You might well have heard the Spitfire planes flying over the Isle of Wight again. The sound of their 27-litre, liquid-cooled V12 is hard to mistake. If you’ve been around the more southerly parts of the Island, you could have seen them doing loop-the-loop as well.
Now Covid rules have become relaxed the number of trips they’re making over here from Lee-on-Solent is increasing, so we thought we’d take a look into where they’re coming from and why they so often overhead on the Island.
It turns out that you too can pay to be taken on a flight if you’ve got the required money.
Boultbee Flight Academy who run the services have a growing number of airfields they fly from, but the two that fly over the Island are Lee-on-Solent – only used for part of the year – and their home base at Goodwood.
What’s on offer
The entry level flight is £2,750 – which will deliver you 30 minutes in the air, where you get to fly over the Needles. Due to the shorter flight, this is only on when they’re flying from Lee-on-Solent.
The 45 min flight which gives you a chance to fly around the entire coast of the Isle of Wight including the white cliffs at the Needles, Ventnor, Bembridge and Cowes. Priced at £3,750.
The next step up is priced at £4,750 – the 55 minute flight, where they say you’ll, also have time to “do as many aerobatics as you like in the unlimited airspace that covers most of the Island”.
Feeling like really splashing out?
The two top line options involve two two-seater Spitfires, so you can share the experience with a friend.
The 55-minute two plane flight, flying in formation is £10,000. They say you’ll be able to see the Spitfire right next to you in formation – “a truly epic sight”. If you’re up for it, aerobatics are on option.
The top of the line is what they call the “45-minute Fighter appreciation”, at £12,000, where you’ll be, “scrambling with your friend into two waiting Spitfire TR9’s to intercept an errant ME109 (A WWII German fighter plane) over the English Channel”. You’ll also get briefed by former fighter pilots about fighter tactics.
“Fly the aircraft yourself”
Any of the flights give you an option to touch the controls and fly the aircraft yourself.
On a more modest budget?
If you’re on a more modest budget, don’t feel left out. For £200 for a 30 minute slot, you can fly in their Spitfire Simulator.
More details
You can find out all of the extra detail and look at photos of the planes on the Boultbee Flight Academy Website. If you book, tell them News OnTheWight sent you.
Image: © Darren Harbar & Boultbee Flight Academy
