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
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LifestyleTranscript
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]