Although I’ve been rather quiet about it, some of you on the forum may recall me mentioning a very special Christmas present I received at the end of last year. Yesterday was the day that, on a very calm and clear afternoon in July, I headed to a local airfield for an experience I will never forget.

For 30 minutes, I took to the skies in a vintage De Havilland Tiger Moth biplane. These were built in the 1930s, and used as training aircraft for RAF pilots among a whole host of other uses. The aircraft I flew in, registration G-AKUE, was manufactured in Portugal in 1939. From there, she was flown to Mozambique and onto Northern Rhodesia where she was used as a general transport.
Many aircraft in this area were given nicknames, with this one known as ‘Nokomis’ or ‘Daughter of the Moon’. Many local Africans simply referred to her as ‘The Big Bird’. Eventually she found her way back to England, where she has remained ever since.

A photograph of said aircraft:

The flight was half an hour long, on a very clear day. From the route we took, London was just about visible in the distance. We passed over RAF Kenley on the way, used between 1917 and 1959 and damaged during the Battle of Britain. The pilot did most of the flying, but for a short time I was briefly allowed to take over stick controls. In short, I can now say that I have flown a WWII-era aircraft.

I unfortunately have no video of this experience, but it is something that will stay with me forever.

Oh, and they did give me this fancy certificate, which I’ll be getting framed soon.

Regards, B.B.