HM King Charles III

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Re: HM King Charles III

#61 Post by OneHungLow » Thu May 04, 2023 10:07 pm

"Oh Zephyr winds that blow on high, tell us now if they will fly?"

Do any of the cognoscenti here know what the weather minima for the flypast might be?

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/p ... ast-update

Assuming the weather isn't a factor (which given the current forecast is a risky assumption) and the current flight plans are adhered to, then the best places, and approximate times (local) to look out for aircraft will be:

Area A: North Sea and Norfolk Coast - 1.15pm-3pm

Area B: Thetford, Norfolk and Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk - 1.45pm-3pm

Area C: Ipswich, Ipswich - 2pm-3pm

Area D: Colchester and Chelmsford, Essex - 2pm-2.45pm

Area E: London - 2.10pm-2.45pm

Area F: Croydon, London and Surrey - 2.20pm-3pm

Area G: Reading, Berkshire, Swindon, Wiltshire and Oxford, Oxfordshire - 2.20pm-3pm

Area H: Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire - 2.20pm-3pm

Area I: Marlborough, Tidworth, Wiltshire - 2.20pm-3pm.
The coronation flypast is at risk of being scaled back or cancelled because of poor weather forecast for Saturday, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Fly Past.JPG

A tri-service, six-minute flypast of 60 aircraft, including the Battle of Britain memorial flight, the Red Arrows, modern F-35s and Typhoons, is planned as a finale to the coronation day celebrations.

The newly crowned king and queen, along with other members of the royal family, are expected to watch it from the Buckingham Palace balcony as it roars over the crowds of well-wishers on the Mall.

However, forecasters expect conditions in London will be cloudy and wet on Saturday, which could hamper the ability of pilots to fly safely.

Asked about the potential for the flypast to be disrupted by the weather, an MoD spokesperson told the PA news agency: “There are certain weather limits in terms of cloud base and visibility for a flypast involving a large number of aircraft which will need to be met.

“The latest weather information will be obtained from both the Met Office and from our helicopters performing weather checks in advance of the main flypast on Saturday.

“If suitable, the flypast will continue as planned. If not, then there are options available to reduce the numbers of aircraft, with cancellation being the last resort.

“Clearly there are many things the MoD does control, but the weather is not one of them. Safety will always be our primary concern.”

The Met Office expects Saturday to be a “cloudy, wet day” across large parts of the UK, with rain falling on London “by around lunchtime”.

There were fears the flypast for the late queen’s coronation in June 1953 would be called off because of bad weather, but conditions improved and it went ahead at 5.15pm after a delay.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... r-forecast
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Re: HM King Charles III

#62 Post by OneHungLow » Thu May 04, 2023 10:32 pm

A little bit of history...

1953 Coronation review - The RAF at its apogee.





1953 flypast





Practice for Saturday's flypast.


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Re: HM King Charles III

#63 Post by Boac » Fri May 05, 2023 7:57 am

OHL wrote:Do any of the cognoscenti here know what the weather minima for the flypast might be?
No, and it depends on how the flypast is constructed and the skill of the pilots involved. The '77 Mall flypast was quite memorable as there were three groups of aircraft. the first 'box' vic led by a Vulcan, as was the second I think followed by the Arrows in 'big' Echelon. I have retold this here before, but with a lowering cloudbase as it progressed westwards the lead Vulcan was pushed down a bit, but the problem was the second box leader, who allowed his group to drop back significantly but stupidly maintained the same 'visual' angle of depression below the lead section, thus reducing their height significantly, pushing the remainder ever downward. My memories are of inspecting TV aerials on the rooves of houses somewhere west of London (and I wasn't on the end of the echelon... :-o ), before our much respected leader, Frank Hoare, announced he was 'easing us out' to the side, being unable to bank the echelon due to height. By this time one of the Lightnings in one of the first boxes (the late Andy Penswick) had had enough (NB after the palace) and hit the burners in the TMA and bugged out to 30,000'. =))

Oh what fun! The RAF tried to blame this on the overall lead (?Tony Woodward?) but the problem was the second box leader and Frank went to great lengths to defend ?Tony? on this issue. I don't know what the result of the witch hunt was.

It isn't just height, though as the whole shambles has to be put together somewhere to the east so vis is important too.

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Re: HM King Charles III

#64 Post by Ex-Ascot » Fri May 05, 2023 8:05 am

Thanks OHL. The weather is forecast to improves by 17.00 perhaps they could think of delaying the balcony until after lunch. Wonder if they are going to attempt a C III R formation.
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Re: HM King Charles III

#65 Post by OneHungLow » Fri May 05, 2023 8:30 am

Boac wrote:
Fri May 05, 2023 7:57 am
OHL wrote:Do any of the cognoscenti here know what the weather minima for the flypast might be?
No, and it depends on how the flypast is constructed and the skill of the pilots involved. The '77 Mall flypast was quite memorable as there were three groups of aircraft. the first 'box' vic led by a Vulcan, as was the second I think followed by the Arrows in 'big' Echelon. I have retold this here before, but with a lowering cloudbase as it progressed westwards the lead Vulcan was pushed down a bit, but the problem was the second box leader, who allowed his group to drop back significantly but stupidly maintained the same 'visual' angle of depression below the lead section, thus reducing their height significantly, pushing the remainder ever downward. My memories are of inspecting TV aerials on the rooves of houses somewhere west of London (and I wasn't on the end of the echelon... :-o ), before our much respected leader, Frank Hoare, announced he was 'easing us out' to the side, being unable to bank the echelon due to height. By this time one of the Lightnings in one of the first boxes (the late Andy Penswick) had had enough (NB after the palace) and hit the burners in the TMA and bugged out to 30,000'. =))

Oh what fun! The RAF tried to blame this on the overall lead (?Tony Woodward?) but the problem was the second box leader and Frank went to great lengths to defend ?Tony? on this issue. I don't know what the result of the witch hunt was.

