Spitfire of the North

National World - Broadcast Video

Two entrepreneurs offer Spitfire pleasure flights for the first time in the north of England, and we follow one of their customers as he celebrates his 86th birthday

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:09 The Spitfire is an unmistakable symbol of aviation history.

00:13 [Music]

00:15 It played a vital role defending the skies of Britain in World War II,

00:19 and now people are being offered the chance of a once in a lifetime flying experience.

00:23 [Music]

00:29 For the first time in the north of England, this high-performance fighter aircraft

00:33 will offer pleasure flights from Blackpool Airport.

00:36 We'll talk to the entrepreneurs that made it happen.

00:39 The grin that's plastered across your face when you get out is just stuck there.

00:43 To the aircraft's pilot.

00:45 I have all the Spitfires absolute delight to fly.

00:49 And we'll follow the journey of Alan Taylor,

00:51 who on his 86th birthday enjoyed a day he'll never forget.

00:56 [Music]

01:01 It's a pleasure, it's a pleasure.

01:03 Thanks so much.

01:05 I can't describe it.

01:07 [Music]

01:18 It started off, so it's myself and Chip who run this experience.

01:24 And for 40th birthday present, Chip was thinking actually, Spitfire flight would be amazing.

01:27 Like all good ideas, over a pint in a pub, Ian and myself,

01:32 who's also running Spitfire North, came up with this idea of trying to make it happen in the northwest.

01:38 We spoke to Biggin Hill, who were extremely helpful, and they said,

01:42 "Try it out, let's do this up north, let's see how it works."

01:45 Sold out straight away.

01:47 As it sold out, we looked at it like, can we add an extra day on?

01:52 And actually the most important thing for us is that if someone wants to do one of these things,

01:55 we accommodate as many as possible.

01:57 [Music]

02:03 Great Britain, they talk about the monarchy, bulldogs and Spitfires.

02:08 So, you know, the Spitfire is the one aircraft that everyone would love the opportunity to fly in at some point.

02:14 [Sound of wind]

02:22 There's this sort of Spitfire grin, the grin that's plastered across your face when you get out, it's just stuck there.

02:28 It's incredible, it's an assault on the senses, with the Merlin engine up front, it's very enclosed.

02:34 You know, the G's that you're pulling as you're flying the manoeuvres,

02:37 but also you're thinking back to the experiences of those young men that were flying these aircraft.

02:43 Not just for a pleasure flight, but off to defend the nation and potentially get shot down and killed.

02:48 It's incredible.

02:50 The aircraft was a late model.

02:52 All the Spitfires which were converted into two-seaters were originally single-seat aircraft.

02:57 So this was built in 1944.

03:00 And notable claims to fame, it was used in the filming of a Battle of Britain movie.

03:05 [Sound of wind]

03:12 All the Spitfires are an absolute delight to fly.

03:15 I think for anyone that's read any of the books or seen the interviews from the wartime pilots,

03:21 it's a pilot's aircraft.

03:23 You really feel at one with the aircraft very quickly and it's very light and responsive.

03:29 It's almost as if the aircraft instinctively knows what you want it to do for you.

03:33 [Sound of engine]

03:42 We came up to the Spitfire Centre, the museum here at the airport,

03:47 and it was while we were here we saw that the Spitfire of the North was coming here,

03:52 so that's when we booked.

03:54 [Sound of wind]

03:58 One of my main motivations for doing this trip is obviously it's a great thrill for me,

04:05 but I really want a lot of people to see how beautiful the Spitfire is.

04:11 The designer of the Spitfire, Reginald Mitchell, was an old boy of my school.

04:17 And sometime around about 1954, about then,

04:23 we actually had the Spitfire parked at the school by the school playground.

04:28 So in the main hall of the school we had a Spitfire propeller

04:35 and all the names of the people who'd served in the forces

04:43 or lost their lives in the forces were on the big name board,

04:46 something which of course you don't realise until much later in life.

04:50 The only time I came near to being killed in the war was because of a Spitfire.

04:55 It shot down a German bomber just about over our house

05:00 and the bomber jettisoned its bombs and they landed in the field 100 yards from the house.

05:05 [Laughs]

05:06 But that was the only thing we saw of the war really.

