A former Bradford swimming instructor turned Royal Air Force parachutist will lead a display over his home city’s rugby stadium.

Flight Lieutenant Mike Burch, of Low Moor, is team leader of the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team, which will be celebrating its 50th anniversary by performing the display over Bradford Bulls’ Odsal Stadium on Sunday, May 1. The event is designed to mark the start of the display team’s 2011 season.

The dad-of-two, who attended St Winefride’s Primary School and Dixons City Technology College, taught swimming at pools across Bradford including at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre and Rhodesway Pool, Allerton.

He studied sports science and nutrition at Trinity and All Saints College in Horsforth, before working for the British Triathlon Federation and later joining the RAF, which he said had “always been my ambition”.

Flt Lt Burch, who has completed around 400 jumps from heights of up to 12,000 feet, said his grandfather, who was in the Royal Navy, was a “big role model”.

He said: “It’s great. I never quite knew I would be in charge of a display team all those years ago. I think Odsal will be a nice demo to do.

“We do lots of training and preparation to get to this point so I feel suitably ready.

“We demonstrate excellence in parachuting. We are showing the military role and relevance of what we do, as the soldiers use it as a means of getting into war zones.”

As well as completing displays, members of RAF Falcons must qualify as military freefall instructors and high-altitude instructors by the end of their three-year tour.

During their time with the Falcons each team member will have completed more than 1,000 jumps, many of which are on training detachments around the world.