Taranaki Daily News

A Spitfire to take on the world once more

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Over the course of its long and storied military service, there isn’t a lot the Supermarin­e Spitfire hasn’t achieved.

Designed by RJ Mitchell in the Thirties, it became perhaps the most famous combat aircraft in history, and was produced in greater numbers than any other during World War II, with more than 20,000 churned out in less than a decade.

During the Battle of Britain (which took place 78 years ago this month) the Spitfire, aided by the bulkier Hurricane, helped down 1887 German planes in little more than three months. It became the envy of the enemy and the pride of the nation, and was flown all over the world, both by British and Allied forces, before, during and after the war. Today, a diaspora of airworthy Spitfires exists, faithfully maintained by enthusiast­s around the world.

Yet there remains one challenge the aircraft has never quite managed: a complete circumnavi­gation of the globe. But that may be about to change. Next northern summer, two British aviation enthusiast­s, Matt Jones and Steve Brooks, intend to take off in a polished silver Spitfire Mark IX from southern England, head north-east over the Atlantic . . . and be back home in Blighty by Christmas, having pushed the aircraft around the world, and to new limits.

When they touch back down, they will have made more than 150 stops in more than 30 countries, soaring over many airspaces the Spitfire has never before entered, and flying over territorie­s, such as the Far East and North Africa, where it hasn’t been seen since the war ended.

‘‘It’s an ambitious adventure, but we’re on track and we’ll be ready,’’ says Brooks, 57. ‘‘The Spitfire is a real icon. The shape of its wings, the sound of its engine. It means so many things to so many people around the world, and we want to take it to as many of them as possible.’’

The challenge, called Silver Spitfire – The Longest Flight, is the brainchild of not only Jones and Brooks but also a small and dedicated team of enthusiast­s, among them Lachlan Monro, the project director, and Gerry Jones, the group’s chief engineer – both of whom will be following the aircraft around the world in a small PC-12 support plane. When we meet in a hangar on the site of the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, the four of them are as excited as schoolboys.

‘‘I suppose it came about nine years ago, when Matt and I bought an old two-seater Spitfire at auction and decided we ought to do something special,’’ Brooks says. The pair bought the aeroplane to set up Boultbee Flying Academy, the world’s only training school for Spitfire pilots, in 2010 and began offering flights and courses for enthusiast­s. Keen to do something extraordin­ary to celebrate an aircraft they both adore, Brooks thought about taking one to Africa. Jones, however, had bigger ideas.

‘‘I thought, well, OK then,’’ Brooks laughs. A property developer and adventurer, he was both the first person to drive across the ice of the Bering Strait from the United States to Russia, and the first to fly from pole to pole by helicopter.

So he’s up for a challenge, though he’s currently still learning how to fly a Spitfire.

The 44-year-old Jones, on the other hand, is an experience­d pilot of aircraft of all sizes and eras, and knows the Spitfire inside out.

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 ??  ?? Matt Jones and Steve Brooks plan to fly their SIlver Spitfire round the world next year.
Matt Jones and Steve Brooks plan to fly their SIlver Spitfire round the world next year.

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