The flyers' official flyer
Having shamelessly roped the good name of the Red Arrows into a scurrilous and utterly unworthy dig at JLR's new design executive (Mrs V. Beckham) recently, we have inferred from subsequent 'informal communications' that perhaps 'it's time we did something bl**dy useful for a change', here at PH towers.
That the Red Arrows are better equipped for a scrap than your humble scribes is undeniable, but rest assured this plug for their latest venture is offered purely in the spirit of citizenship, and not from any fear of being flour-bombed from 600ft. (Although we wouldn't mind a fly-past!)
The venture in question is a charity scooter ride from Land End to John O'Groats on a collection of Vespa 125S Scooters in the full livery of the Red Arrows, ridden by pilots from the Royal Airforce Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows, and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
The Red Arrows and liveried Vespa
The Red Arrows Scooter Challenge is being organised by Flight Lieutenant Mike Ling, who hit the headlines earlier in the year when he was forced to eject from his Red Arrows Hawk in a training incident over Crete. And in spite of what you may be thinking, the team isn't raising funds for a new aircraft (they must have fully comp. insurance), but is dedicating the mission to supporting five very worthy charities:
MoD versus rockers... (Geddit?)
The journey would take around an hour in a Red Arrows Hawk, we're told, but the team aims to do it on Vespas in four days starting on September 30th.
You can find out more about the Scooter Challenge here, make a donation here, or simply text SCOOTER to 70099 to lob an easy £2 into the collecting tin. (We have already, honest!)