Death of a Red Arrows Pilot and unsung hero - Fl Lt John Egging

In my last blog 'Photographing The Red Arrows' I wrote how excited I was to be going to the Bournemouth Air Festival today and would have the second chance in two weeks to photograph The Royal Airforce Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows.

What started as an excellent day, presenting the opportunity to photograph a number of different aircraft turned to tragedy when one the the aircraft crashed during a final manoeuvre over the local airport before landing.

I have had the pleasure of watching numerous Red Arrows displays over the years and never fail to be amazed at the skill that must be involved in making it look as easy although it obviously is anything but.

Fl. Lt. John Egging must be counted as one of our unsung heros. It was announced during the display that many of the pilots in today's display had recently returned from tours in Afghanistan and he had certainly served his time there supporting coalition ground forces. 

He obviously loved his flying. He transitioned from front line duties to entertaining the public with his flying prowess with the RAF Red Arrows and as such has etched himself certainly into my memory as 'The Egg Man', as was announced in the display commentary.

I don't know which aircraft he flew but I should imagine he has appeared in a number of my pictures from the last two weeks displays. I just want to publish this one from the display in Bournemouth today to say a simple 'thankyou' for for flying with the Red Arrows.

Kevin
Kevin Leighton Photography 

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