05:10 [Sound of engine]

05:13 Even this morning the family said, "Oh, you're getting excited."

05:17 I was very cool about it until about a couple of hours ago

05:22 and then it began to register what we were going to do.

05:26 Could this be the best birthday ever, do you think?

05:30 Now that's very difficult to say, but probably.

05:33 Probably the most exciting birthday.

05:36 We'll hand you over to one of the engineers to get you all strapped in.

05:40 [Sound of children playing]

06:02 It's not easy because the seat goes down.

06:05 That's right, it's not easy.

06:07 OK?

06:08 Yep.

06:11 What are you doing?

06:12 Hang on, I'm not in yet.

06:13 OK.

06:18 Excellent. I'm in.

06:19 You're in.

06:20 There's a sick bag there for you.

06:21 A what?

06:22 A sick bag.

06:24 Oh, yeah.

06:25 OK?

06:26 Yep.

06:27 If you fill it, you can take that home as a free souvenir, OK?

06:29 Yeah.

06:30 If you're sick in the cockpit, you're going to stay and help me clear it up, right?

06:32 Yeah, absolutely.

06:33 OK.

06:34 [Music]

06:36 [Inaudible]

06:43 So we can use that.

06:44 [Inaudible]

06:48 One more.

06:49 One more?

06:50 [Music]

06:56 [Motor]

07:25 [Music]

07:35 [Music]

07:45 [Music]

07:55 [Music]

08:05 [Music]

08:15 [Music]

08:25 [Music]

08:35 [Music]

08:45 [Motor]

09:01 How was that?

09:02 I can't hear you.

09:03 How was that?

09:06 F***ing brilliant.

09:08 [Laughter]

09:11 [Inaudible]

09:22 [Laughter]

09:25 It's amazing. It's incredible.

09:28 [Laughter]

09:34 It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure.

09:36 Thanks so much.

09:37 If you want to come round the front and have some pictures?

09:39 Yeah.

09:40 Yeah?

09:41 Yeah, let's go for it.

09:42 [Inaudible]

09:47 I should do half a nose, then.

09:49 [Laughter]

09:50 Happy birthday.

09:51 Thank you very much.

09:52 Happy birthday.

09:53 Thank you.

09:54 Thank you for organising it.

09:56 Yeah, no problem at all.

09:58 [Sigh]

10:00 I don't have a thought. I'm bombarded by an experience.

10:05 You just cannot imagine.

10:08 You cannot. I can't describe it.

10:11 You can read what pilots say about the Spitfire, but you are it.

10:18 You're not a passenger. You're not a pilot. You are it.

10:22 You're part of the Spitfire.

10:24 Boom, choo, choo, it goes.

10:26 Flying with Alan on earlier today was an absolute joy.

10:29 Flying in the, well, should we say one of the world's most iconic aircraft,

10:34 it's difficult to bring people back disappointed.

10:37 And if we can captivate things that are on their wish list along the way,

10:41 then it's all the more enjoyable.

10:44 And all customers, I think, that we have, have a special poignancy to the flight

10:51 and a reason for being here.

10:53 I think we've excited an awful lot of people.

10:57 We've done the four days to start with to see what the demand would be like

11:01 in the Northwest for this, and we've been absolutely inundated.

11:04 We've sold out. We've squeezed a few more flights in

11:08 because people have begged us to try and squeeze some more in,

11:10 and we've accommodated it where possible around the weather,

11:13 the northern weather, which has fortunately been very kind to us so far.

11:17 But watch this space. We hope to be back in the future.

11:20 But, yeah, it's gone really well, and I'd love to do this again.

11:23 And I think there's demand for it.

11:25 I think there's a lot of people who will perhaps have seen the Spitfire in the skies

11:28 over Blackpool and thought, "I want to do that."

11:31 So I'd love to be able to come back and do it.

11:33 Oh, it is wonderful. The countryside is tremendous,

11:36 and the welcome that we've had from the team at Blackpool

11:39 and the surrounding area has been outstanding.

11:42 So we'll look forward to being invited back.

11:44 And you will be back?

11:45 Yeah, that's the intention, yes. We will be back.

11:48 That was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

11:52 [ Silence ]

11:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended