Lincolnshire fast-jet pilot Kirsty Moore, 32, of Stamford, joins the team as part of the 2010 line-up which took to the skies for a training flight in front of assembled media on Thursday.

Kirsty, whose father served as a navigator and whose husband Nicky is a flight instructor at RAF Valley, said she was "extremely excited" to have landed a place with the acclaimed team - but played down the issue of her gender .

"For me, the real excitement is being in the Red Arrows," she said. "Being part of the team now is excellent - the girl thing is almost a bit of an aside for me, because obviously I've always been female my whole life and I've always been a pilot! "

"Sooner or later a woman was going to get to do the job , and I guess I'm lucky enough it was going to be me . It's all a matter of timing... of being in the right place at the right time." .

Squadron Leader Ben Murphy praised Kirsty for her achievement, adding that her application had been the first out of many from female pilots deemed good enough since the RAF began taking women on in 1991.

"It's certainly a milestone for the Red Arrows, in terms of the first female pilot to join the Arrows, " he said. "We do have female staff in our air crews , but Kirsty is the first pilot."

Kirsty is not the first to apply, but is certainly the first to be shortlisted. Successful candidates have to amassed a plenty of flight experience before even being considered.

Kirsty, who joined the Air Force in 1998, now faces months of training with the rest of the team before being given the go-ahead for public displays, of which as many as 80 to 90 are held worldwide each year.

"It's an awesome job," she said. "To have been told I've been selected was one of the best days of my life so far."