Pilots use GPS to draw picture of the Queen in Somerset skies

Pilots flying light aircraft have created a unique portrait of The Queen using GPS illustration.

Six planes and 12 crew members from Henstridge in Somerset teamed up to bring the picture to life, in celebration of Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee year.

The teams used more than 365 unique headings across the South West of England to create the illustration.

Code-named ‘Art Force 1’, the group from the Light Aircraft Association’s Wessex Strut was handed a secret GPS plotted path from team leader Amy Whitewick.

Amy told ITV News: “None of them had any idea what the final image would look like – each team was given a small, unrecognisable chunk which, when flown, recorded on SkyDemon and sent back would be stitched together digitally to form the final image.”

She added: “It was a fun skill to try out when flying the local area. I was bored of bimbling and wanted to start something exciting and new.

"My fellow pilot friends at Henstridge showed a great and kind interest in my GPS scribbles, and then it clicked; it would be so much more fun to try one together as a united team with as many aircraft as possible.”

The planning for the project took more than ten hours to plot with Amy picking and assigning routes to reflect each team member's skills and experience.

She believes the illustration to be the most complex GPS image ever to be drawn by air, as well as one of the first-ever GPS images in aviation history to be drawn by multiple aircraft.

Amy said the team followed ITV West Country's weather presenter Charlie Powell's forecasts throughout the mission.

She said: "His forecasts have proven most helpful to us and we practically consider him one of the team."