Display Work-up
Fight Lieutenant Bob Dewes 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 300ft low passes.
The initial practices are conducted in the local area of RAF Wittering utilising a ground feature for practice such as disused airfields. Once the pilot descends below their Initial Practice Height, they will practice overhead of RAF Wittering. 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 Wittering 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.
Request a Display 2025
The RAF will not routinely conduct flypasts at corporate events or at private events such as weddings, birthdays or funerals etc.
The application deadline for 2025 flypast and display requests has now passed and late requests will not be considered.
Applications for the 2026 display season will be available on this site by the end of June 2025. The deadlines for 2025 requests will be as follows:
- Display Applications: 30 September 2025
- Flypast Applications: 30 November 2025
Flying displays can only be conducted at recognised display venues under the supervision of a CAA-accredited flying display director.
All correspondence to the RAF Air Events Team should be sent electronically to [email protected]. Please be aware we are no longer accepting applications via post.
