The Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft put on an amazing show of strength as they rehearsed their flypast today ahead of the air service's 100th anniversary celebrations next Tuesday.

Helicopters and fighter jets zoomed across the mostly clear sky above Lincolnshire as they prepare to dazzle spectators next week in London.

The RAF will mark its centenary year by showcasing up to 100 jets, helicopters and aeroplanes from a range of different eras, including Spitfires and modern state-of-the-art aircraft, in the speculator event.

Weather and serviceability dependent, it is expected the new cutting-edge stealth fighter F-35 jets will feature in the celebration, as well as helicopters including the Puma, Chinook, Juno and Jupiter.

Aircraft from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight including the Dakota, Lancaster, Hurricane and Spitfire are also part of the line-up, as are training aircraft including the Prefect, Tucano and Hawk.

The Hercules, Atlas A400M, C-17, BAe 146, Sentinel, Voyager, Shadow, Rivet Joint, E-3D Sentry, Tornado GR4, Typhoon and Red Arrows are also set to appear.

Wing Commander Kev Gatland said the weather across the holding areas, where the aircraft take off from, over London and the areas they disperse to afterwards is key and may affect the numbers involved.

If the weather is bad or unsuitable in any of these areas, some aircraft may not join the flypast or it could be cancelled altogether.

The aircraft will take off from where they are based and fly into their designated holding areas - this is where they will circle and move into their formations until it is time to join the flypast.

It is expected the flypast will begin to form up over Suffolk to the west of Ipswich at around 12.45pm before heading towards Colchester, and then Chelmsford.

The formation will continue over the M25, Stapleford Abbotts, Hainault Forest and on to central London - passing the Olympic Park, Hackney, Bethnal Green and Shoreditch before getting to The Mall at around 1pm.

Wg Cdr Gatland said: 'The front aircraft, the helicopters, are doing 90 knots, so about 100 miles an hour, the back aircraft, which will be the Red Arrows, are doing about 300 knots - just over 300 miles an hour.

'They obviously compress, they are at their tightest when they go over Buckingham Palace with a 30-second spacing in between.

'At that point we need to geographically deconflict them all safely using height, track lines away from each other and timing to keep them all clear.'

Wg Cdr Gatland said the aircrafts will be stacked between 1,000ft and 1,200ft above the ground. He said their heights are alternated 'through wake turbulence' and to provide space if the aircraft 'happen to get too close'. (Daily Mail)