Red Arrows to stay based in Lincs...

Great news to hear that the Red Arrows are to remain based in Lincolnshire.

The Labour Government has confirmed that the world-famous aerobatics team are be based at RAF Waddington, a couple of miles south of Lincoln, rather than at Scampton as at present, but still use the airspace around Scampton north of the city.

The Lincolnshire Echo has 'revealed' the news today.

In fact it was announced at a meeting of Lincolnshire County Council last week when Leader Martin Hill said he had received the news from the Ministry of Defence that day.

I took the opportunity to welcome the news that the Red Arrows are staying in Lincolnshire, the home of the Royal Air Force.

Why does it take nearly a week for the Echo to report the good news?

Unfortunately, the 'county newspaper' doesn't always cover even full council meetings.

UPDATE: The BBC has now caught up with the news...

Lincs fighters shadow the new Russian Bear...

Two of the RAF's newest jets were scrambled from their Lincolnshire base last Friday to shadow a Russian bomber over the North Atlantic ocean - as shown in this photo.

They were two of the dozen new Eurofighter Typhoon fighters based at RAF Coningsby which went operational last month on round-the-clock active duty to provide protection against hijacked airliners and other threats from the skies.

Friday's sortie came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced long-range flights by bomber aircraft would resume.

While the incident did not threaten British security, it no doubt sent the muscle-flexing Mr Putin a clear signal.

The Ministry of Defence said tonight that the Russian Bear-H aircraft turned back before reaching UK airspace - and they released this photo.

Britain has ordered 144 of the £67 million Typhoons, which have a maximum speed of twice the speed of sound and accelerate from standing to take-off in less than seven seconds.

The Typhoon programme supports thousands of UK jobs and continues a proud tradition of Lincolnshire's role in the security of Britain. In the Cold War of the 1960s, English Electric Lightnings based at RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire regularly intercepted Soviet bombers over the North Sea.

My late father who was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Medal served in the RAF for 36 years - retiring from RAF Coningsby in the mid-1970s.