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Five-year-old Red Arrows fan 'blown away' by salute

Crown Copyright Little boy high-fiving Red Arrows crew on a flight lineCrown Copyright
Five-year-old Jacob Newson was "lost for words" when he met the Red Arrows aerobatic team

A five-year-old boy was "totally blown away" when he was given a salute by the Red Arrows display team.

Jacob Newson, from Leeds, met the Royal Air Force's aerobatic crew on 21 July after his father Andrew tweeted a request for them to salute him.

Mr Newson, 51, said his son was "lost for words" and in return, was preparing to go on a charity walk on Pen-y-Ghent for the RAF Benevolent Fund.

The five-year-old said he was "amazed" and could not believe he met the team.

Crown Copyright Little boy and Red Arrows crew saluting each otherCrown Copyright
Jacob was dressed in a flying suit during the salute at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Gloucestershire

The Red Arrows, based at RAF Scampton, near Lincoln, held their last UK display this year at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Gloucestershire last month where the Newson family met the team with Jacob dressed in a flying suit.

Mr Newson, an emergency medical technician for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: "He was totally blown away by it all.

"It was such a fantastic day. The officers all lined up and saluted him when Jacob saluted them.

"He's usually a chatty boy but for the first time he was completely lost for words.

"But he's not stopped talking about it since."

Crown Copyright Boy saluting in front of a Red Arrow Hawk jetCrown Copyright
Jacob's charity walk on one of Yorkshire's highest peaks is a "thank you" in return for making his "dreams come true", his father says
Andrew Newson Boy saluting dressed in a flying suitAndrew Newson
Jacob will be walking Pen-y-Ghent dressed in his flying suit, which is "not going to be easy for him", says Mr Newson

The ambulance worker said the family "were actually taken aback" when the Red Arrows responded to their tweet.

"They're [Red Arrows] usually unreachable and it's really hard to get any interaction with them," he said.

Mr Newson said his son's charity walk on one of Yorkshire's highest peaks was a "thank you" in return for making Jacob's "dreams come true".

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andrew newson A baby in an RAF flying suitandrew newson
Jacob, a big Red Arrows fan, had his first taste of the acrobatic air show in 2014 when he was nine months old, Mr Newson said

The Red Arrows team are currently on a coast-to-coast tour of North America, with the first public flypast scheduled in Halifax on Sunday and Chicago being their first US airshow, on 17 August.

RAF Scampton has housed the Red Arrows since 2000, but the Ministry of Defence announced last year the base would close by 2022.