First female Red Arrow!!!

Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Moore, 31, will start training in September as a member of the prestigious aerobatics display team from 2010 until 2012.

The RAF said that until recently no female fast-jet pilot had advanced far enough in their flying career to join the display team, which is based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

She and fellow Flight Lt, Ben Plank, 30, who is based at Cottesmore in Leicestershire, will be joining the display team from next year.

He and Flight Lt Moore will start training with the Red Arrows in September.

Some 30 fast-jet pilots apply to the Red Arrows every year but only the very best are successful.

Flight Lt Moore is not the first woman to apply for a place, although she was the first to make the short list and be selected to join.

Successful applicants must have scored better than average marks in their flying career, have flown for a minimum of 1,500 hours and have completed at least one front line tour as a fast-jet pilot.

Applicants who meet the criteria are considered “purely on merit”, the RAF said.

Wing Commander Jas Hawker, team leader of the Red Arrows, said: “The short list of candidates to join the Red Arrows represents some of the very finest fast-jet pilots in the Royal Air Force.

“Their skills, experience, dedication and enthusiasm are second to none. We are equally proud to be welcoming both pilots to the team and are looking forward to their arrival in September 2009.”

It is likely that Flight Lt Moore will fly at events such as the British Formula 1 Grand Prix, Great North Run in Newcastle and, in her final year with the team, at the London Olympics.

After joining the RAF in 1998, the Top Gun, who is originally from Lincolnshire, trained new pilots on the Hawk aircraft at RAF Valley in North Wales.

She is currently flying with a Tornado squadron based at RAF Marham in Norfolk.