What was that.....

four jets and nine helicopters just flew over E&C - any ideas?

Very odd. I'm in Webber Street - didn't see the jets, but 16 helicopters in four groups of four just flew over. Where did the rest go before they got to The Elephant!

From the Royal Navy press release:

"On 7 May 2009 the Royal Navy will be celebrating the Centenary of Naval Aviation with a spectacular flypast over the UK's strike carrier, HMS Illustrious, in London.

"The Balbo formation of forty fixed wing and rotary wing Naval aircraft will be led by modern, state-of-the-art Merlin helicopters, followed by different variants of Sea King and Lynx helicopters, as well as Hawk and Jetstream aircraft passing directly over the carrier at midday."

Illustrious is moored at Greenwich.