Tom Hayes: Another gender barrier drops

Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Moore is the first non-male pilot to join the Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team. Moore was already exceptionally familiar with the Hawk aircraft used by the Red Arrows as she's a Qualified Flying Instructor coaching "fast jet pilots" on that aircraft at RAF Valley in Wales.

That's Lietuenant Moore, second from the left in the image above, returning from a flight with team-mates at RAF Scampton on Nov. 12 in Lincoln, England. From the left: Ben Plank, Moore, Zane Sennett, Ben Murphy, and Dave Davies following the launch/unveiling of the 2010 team line-up.

For a dozen more beautiful images, see the article Red Arrows present their first woman pilot at the Sacramento Bee. To see any of the images here in a larger scale, just click the pictures.

Footage from the RAF Red Arrow exhibition over Weymouth Bay watched by an admiring crowd on the Weymouth Beach and Esplanade during Weymouth Carnival 2009:

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, and political analyst who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.