It was on May 7th 1909 that the decision was made to spend £35,000 on the development of an airship. That was the birth of British naval aviation, and a century later, a series of events are being put together to mark Fly Navy 100.
On Wednesday 6th May, HMS Illustrious (“Lusty” to her friends) will arrive in Greenwich, having made her way up the Thames. On Thursday at midday, there will be a centenary flypast as every current front line helicopter type will pass over the Thames and Illustrious.
There will be further demonstrations between 14.00 and 14.30 on the 9th and 10th of May, and there will be static aircraft available to view in the ground of the Old Royal Naval College.