Kirsty Moore, who obtained a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College London, is the first female pilot to join Britain’s renowned Red Arrows aerobatic display team.

Kirsty Moore, who obtained a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College London, is the first female pilot to join Britain’s renowned Red Arrows aerobatic display team.

Flight Lieutenant Moore will perform with the Royal Air Force display team from next year until 2012 after becoming the first female fast-jet pilot to advance enough in their flying career to qualify. Moore said of the appointment: “It’s an awesome job. To be told I had been selected was one of the best days of my life. It was incredible.”

The Red Arrows' jets are a firm fixture at national events such as the Queen’s birthday; and at air shows at home and abroad, performing heart-stopping loops and turns in tight formation. Since their creation in 1965, they have given over 4,200 displays in 53 countries.

Professor Stephen Richardson, Deputy Rector and Principal of the Faculty of Engineering, said of the achievement: “It is always most pleasing to hear stories of how Imperial graduates have gone on to achieve great things in their chosen careers.”

Moore, who was picked from up to 40 applicants, credited her father Robbie Stewart, a retired RAF navigator, for inspiring her to join up after studying for her Masters at Imperial.

"Hopefully in a small way, by me being a Red Arrows pilot, some girls might think that this is something they could be part of and they should go for it," she added.