Exactly where and when the Red Arrows will fly over UK this weekend
The RAF has revealed the route the iconic Red Arrows will take when flying over the UK tomorrow
The Arrows will be travelling across a huge section of the UK this weekend - just a week after being forced to pull out of a display due to an "unexpected, temporary closure" of an airfield in Bury St Edmund's.
The Red Arrows' impressive display will be a part of their appearance at Headcorn Battle of Britain Airshow.
They will be soaring over parts of Essex and Kent, taking off from Southend Airport at 17.01 before flying anti-clockwise to reach Headcorn. Once finished, they will return back to the major Essex aviation hub.
After leaving Southend, they will first fly over Basildon just a few minutes after take off at 17.04pm. By around 17.08pm they will have reached Pembury, a large village in Kent just outside Tunbridge Wells, and around 50 miles from their departure point.
Next on the route is Stone Cross, where residents should be able to see the iconic red jets soar overhead at around 17.10pm. Two minutes later and they will have rumbled over Churches Green and Battle in East Sussex before turning back towards Essex. The village of Benenden, again in Tunbridge Wells, will welcome the Arrows next as they fly past at 17.14pm ahead of their 17.15pm display at Headcorn.
According to the RAF website, the display will continue until around 17.45, which is when they'll head off on their final stretch, passing Harrietsham at 17.49pm and travelling over sea until they get back to Southend Airport at 17.51pm.
During these highly anticipated tours, the type of performance the Red Arrows execute will be adapted to cloud levels, as clarified on its website: "There are three types of display the Team Leader can elect to fly – full, rolling or flat."
The Red Arrows have laid out specific guidelines for their awe-inspiring stunts, noting, "To carry out a full, looping display, the base of the cloud must be above 5,500ft to avoid the aircraft entering the cloud at the top of the loop. If the cloud base is less than 5,500ft, but more than 2,500ft, the team will perform the rolling display – substituting wing-overs and rolls for the loops. When the cloud base is below 2,500ft, the team will fly the flat display, consisting of a series of flypasts and steep turns."
Preparations for the summer's aerobatic performances start early, right after the previous season concludes, with team training resuming in October focusing on three or four plane formations. Throughout the display season, it's not uncommon for the Red Arrows to conduct two displays accompanied by several flybys all in one day, with fans able to keep updated on arrival and departure times alongside airshow schedules through the Royal Air Force's social media accounts.
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