Royal Air Force celebrating 100 years of excellence By Juri Keyter On the 1st of April 2018, the Royal Air Force started celebrating its 100th birthday and to mark this occasion over the next 7 months, events are scheduled all over the United Kingdom where they will reflect on history, achievements and also looking forward to the next 100 years. The centrepiece of RAF100 took place on 10 July, with a centenary service in Westminster Abbey, followed by a parade in The Mall and spectacular flypast over Buckingham Palace and I was lucky enough to attend it. I arrived at ST James's Park at around 11:00, just in time to witness a parade with over a thousand servicemen and women as the prelude to an air armada over Buckingham Palace, the biggest ever seen in the UK. At 13:00, exactly as scheduled, the Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, other Members of the Royal Family and members of the public witnessed the historic flypast where an estimated 100 aircraft, representing the RAF's history, flew over Buckingham Palace. The line-up included the new cutting-edge stealth fighter F-35 jets as well as helicopters including the Puma, Chinook, Juno and Jupiter. Aircraft from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight including the Dakota, Lancaster, Hurricane and Spitfire were also part of the line-up. The Hercules, Atlas A400M, C-17, BAe 146, Sentinel, Voyager, Shadow, Rivet Joint, E-3D Sentry, Tornado GR4, Typhoon and Red Arrows closed the display. This was certainly a spectacle never seen before and one that probably won't be seen again.

Events 2018 Best of Britain

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