09 July 2018

RAF planes on show

...at Horseguards Parade, a big open space  between Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament, to celebrate 100 years of the RAF.

Here's an old favourite, the Spitfire (WW2)
The attractive young man in costume had a lot of women of a WW2 age using their camera phones -

 Nearby, a WW1 plane, with another congenial young man in costume (it was a warm day!) -

 In the blazing sun, the modern planes, such as this Meteor, the first jet fighter -

 Interesting styling on the F-35 Lightning -
 ... and a chance for some people to sit in the pilot's seat -

 The Chinook helicopter -

Seems to be a party going on inside
This is a Dakota, which flew supplies to Berlin during the blockade -



How did the planes get there? They were transported in pieces, many pieces, and rebuilt on site. A wonderful amount of effort has gone into this display.

The horses rather stole the show -

... but weren't there all that long ....

The flypast of 100 planes tomorrow (10 July) at 1pm is eagerly awaited - the centrepiece of the centenary celebrations. There's been a fair amount of clearing of airspace to make this happen.

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