THE Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford got off to a flying start when model and TV presenter Jodie Kidd touched down.

Jodie launched the event, which runs until Sunday, after arriving at the Gloucestershire airbase in a Vickers Supermarine Spitfire T9.

And she said it was an honour to attend the event, which will feature a special display to remember the Battle of Britain. 

"It’s amazing to come and launch the Air Tattoo," she said.

"My family has had so many ties with the RAF – my great grandfather Lord Beaverbrook was Minister of Aircraft Production during the Second World War – so this is a great honour.”

Speaking of her flight in to the site, she said: “That was unbelievable, beyond expectations.

"I had a fantastic pilot, Matt Jones, and we did a barrel roll, victory roll and a Cuban eight. 

"To fly in in an aircraft that allowed me to experience aerobatics and feel how incredible this machine is was really special.”

Greeting Jodie on arrival was Battle of Britain veteran Sqn Ldr Geoffrey Wellum, 93, himself a Spitfire pilot.

The veteran airman, from Cornwall, was at the Air Tattoo to help commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and was joined by two other Spitfire pilots for the main act of commemoration, a mass fly-past featuring 20 veteran wartime aircraft including no fewer than 12 Spitfires, five Hurricanes, one Seafire, one Messerschmitt and one Buchon.

Also touching down was Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, flying his own Eclipse EA 500 jet, with a special passenger on board. 

Bruce is Vice Patron of RIAT’s Flying Scholarships for Disabled People (FSDP), an organisation which helps disabled individuals to learn to fly, and his special guest was Kevin Ogilvie, one of two scholars who’ve been sponsored this year by the RAF Charitable Trust (RAFCT). 

This year’s Air Tattoo marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, and the event’s operational theme, Securing the Skies – Past Present Future, is particularly appropriate with the Eurofighter Typhoon representing the ‘cutting edge’ of the RAF’s front line today, fulfilling the role carried out by the veteran aircraft of the Second World War. 

The airshow also marks the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment (TTTE) and honours an iconic warbird from the Cold War era, with the Vulcan XH558 making its final RIAT appearances in its last-ever display season.