Display Work-up
Fight Lieutenant Rich Tomala is conducting his first season as Display Pilot and the work-up will culminate in the Tutor Display’s base height of 500ft.
The work-up is perhaps more aptly best thought of as a ‘work-down’ in heights. At the start of every season, no matter the pilot’s experience, the sequence begins from a safe general handling base height of 3000ft. The practices slowly work down in height to their display base height. For the Tutor, the display height is 500ft with 100ft low passes.
The initial practices are conducted in the local area of RAF Cranwell utilising a ground feature for practice such as disused airfields. Once the pilot descends below their Initial Practice Height, they will practice in the overhead of RAF Cranwell and RAF Barkston-Heath. The Tutor Display starts from an initial base height of 3000ft and drops to:
- 1500ft
- 1000ft
- 500ft
Each height requires a minimum of 6 safe and successful practice displays, approved by the supervisory chain, before the display can drop the base height.
As the Grob Tutor is a light aircraft, compared with other RAF Display Teams, the display is particularly affected by the wind strength and direction. Months of practice allows the Display Pilot to gain the necessary experience with different weather conditions to conduct an exciting and accurate display.
The work-up culminates towards accreditation of a Public Display Authority (PDA). The entire supervisory chain up to Air Officer Commanding 22 Group personally visits RAF Cranwell to watch the display and review the work-up. If awarded PDA, the Tutor Display will go on to display to crowds of hundreds of thousands throughout the season.
Applications for the 2026 display season have now closed.
If you have applied for a flypast for the 2026 season, official allocation letters will be emailed to event organisers approximately two months prior to the date of an event.
Application forms for 2027 will be available here by July 2026 and should be submitted electronically to [email protected]. Please be aware we are no longer accepting applications via post.
The deadlines for 2027 requests are as follows:
Display Applications: 30 September 2026
Flypast Applications: 30 October 2026 (please note this is a month earlier than previous deadlines)
Please note that any request for a private event, such as weddings and birthdays, will not be considered.
If you have any queries about the application process, please contact the RAF Air Events Team at [email protected].