British fighters will play an important role in safeguarding the 2012 Olympic Games in London. I do not know if nr. 3 Fighter Squadron RAF will be active over the city, but it would not surprise me. As described in an article in the May 2012 issue of Aeroplane Monthly, nr. 3 squadron was the first Royal Flying Corps (predecessor of the RAF) squadron to operate heavier-than-air aircraft in May 1912, hence its motto Tertius Primus Erit, or "The Third shall be the First".
The photo shows nr. 3 RAF squadron Eurofighter FGR.4 Typhoon c/n 0083/BS017 with registration ZJ926 and tail code QO-Y after just starting its take-off roll at Leeuwarden air base in the Netherlands (EHLW) during NATO exercise Frisian Flag on 26 April 2012. The tail codes of nr. 3 squadron Typhoons are derived from the tail codes of the Hawker Typhoons which served with the squadron in WW II. Note the name of pilot Flight Lieutenant Ben Westoby-Brooks painted under the cockpit. In July 2008 Westoby-Brooks became the 100th British-trained pilot to fly solo on the Typhoon. The nr. 3 squadron badge on the tail features a cockatrice on a monolith, chosen because in mythology it was the first creature to fly. The wickets which form the Roman III resemble the monoliths of Stonehenge, which is close to Larkhall where nr. 3 squadron was formed in 1912.
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