At the beginning of August, a great tour of the Royal Air Force aerobatic team, the Red Arrows through Canada and the United States, aimed at promoting the United Kingdom began.
More than 25 cities will be visited for 11 weeks, with a combination of exhibits, flight demonstrations and ground events that will help support a variety of UK interests in the business, commerce, defense, education and other sectors.
Royal Air Force aerobatic team jets took off from their base at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, to begin the 2,658 nautical mile trip across the North Atlantic.
The above despite the fact that the BAE Systems Hawk jets of the aerobatic team do not have the ability to refuel in the air, and without having the scope to make the transatlantic crossing at one time, the trip involved stops at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, Keflavik in Iceland, Narsarsuaq in Greenland and Goose Bay, Canada.
The crossing took three days, being the Canadian city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the intended destination and the first main location of the tour.
Red Arrows engineers, support staff, and vital teams will be transported throughout the tour on an A400M Atlas aircraft from Squadron LXX and a Voyager transport aircraft from Squadron 10.
Halifax was the host of the first public air activity of the deployment: an air takeoff on its coast on August 11.
Wing commander Andrew Keith, commanding officer of the Royal Air Force aerobatic team, said: “The goal of this North American tour is to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds through a world-class exhibition of the best of the British.”
“Everyone on the Red Arrows team, whether air or ground crew, along with those who join us from other parts of the RAF in support of the tour, are very excited and privileged to represent to the United Kingdom in front of millions of people across Canada and the United States.”
“The visit is based on the success of other recent tours abroad by the team, which have demonstrated the convening power of the Red Arrows and have helped to show the United Kingdom“.
The deployment will include some 20 exhibits, dozens of air flights over landmarks and 100 separate land events, covering several major cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
This tour is being carried out in support of the GREAT campaign of the British government, which provides the opportunity to improve international trade and investment between the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
With investments worth more than £208 billion in 2018. It is also an opportunity to mark the UK‘s continued commitment to lasting relationships, mutual prosperity and extensive security cooperation with close and long-standing allies.
Source: Mexicoaerospacial
