Chipmunk and Bulldog aircraft carry out flypast over Wellington bomber statue at RAF Newton that had been postponed due to bad weather

Seven aircraft flew over the RAF Newton memorial after their involvement in the April 23 unveiling was hampered by bad weather.

Six Chipmunk and a Bulldog aircraft carried out the flypast.

They took off from Leicester Airport, near Oadby at 2.24pm on Thursday and approached the statue by following Wellington Avenue to make two passes over Newton village at 2.50.

They would have done a third, but as the rain started, the flight headed back to Leicester.

Bingham artist Tim O’Brien, who designed the statue of a second world war Wellington pilot and his trusyed spaniel, said: “All credit to the crews who were determined to give the village a flypast and make up for the no-show four days earlier.

“These aircraft were all based at RAF Newton in the 1970s and 80s.”

The statue Tim, who was a former Air Cadet at RAF Newton in the 1980s designed was recreated by sculptor Tom Nicholls in his London workshop. Redrow Homes sponsored the statue.

The unveiling was attended by hundreds of people and featured a parade of cadets along with wreath-laying for The Fallen.