Bangor RAF Show: Weekend of flyovers with Typhoons, Red Arrows and a WWII Lancaster Bomber
It is a dramatic weekend of RAF flyovers for Northern Ireland, with Typhoons, Red Arrows and a WWII Lancaster Bomber touring our skies
With the Bangor RAF Show taking place at Ward Park yesterday and today, flyovers were planned by some of the RAFs most spectacular aircraft.
The Red Arrows elite stunt fliers did a flyover of Dunmurray, Stormont and Bangor today. Their original point of entry over Northern Ireland was intended to be Newry.
An RAF spokesman said: "The Reds pilots are fully trained fighter pilots who basically, they apply for a tour on the Red Arrows for a few years. And then afterwards they'll, generally, go back into full operational roles, if they are not retiring."
Two Typhoon fighters were due to play at around 1000 feet over the show, also today.
He added: "These fighter jets are based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland and are basically part of our quick reaction force for situations like Russian aircraft intruding into British airspace, these are the aircraft that will be scrambled to intercept them.
"And when they do they may travel at up to Mach 1.6 to get where they need to be. They also perform that role as part of NATO's air policing missions in Eastern Europe."
A Lancaster Second World War bomber from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight also conducted a flypast over Stormont at around 7pm last night. The event was a Battle of Britain 85th reception hosted by the speaker of the House and the RAF's most senior officer in NI, attended by the new RAF Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth, who is from Lurgan.
"The legendary bombers - this is one of only two still flying, were used to knock out key strategic Nazi targets in Germany during WWII," he added.
"The highly distinctive design has gun turrets at the front, rear and on top, to defend against heavy fighter attacks while zooming in on bombing targets."
The bomber is also scheduled to conduct another flyover of the Bangor show on Saturday, between 2-3pm - weather permitting.
The Bangor RAF Show runs from 9-6pm today with many RAF related attractions. Free tickets can be booked at https://www.eventbrite.com/