SPITFIRE PILOTS

spitfire pilots

Learning to fly is a wonderfully liberating experience, but also a long and arduous journey that will test the skill and determination of any pilot. In this gallery you see shots of the two-seat TR9 training Spitfire which Matt and Steve built the Boultbee Flight Academy around, as well as the other training aircraft a Spitfire pilot must first master in order to earn the privilege of being pilot-in-command of one of history’s most beautiful and iconic aircraft, the famous Supermarine Spitfire.

Together with the Academy’s Spitfire simulator, Matt and Steve will spend countless hours mastering the DeHavilland Chipmunk (a primary trainer), before progressing on to the North American Aviation Harvard where they will learn to be ‘ahead’ of an aircraft with more complex systems and a higher workload; from retractable undercarriage and a notorious stall characteristic to a variable pitch propeller and a 600-horsepower Pratt & Whitney Wasp radial engine – this aircraft has truly earned its nickname as ‘The Pilot Maker’.

And from there it is on to the two-seat TR9 Spitfire first of all, before sufficient proficiency has been achieved to take command of a single seat Spitfire Mk.IX like the Silver Spitfire. This truly is a journey, all of which you can follow right with us online.