Paphos People

Warning: nothing whatsoever to do with Cyprus, but might be of passing interest to some

It was our son, Simon's, 50th birthday this year. Simon had had a tough start to the year, but had got through it and we wanted to make his 50th birthday really special and something to remember.

Simon has always had an abiding passion for the Spitfire and each year goes to a number of historic aircraft displays, like Old Warden and Duxford. So, although Spitfire flying experiences (unsurprisingly) don't come cheap, after much discussion, wife and I decided to treat him to a 40 min flight in a Spitfire, from WW11 fighter base, Duxford. When he received our email on his birthday, Simon was so shocked/surprised that he had to read it though three times, before he could believe what he was reading. Even then he got his son to verify that he wasn't misunderstanding... and that it wasn't some kind of elaborate hoax.

Cut a long story short, we booked his experience for early October last year, and taking a gamble that the weather would behave itself that weekend, wife and I booked a long overdue trip to the UK to coincide with his flight.

As luck would have it, the weather on the day was perfect and Simon had an amazing time, which he couldn't stop talking about for days/weeks afterwards.

I know aviation doesn't appeal to everyone, but if your heart has ever stirred when seeing a Spitfire fly overhead (UK, not here, lol) you might enjoy the video below. I didn't take my video equipment with me to the UK, so the whole video was shot using my Samsung Galaxy mobile. I then made the video on return to Cyprus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PDpBDJk8zA

And long may such experiences continue, it also helps just a little bit to help remember the fallen from past days.

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Straight talking, no Gimmicks.

Live your dreams.

Funny you should say that. In a chance turn of conversation a few weeks before Christmas, my wife mentioned to me the three items on her surprisingly short 'bucket list'.

One was to visit New Zealand, to visit a cousin, Alan, who she hasn't met up with since childhood days. In the 70's he was a member of a band, well-known at the time, called "The Action'. But later he married a NZ gal and they moved to live in NZ. That trip might have to wait.

The second item on her list was to attend the Christmas Carol Service at Kings College, Cambridge. Alas, that service is not pre-recorded and actually takes place on Christmas Eve. Not easily practical for us, as we like to be back 'home' in Cyprus for Christmas. So that, too, will have to wait for another day.

The third item was a bit of a surprise, though she has mentioned it occasionally before. My wife's Dad was incarcerated in a German P.o.W. camp in Poland, for 5 whole years. 5 years suffering the serious privations those guys did. Notably, on his release, her Dad was ferried back to the UK in the belly of a Lancaster bomber. Seems a bit impractical now in terms of the space available in the back of a Lancaster, but EasyJet and RyanAir weren't around in those days. My wife has a clear emotional attachment to her Dad's experience and said that she would love to fly in a Lancaster, to experience what her father did, which was the only time he flew in his whole life.

So just before Christmas I researched passenger-paying flights in a Lancaster. Alas, there is only one outfit in the World offering this, and it is a company in Canada. It is fully booked up a year ahead. Plus the logistics make it not so easy for us, especially if the intended flight is cancelled at the last minute owing to unplanned aircraft downtime. Or weather. It would be a bit of a gamble to book such a flight.

But I found there is a company in Lincolnshire which provides VIP taxy runs in a Lanc. You get to taxy around the private airfield with all four Merlins running and have the opportunity to switch, in rotation, to each of the crew positions in the Lanc, from cockpit, to upper, and then rear-gunner positions. Later, you get the opportunity to watch, close-up, another set of lucky folk as they taxy around. Plenty of photo-ops, plus a visit of the adjoining wartime museum, plus lunch, etc. etc. A great day out. So I booked it. I will accompany my wife as guest, but not participate in the actual experience.

Suffice to say that when my wife opened her Christmas gift, she was emotionally overcome and in tears of joy at getting to experience one of her bucket-list three. She never dreamed it could, or would, be possible to happen. Her thrill gave me such a buzz too.

Aerial Collective who our son flew the Spitfire with, now have a Hurricane you can fly in, and even more rare, a Lysander. I believe a twin-engined Beaufort too. If you have a friend or relative willing to pay their part, two Spits, or a Spit and a Focke-Wulf 190, can re-enact aerial dogfights over Cambridgeshire.

As Tanny says, thank goodness the opportunities are there for people to relive, in more safe and sedate form, the experiences of our forefathers when they flew to defend the country from occupation and tyranny. An uncle of mine, in his very early twenties, was shot down in a Blenheim IV over Belgium, in a bombing run to Maastricht.

Yakflier , i remmember stories my dad told me about being dropped behind enemy lines into Belgium, they used the Lysander as it has a low stall speed and can land and takeoff in a very short field. So the Lysander is always special for me . My father worked for military intelligence. In Brussels there was a safe house owned by a Louis Brewers. The family kept my father safe from the Germans on many occasions , my father promised if he ever had a son he would be named Louis in Mr Brewers honor !
Just a bit of history

That's exactly what a Lysander does best. It's a bit like an Auster on steroids. If this forum permitted posting photos (never understood why it uniquely doesn't) I would post a pic of a Lysander. It's the sort of aeroplane only its mother (or designer) could love.

The Lysanders beauty lies in its aerodynamic performance and not visually . In the past i flew rc models and always prefered a stable high wing trainer as opposed to a high performance aerobatic type . I was not a born pilot ans so i flew what i could cope with !