A former Knaresborough cadet played a major role in the jubilee celebrations when he captained the Lancaster bomber that flew over Buckingham Palace.
Flight Lieutenant Paul Wise was in charge of the aircraft that flew over the palace following Thursday’s Trooping the Colour parade.
Flt Lt Wise joined the RAF’s 1953 (Knaresborough) squadron in 1993.
Paul Wise (centre) Pic courtesy of Tim Holderness
After leaving cadets in 1999, he joined the RAF and flew the C-130 Hercules for many years before becoming a qualified flying instructor with 45 squadron at RAF Cranwell, training the next generation of RAF multi-engine pilots and crew.
He still performs this role with the RAF, however in 2018 he also joined the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight as a Dakota captain and co-pilot for the Lancaster. This year he became a captain of the Lancaster.
Flt Lt Wise said:
“I still remember visiting Battle of Britain Memorial Flight as a cadet whilst on Easter camp with Knaresborough ATC.
“Never did I think that one day I would be in the privileged position to captain the Lancaster for the Queen’s platinum jubilee flypast.”
The flypast started in the Wash and included much of southern England, including the palace.
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Red Arrows set to fly over Harrogate district this week
The Red Arrows are set to perform a flypast over the Harrogate district this week.
The RAF aerobatic team are set to fly from their base at RAF Scampton to RAF Leeming on Thursday (March 24).
According to a military airshow website, the Red Arrows are due to pass over Harrogate at 2.01pm.
The team will also fly over Burton Leonard and Ripon on their way to RAF Leeming before returning to Lincolnshire.
It comes as the Red Arrows have been confirmed to perform at a number of airshows this summer.
Among the events include airshows in Eastbourne, Teeside and South Devon.
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Eyes to the skies as spitfire flies over Harrogate hospital
A spitfire will fly over Harrogate District Hospital this morning as a special thank you to the NHS.
The plane set off from Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire at 10am and is expected to reach Harrogate at around 10.50am.
Harrogate missed out in the spitfire’s last journey in July but today’s flypast is intended to thank hospital staff for their coronavirus efforts.
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Steve Russell, the chief executive at Harrogate NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“For my colleagues who are able to they may wish to pop out to see the NHS spitfire pass over as a mark of thanks to every single member of the team, and all other key workers without whom we could not have played our part.”
The plane has been painted for the occasion with the words “Thank U NHS” under its wings and also bears the names of nominated NHS workers.
The Aircraft Restoration Company, which is behind the project, has raised more than £80,000 for NHS Charities Together, a federation of 250 charities that support the NHS, with flypasts since July.
The blue spitfire PL983 nicknamed ‘L’ was built for photo reconnaissance in the 1940s and has an interesting history. Lettice Curtis, a famous female pilot, once raced the spitfire, which now carries her name alongside those of the NHS workers.