A great day to be flying yesterday.

A couple of years ago I bought a 50% share in a FalcoF8 that needed work, work that I thought would take a few months that actually took two years. As a result I haven’t done nearly as much flying as I’d have liked and any flying that I have done has been a snagging flight of some sort. Recently however, my little baby has finally been declared good to go anywhere and I was excited to start flying her in earnest. Co-incidentally I was presented with a once-in-lifetime opportunity to take P2 in the Boultbee Academy Spitfire from Duxford, a famous WW2 airfield, to Goodwood, a famous WW2 airfield. As it happens a good friend of mine was the chief engineer at the company that built G-ILDA over the last 10 years or so and I was privy to her resurrection but didn’t manage to get a flight in her before she was sold to the Boultbee Academy shortly after her completion. This gave an extra dimension to my being able to take a flight in her, a fitting chapter you might say. Now, I live in leafy Buckinghamshire which is somewhere between the two airfields so I enlisted my LAA inspector Nigel, a man with some serious flying credentials, to come with me to fly the Falco from Duxford to Goodwood. I had quietly harboured thoughts that we might get to fly in formation with each other but I didn’t mention it to either Matt (Spitfire P1) or Nigel for fear of being seen to take the piss out of this opportunity. As it turned out both Matt and Nigel had the same idea which naturally I claimed was a very good idea of theirs and was delighted to go along with! The Falco, if you didn’t already know, is a little plans-built hotship that cruises at 150kt and can happily sit at 170kt if required so slowing the Mk9 Spitfire down to match her wasn’t going to be an issue and two rendezvous were planned, one over the Thames Estuary and one over Beachy Head on the south coast. The photos here are at the first rendezvous. So, I get strapped in at Duxford and am allowed to taxi the Spitfire in front of waving crowds! Whilst taxiing we pass a BOAC VC10. This is especially poignant for me as my father was a steward for BOAC and as a child I went to Australia on a VC10, possibly this very one. Everyone knows that you have to weave a Spitfire whilst taxiing don’t they? The technique is to pull the brake lever that is mounted vertically on the spade grip whilst applying rudder. The lever is not spring-loaded and so it takes a little while to get used to pushing it away when you don’t require braking anymore; if you don’t you come to a stop. As Duxford is a popular aviation Museum there were plenty of spectators lining the apron and it was lovely to see Dads with their little kids jumping and waving. Matt took control for the departure and we made a tight circuit for a beat-up and victory roll over the airfield before he uttered the moderately pleasing words, “you have control”. This is my second time in this aircraft but the first was all a bit of a blur as I was so excited so this time I endeavoured to savour the feeling a little more. And what a feeling it is! The reports of how delightful the Spitfire is to fly are commonly heard at the bars of most flying clubs but those words are meaningless until you experience it for yourself. The controls are beautifully harmonised and the best word I can think of to describe the sensation is “symbiotic”; you really do feel part of the machine and with the slightest finger pressure in the spade grip she’ll go wherever you ask. I’m not a particularly experienced aerobatic pilot, I’ve had a couple of lessons, but the Spitfire embraces you like a maternal arm around the shoulder and says, “go on, you can do it, you’ll be fine and I’m here if you need me”. Can one be in love with an aeroplane? Oops, perhaps I shouldn’t say that as my Falco might get jealous! Out over the Thames estuary we began to close up on G-FATE. This was a bit of a paradox for me as I didn’t know which to be more excited about, flying the Spitfire or formating on my own aeroplane! The whole thing was quite surreal and all too soon it was time to depart on our separate routes. Our route took us over the Battle of Britain Memorial on top of the iconic white cliffs of Dover and the visitors there were evidently delighted to see us do another victory roll over them. There followed a gentle meander along the south coast, (well apart from a couple of half-cubans) playing with clouds along the way, and then a run and break at Goodwood. Again the landing drew attention from a small crowd and once we parked up and exited a spectator asked me, a no-one from no-where, if he could enter the apron through the gate and take some pictures. Again all quite surreal but indicative of the awe that the Spitfire inspires. I told him that I didn’t have the authority to grant such a request but as far as I could tell there was no-one around in authority anyway so I wouldn’t tell if he didn’t. All in all it has to be the best day in my flying life so far, but hopefully I’ll be able to top it somehow. A great day in the company of a couple of great aeroplanes and a couple of great people, Matt and Nigel.

Here's a photo of me taking the photo above!

A longer version of this has just been published in this months GA magazine.