teeth on Horseguards. I could go on to say because its good training (and if you question this you obviously haven't done it) and good PR. Oh and because its the RAF's 90th, HMQ's birthday and because we still can!!!

Well done to all involved and I think all at RAF Halton Open Day loved the flypast as well.:D

[Mr C Hinecap]

I think this shot is worthy of stealing from the BBC website. It was taken by one of our chaps after all - nice one Cpl R!:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/uk_enl_1213523258/img/1.jpg

[TEEEJ]

Someone filmed it and turned the 16 ship GR.4s and HS.125s into UFO's! :rolleyes:

'UFO s Chasing Plane in Aylesbury, UK 14 June 2008 !'

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xA8iUrPkZpE

TJ