Just a mad thought. Being British and almost 50, flying a Spitfire would be very close to no.1 on my bucket list (if I had one).
I’ve got all the time in the world and a bit of money, but I’m not looking to spend over, say, $100,000. I’m 49, in good health. I have no real flying experience other than a few training flights in gliders many years ago.
Is there any way I could realistically achieve this?
I am not an airplane guy, but my best guess would be…you HAVE to have a pilots licence to start.
Second, if you can’t buy or rent a plane, you’ll have to find an owner that will let you fly his. Good luck.
Solo? Nobody is going to let you solo his Spitfire.
So you’ll have to buy one. That will run you around $2.5 million.
You’ll need your private pilot’s certificate. I don’t know what the rates and rules are in the UK, but in the U.S. that will cost you a few thousand.
Of course a private pilot certificate is earned in a small, probably under-powered airplane. You’ll need to build hours in more complex airplanes. You want insurance? You need the experience. You might get some training in a Tiger Moth, and then eventually progress to a Harvard. The Harvard was an advanced trainer (hence ‘AT-6’ in the USAAF), so that will get you closer to a Spit.
Once you have a thousand hours or two, you might find someone willing to train you in a 2-seat Spit. AIUI, in the '30s and '40s a pilot was expected to have the experience to get a fighter into the air once he’d done his advanced training. So you might feel confident enough to jump into your 2.5 megabuck Spiftire once you have a hundred hours or few in the Harvard.
Of course if you don’t mind sitting in the back seat, you can get a ride starting at £2750.
Speak to the Boultbee Flight Academy. They do Spitfire training. It’s a snip at £54K. Plus VAT, of course.
Boultbee has a Spitfire simulator. Their website doesn’t seem to mention whether its for hire but I’d say that’s your best bet for “soloing” in a Spitfire without spending a lot of money.
Does it *have *to be solo? There are several UK operations that will take you for a ride in a 2-seater.
Their line about ‘not necessarily soloing’ suggests to me that if you get to the end of the training, are really good, and still have a pile of money at the ready, well there’s your solo opportunity.
Have a go in a two-seater, but secretly poison the other guy so he dies right before takeoff…or after. whichever.
It’s very easy to fly a Spitfire. Provided you’re really good with your hands.
Those aren’t even good fakes. Look at the max speeds.
Incidentally, there’s a Mk 26B on eBay for 100 kilobucks.
Just don’t eat the fish.