The Wing Commander (WG Cdr) said it would be a “special moment” to fly over the Mall and Buckingham Palace as the RAF welcomes in a new monarch.

He will lead four Texan T Mk1s and a Phenom in a Camel formation over London as part of a 60 aircraft display flying low over the capital.

WG Cdr Ball added that it was a “huge honour, a huge privilege to be just a small part of this celebration” and that his family will be “really proud” of him.

Although the scale and importance of the task facing WG Cdr Ball and his pilots are immense, the pressure is eased by their recent experience flying in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, something WG Cdr Ball remembers fondly.

He said: “I feel kind of fortunate that I took part in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and there are many similarities in the way we actually execute it so that means there’s a little bit less fear of the unknown.”

A fan of the Royal Family, WG Cdr Ball said that it wasn’t until after the Queen died that many realised just how big a part of life in the UK she was.

He said: “When the Queen passed you suddenly realised how many things tie into the Royal Family and how UK life is touched in so many areas by this. It’s almost one of those things, that if it wasn’t there then you would suddenly notice and realise what it brings.”

The same can be said of the RAF who will bring an aerial soundtrack to the Coronation proceedings as they swoop low across the capital, flying lower even than the height of the Shard.

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He said: “It certainly takes quite a bit of training and one of the roles that we perform on the Texan is to teach young trainee pilots how to fly in formation, how to fly in formation in cloud and in all sorts of different situations. Once you get to the frontline this is a normal day in day out skill.

“Flying in formation just becomes a way of getting around efficiently with a couple of aircraft together so it becomes, hopefully, a mundane skill. It’s such a practised thing it should be relatively mundane once you’re well-trained in it. When we did the rehearsal, the air was very smooth.”

This doesn’t mean that it’s always a walk in the park. During the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the WG Cdr said the hot conditions meant the aircraft felt like it was “bouncing around all over the place”. Fast forward to the Coronation and millions of eyes will be on his wing tips, that is if the weather holds off.

Ahead of the flypast, there are concerns wet weather could mean the flypast is called off altogether.

WG Cdr Ball said: “The challenge is if the cloud base is too low or if the rain is so thick that I can’t see through it then that causes a bit of a problem there are weather limits.

“There is a situation where the weather is so bad, we won’t be able to do it. Already, as you’re flying through London, I think we’re about the same height as the Shard and some of the big buildings; if there is a lot of cloud around you can’t be messing around.”

If the flypast does go ahead as planned though, there will be an extra treat in store as WG Cdr will be leading his Texans on a second special flypast beginning at 4.39pm over Wrexham and flying via Liverpool and the Isle of Man as they return home to RAF Valley in North Wales.

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