The plane-crazy boy who’s reaching for the sky aged just seven
MANY youngsters have flown planes in video games – but one seven-year-old has gone far beyond that and taken to the skies in his first flying lesson.
Jacob Newson, who dreams of becoming an RAF pilot and idolises Second World War pilots, was surprised with a flight lesson last Friday by his father Andrew, 53.
The instructor even let the schoolboy temporarily take over the controls of the Piper PA-28 Cherokee during flight. Jacob, from Leeds, said: ‘It was really cool because everything looked like it was just squares. And so small. I want to keep doing it forever. I want to spend all of my time in the skies.’
Plane-mad Jacob has been taken to air shows by his parents ever since he was a toddler.
Mr Newson said he was ‘incredibly proud’ of his son but wished his late wife Andrea had been there to witness the event also.
Mrs Newson, 49, died just days after Christmas last year following a battle with breast cancer.
Mr Newson, who works for Yorkshire Ambulance, said his wife had planned to chaperone their son on his first flights.
He said: ‘It was a bit bittersweet... But I was so proud of him and he took it in stride.’