Two military helicopters circling over The Mall and then descending in the nearby parade ground. The large crowd of onlookers (tourists and half term families) take in the spectacle of this unexpected addition to their day out. On taking off, one of the crew waves at the masses below whilst standing in front of the opened doors (the standard operating position when firing off rounds from a helicopter gunship perhaps…). A polar reaction, on this spring day, to the consternation and bemusement often expressed by those at street level, uncertain of the motive for two chinooks making their regular sortie over the London landscape.