Steve Brooks is one of two men flying a 1943 Spitfire around the world. In the background is Dave McElroy, the president of the Kelowna Flying Club who convinced Brooks to land in Kelowna.
(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)
September 05, 2019 - 12:20 PM
KELOWNA - One month into a four-month round the world flight in a restored Second World War Spitfire, pilot Steve Brooks was thrilled to be greeted in Kelowna by the biggest crowd he’s seen so far.
“This is fantastic,” he told media at Kelowna Airport this morning, Sept. 5. “This is why we did this – to allow people everywhere to get close to it.”
Pilot Steve Brooks was cheered after landing the Silver Spitfire at the Kelowna airport, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019.
(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)
Brooks and fellow pilot Matt Jones are principles of Boultbee Flight Academy in England who have a twin-seat Spitfire that they take about 600 people a year on flights with. They pulled the 1943 Silver Spitfire from a museum in the Netherlands and had a company completely restore it so they could fly it around the world.
“There are 80,000 rivets in this plane,” Brooks said. “Every one was removed and bored out. All the panels were removed. It was completely rebuilt.”
A Silver Spitfire making an around the world flight lands at the Kelowna airport, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019.
(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)
The flight around the world is taking them to 30 countries and is putting stress on the plane, which was never designed for long flights. It can cover 900 miles per flight but they try to limit it to 500, for safety reasons.
The brief stopover in Kelowna drew hundreds of excited fans who lined the runway outside the Kelowna Flying Club building where they cheered Brooks as he climbed out shortly after his 10:30 a.m. landing.
Kelowna-Lake Country MP Stephen Fuhr got a chance to climb into the cockpit but the rest of the crowd had to be content with viewing the plane from a few feet away.
Kelowna-Lake Country MP Stephen Fuhr got to sit in the cockpit of the Silver Spitfire, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019.
(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)
The plan was to continue on to Fort St. John today but that may change, depending on the weather.
For more information about the around the around the world flight check out the Silver Spitfire - The Longest Flight website here.
A Silver Spitfire making an around the world flight made a stop at the Kelowna airport, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019.
(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)
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