SIX aircrafts and 12 crew members have completed what is believed to be the most complex GPS image ever of Her Majesty the Queen in celebration of her Platinum Jubilee.

The crews, from Henstridge in Somerset, flew across the south-west of England to produce the image under code name “Art Force 1”.

Each individual club aircraft belong to the LAA Wessex Strut and 12 crew members were handed a secret GPS plotted path from team leader, Amy Whitewick.

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A computer-based planning programme took over ten hours to plot the full image of the Queen, carefully constructing it around surrounding airspace then cutting into six, manageable sections and assigning them to team members and their aircraft.

Witney Gazette: Picture by LAA Wessex StrutPicture by LAA Wessex Strut

The only rules for each flight were to take a passenger (pilot or non-pilot) as lookout due to the intense workload involved. The flight could be completed at the pilot’s own leisure at a time and weather condition to suit them.

The portrait is believed to be the most complex GPS image ever drawn by air, as well as one of the first ever GPS images in aviation history to be drawn by multiple aircraft.

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Conservative MP for Witney, Robert Courts, has praised the work as a “wonderful way” to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee.

On Twitter, he said: “Proves the limitless creativity in this sector and what a wonderful way to celebrate.”

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Read more from this author

This story was written by Gee Harland, she joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford, Wantage and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

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