Falklands Flypast
Typhoon fighter jets and the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows swooped low over Buckingham Palace as Falklands veterans gathered to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the war.
Hundreds of veterans marched down the Mall past Prince Charles, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chancellor Gordon Brown and other senior political and military figures.
Margaret Thatcher, who as prime minister at the time of the invasion ordered the dispatch of a force to reclaim the disputed islands, also attended.
The war claimed the lives of 255 British and 649 Argentine troops and ended with Argentina's surrender 10 weeks after it invaded the islands a few hundred miles east of its coast.
The flypast by 49 aircraft over central London forms part of a national event to remember those who helped recapture the South Atlantic islands from Argentine forces in 1982.
However, some of the most famous planes used by the British during the conflict were missing from the flypast.
The single-engine Harrier jump jet is not allowed to fly low over central London for safety reasons, while the Phantom fighter will be replaced by its modern counterpart, the Typhoon.
A Vulcan bomber that was due to take part is still being restored, however, the Red Arrows display team flew in a V-shape to represent the plane that was used for attacks on the airfield at Port Stanley.
I was fortunate enough to be on board 101 Sqn’s specially-painted VC10 (XV105), which was flanked by two RAF Hawks on the Starboard side, and two Royal Navy Hawks on the port side. You could say I had one of the worst views of the flypast, but the opportunity to photograph Hawks air to air could not to be missed however. The windows on the VC-10 C.1K's in particular are difficult to shoot through, due to the extra layer of plastic which covers them.
The port side windows with the Royal Navy Hawks alongside were unusable, as some greasy translucent coating was smeared on every one.