King’s Birthday Flypast
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King’s Birthday Flypast
Well done everybody involved in today’s flypast, even Clair Balding and especially the forecaster who predicted the clearance 15 minutes before the ToT and the commander who believed him or her. BZ.
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Gnome de PPRuNe
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Surprised to see three Chinooks belt over here just after 1pm, had forgotten the KBF was happening - must have been a near run thing with the weather as I got thoroughly soaked in SE London around 12.30 and could see much worse tracking NE further to the west. Thunder was quite audible!
Well done to all participants! The weather over Essex and East London must have been VERY demanding on the run-in, so the decision to conduct the flypast was very brave!
An unusual sight:
Goose 51 + friends!
An unusual sight:
Goose 51 + friends!
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Only minutes before the flypast was due there was a TV shot looking down the Mall through heavy rain towards cloud-shrouded buildings. I thought then that there was no chance it would go ahead. That it did, and they flew over the Palace in bright sunshine against blue skies seems almost miraculous.
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Only minutes before the flypast was due there was a TV shot looking down the Mall through heavy rain towards cloud-shrouded buildings. I thought then that there was no chance it would go ahead. That it did, and they flew over the Palace in bright sunshine against blue skies seems almost miraculous.
Back in the day when there was still the London Weather Centre, once the date for the Birthday Parade was confirmed there was a scramble to book leave, or invoke other avoidances. Similarly for Armistice Sunday.
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The London City METAR history shows the flypast to have been more or less into wind. So a close look at the photo linked above, looking back from the Chinook at the head of the flypast, shows how fine the margin must have been in the weather call. The shower which drenched earlier proceedings can be seen just off the flypast line behind the City skyscrapers. Had it been tracking a few hundred metres further northwest, or had the wind backed a few degrees more southerly, it would have scuppered the flypast: there'd have been no way of stepping around it so close to the Palace. Whoever was making the weather call on the ground would presumably have been watching the shower closely on rainfall radar as it tracked over Horse Guards and made the judgement that it would clear off the flypast line just in time. The METAR history shows that reports were being issued every 20mins in the run up to the flypast, with sketchy conditions reported at London City until 10 minutes to go, so they were obviously looking closely at that too. A courageous call rewarded with a glorious result. Well done indeed!
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Gnome de PPRuNe
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Croydon Airport area had a second soaking about an hour and a half after the flypast - torrential rain for a while and a near gale-force wind whipping around certainly at ground level. A proper squall. The three Chinooks I saw looked to have diverted south around that somewhere the other side of Guildford.
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Maybe they just gave the P-8 an escort so it didn't look as if Ryanair had blundered into the formation (joke!).
Last edited by Video Mixdown; 16th Jun 2024 at 17:03.
As for the spacing, I doubt any of this year's participants knew what the spacing was last year, apart from the lead planner, whose first task was almost certainly taking last year's op order and changing the date
There are previous years available to view in iPlayer and YouTube if you'd like to compare.
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Unusual in that FINALLY we have a Maritime role again!
Given what the Russians are up to these days, that is very good news
In 2010 it was 4 Tornados and the Nimrod R1
Only 3 helicopters this year
The UK forces are stretched to capacity
Is it time to consider a Coastguard element?
+ AAC and RN if we can spare them off task?
Given what the Russians are up to these days, that is very good news
In 2010 it was 4 Tornados and the Nimrod R1
Only 3 helicopters this year
The UK forces are stretched to capacity
Is it time to consider a Coastguard element?
+ AAC and RN if we can spare them off task?
Prior to that for many, many years only the helo's and BBMF would peel off pdq and helo's would turn south and follow the river, and BBMF would turn north and head out over RAFM and the rest of the formations would turn over Fulham and head out to the NW and fly over RAF Northolt.
Only since the 100th Anniversary of the RAF flypast, which was routed over LHR, and ever since the Trooping one and any otehrs have followed suit.
Prior to that for many, many years only the helo's and BBMF would peel off pdq and helo's would turn south and follow the river, and BBMF would turn north and head out over RAFM and the rest of the formations would turn over Fulham and head out to the NW and fly over RAF Northolt.
Prior to that for many, many years only the helo's and BBMF would peel off pdq and helo's would turn south and follow the river, and BBMF would turn north and head out over RAFM and the rest of the formations would turn over Fulham and head out to the NW and fly over RAF Northolt.