It isn't just height, though as the whole shambles has to be put together somewhere to the east so vis is important too.

Were you involved in this display? Superb video footage.


Royal Air Force Royal Salute - 1977


On the weather front... there be a mess of them out west!

Coronation Met.JPG
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Re: HM King Charles III

#66 Post by Boac » Fri May 05, 2023 8:39 am

Naturellement, Msr, but I don't think he woke up for it. =))

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Re: HM King Charles III

#67 Post by barkingmad » Fri May 05, 2023 8:57 am

Off with this Twatter chap’s head immediately ! 🪓


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Re: HM King Charles III

#68 Post by OneHungLow » Fri May 05, 2023 9:00 am

Boac wrote:
Fri May 05, 2023 8:39 am
Naturellement, Msr, but I don't think he woke up for it. =))
I note the Harrier display with some interest. Not a wobble to be seen save on the lips of the adoring audience! ;)))
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Re: HM King Charles III

#69 Post by barkingmad » Fri May 05, 2023 12:01 pm

So the new Royal Flight pursuit ship has an interesting variety of ranges..

Quote from our old friends at MoD who obviously can neither afford nor give PV clearance to a humble proof reader;

"Range: with 8 people it can fly 4750m or 8800 km without refuelling". =))

The lower figure is a very respectful runway length but is at least somewhat longer than the Wright Brothers' first circular flight, September 20th 1904, of 1,244 metres, so some progress there :))

The upper range has to be converted to either nms for aviation folk, or statute miles for DM readers, the metric measurements giving away the simple cut & paste job from the Frog makers of the jet.

https://www.raf.mod.uk/aircraft/envoy-iv-cc1/

I don't suppose it will be modified with a probe for AAR operations, so why mention refuelling?

But maybe with a load of 'green' ethanol and a stack of willow cuttings it will fulfil the eco-friendly ambitions of Their Majs.

The wavy cheat line makes me seasick looking at it, so straight lines on aircraft must cost more to apply in keeping with modern airliner liveries.

I'm afraid I have no rice grains to lend out for submission of comments... :YMPARTY:

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Re: HM King Charles III

#70 Post by Ex-Ascot » Fri May 05, 2023 12:42 pm

Some smooth landings here. LTN?

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Re: HM King Charles III

#71 Post by reddo » Fri May 05, 2023 1:57 pm

No, they are using Stansted for the official delegations. Big runway and can park up well away from the airline traffic.

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Re: HM King Charles III

#72 Post by OneHungLow » Fri May 05, 2023 8:38 pm

Given the way the way that the weather Gods are gathering, the helicopters might become the focal point of the flypast if low cloud continues to be an issue in the forecast tomorrow morning. ...

I put my money on a slight delay, but forecast ceilings around the London area seem to be around 1500 feet around 14:30 (local) tomorrow. I look forward to the display (said without any basis in knowledge of the required minima, apart from air law and optimism). Of course these folks have to depart and transit, and return to base through far worse than that, but hey, "'n boer (or the RAF) maak 'n plan!"
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Re: HM King Charles III

#73 Post by 4mastacker » Fri May 05, 2023 10:17 pm

To the guys and gals taking part tomorrow - Have a great day, I am sure all of you will have a day to tell your grandchildren.
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Re: HM King Charles III

#74 Post by OneHungLow » Fri May 05, 2023 10:27 pm

4mastacker wrote:
Fri May 05, 2023 10:17 pm
To the guys and gals taking part tomorrow - Have a great day, I am sure all of you will have a day to tell your grandchildren.
+1
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Re: HM King Charles III

#75 Post by OneHungLow » Fri May 05, 2023 11:00 pm

Ex-Ascot wrote:
Fri May 05, 2023 12:42 pm
Some smooth landings here. LTN?



I assume, you flew, many times, as Captain, from Luton airport .. ;)))

One has to love Britain, and I do! =))
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Re: HM King Charles III

#76 Post by Ex-Ascot » Sat May 06, 2023 6:36 am

EGLC 060500Z 0606/0615 14005KT 9999 SCT025 TEMPO 0606/0615 8000 RA BKN010 PROB30 TEMPO 0612/0615 4000 +RA RADZ BKN007
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Re: HM King Charles III

#77 Post by Karearea » Sat May 06, 2023 8:11 am

The Coronation of TM The King and Queen Camilla - BBC - Livestream

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Re: HM King Charles III

#78 Post by 4mastacker » Sat May 06, 2023 8:46 am

Just spotted the lady in the little blue hat (apparently Stella Rimmington, ex-chief of MI5) who was giving Harry the evil eye at the Platinum Jubilee service. Can't see the ginger whinger though. The KCS looking very smart.
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Re: HM King Charles III

#79 Post by Woody » Sat May 06, 2023 9:31 am




=)) =)) =))
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Re: HM King Charles III

#80 Post by ricardian » Sat May 06, 2023 10:22 am

Ricardian, Stronsay, Orkney UK
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