Surprising that no information about the flypast’s composition [Wikimedia Commons Ogl Detail]

• TODAY, June 2, for Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, there is a bigger than usual flypast over Buckingham Palace, comprising 70 aircraft from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.

The RAF operates 75 per cent of UK military aircraft and it is right that the significant other
25 per cent, aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm and Army Air Corps, should be included in flypasts for state and national events; this new example of inclusivity by the RAF must continue.

However it is surprising that no information about the flypast’s composition, no aircraft silhouettes, no map of the aircraft flight paths, is on the RAF website.

The RAF has missed a platinum opportunity to help the public make the most of the spectacle and to engage with it by explaining the role of operational aircraft.

Taxpayers pay over £8billion a year for the RAF and should surely be told a lot more than the RAF can be bothered to tell.

LESTER MAY
Lieutenant Commander
Royal Navy (retired), NW1