Exact route for RAF Red Arrows flypast as 70 aircraft take to the skies for King Charles’ first ever Trooping the Colour
SEVENTY military aircraft including the Red Arrows will shoot through the skies above thirteen countries tomorrow for a massive flypast.
The event – rescheduled due to bad weather during King Charles’s coronation in May – is for Trooping the Colour at Buckingham Palace.
Spitfires, Typhoons, Chinooks, Apaches and a range of other military aircraft will join the Red Arrows in the extraordinary aerial display.
The exact route is yet to be officially confirmed for security reasons but it is thought to be much the same as the coronation plans.
Set to last around 15 minutes, the flypast will officially start at 1pm in London.
The Red Arrows are likely to assemble over the North Sea area and leave at around 11.45am to begin the route inland over the Lincolnshire coast, Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex.
They will then make their way into London near Hainault Country Park, in Essex, at around 12.40pm then over Buckingham Palace from 1pm.
The Red Arrows will then start to disperse as the flypast comes to an end.
It means Brits in a number of counties may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the famous red jets before and after the flypast.
They include: Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, London, Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.
Other aircraft in the 70-strong display will also join and disperse above various areas, meaning you may catch a glimpse of a Spitfire or Apache, too.
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the brand new Envoy IV CC1 private jet and the massive C-130 Hercules transporter, set to retire after the flypast, will all take part.
The King, with his senior royal family, including Queen Camilla, Prince William and Kate Middleton will be in attendance for the flypast.
The RAF’s Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton said: “We are very proud to be able to showcase our capabilities to our Commander-in-Chief, on this historic occasion for His Majesty The King.
“We have planned a fitting and appropriate tribute for our monarch, that should be a true spectacle for the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.”
The flypast will follow Trooping of the Colour which is set to begin at 10am on Saturday.
The parade itself will consist of more than 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians and the King will recieve the salute.
The pomp and pageantry-packed event is for The Sovereign’s birthday parade and will see The King joined by his personal troops, the Household Division, on Horse Guards Parade.
The Household Division is made up of the Household Cavalry, which includes The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals.
It is also made up of five regiments of foot guards: the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards.
The seven regiments – all wearing red tunics apart from the Blues and Royals who wear blue – are the most senior cavalry and infantry units of the regular army.