New bridges flypast planned as Spitfire fuel fears disappoint fans
Organisers of a special 90th-anniversary Spitfire tour have promised a makeup flypast over the Forth Bridges after low fuel forced the historic aircraft to abandon Wednesday's planned route, leaving hundreds of spectators disappointed.
Crowds of people, including life-long aviation enthusiasts and young families, had gathered at viewpoints in South Queensferry and along the Edinburgh and Fife coastlines on Wednesday morning, eagerly expecting to catch a glimpse of the famous flying machines.
The official Forth Bridges Facebook pages had confirmed the spectacle last week, urging fans to keep their “eyes to the skies” as the Spitfires flew over the iconic bridges.
However, the vintage aircraft bypassed the expected detour over the bridges, flying straight up the coast to their destination at RAF Leuchars in Fife.
Following feedback from disappointed spectators, Spitfires.com announced a revised plan to fly over the landmark on Thursday at 2.10pm, weather permitting.
A spokesperson for the organisers said: “Having read the feedback today it has become even more obvious how important this aircraft is to people locally. We would like to try to make amends.
“We have looked at the flight length for tomorrow’s Leg 3 of the Spitfire 90 commemoration and believe we could add a flypast of the Forth Bridge to the beginning of tomorrow’s flight instead.”
They cautioned that anticipated morning weather delays will push the Leuchars departure to 2pm, bringing the aircraft over the bridge ten minutes later.
“That said, poor weather could still stop us and we will continue to update our social media platforms with news accordingly,” the spokesperson added, extending further apologies to those unable to return for the rescheduled event.
Regarding Wednesday's abrupt cancellation, the organisers explained that entering Edinburgh’s air traffic control zone carried the risk of delays to accommodate passenger flights.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the organisers, Spitfires.com, said due to fuel limitations the pilot had decided to proceed straight to Leuchars.
They said the company posts updated routes on its website and social media the night before each flight but said it was “very sorry” to spectators who had wasted their time.
Sarah Grossman, 41, said her 11-year-old son Adam, an aviation enthusiast, was waiting at Cramond to watch the flyover with a group of other children as part of a bike camp.
She said: “The camp shares posts throughout the day with what they are up to and there is a picture of them all sitting around waiting. All the kids are so upset.
My son is an air enthusiast.. He got his binoculars out especially this morning and got to camp early... He was so excited.
“My son is an air enthusiast, everything is about aeroplanes so we’re always trying to keep an eye out for things like this.
“He got his binoculars out especially this morning and got to camp early.
“It was definitely the spark in his step this morning and he was tracking it on the flight tracker and counting down. He was so excited.”
She added: “The blue plane is incredibly rare so lots of people thought this was going to be the big moment. It’s not going to be part of the Fringe, we might never get to see it.”
Another spectator, Effie Eades, said she was “frustrated” at not seeing the historic aircraft after making the trip to South Queensferry especially.
The 25-year-old said: “I woke up early this morning to travel from Polmont via train since I had to change trains.
“I wanted to get there early so I arrived around 9.40am and walked down to the view point.
“I was looking at flight radar the whole time and I saw it pass by us around 11.12am which I thought was strange, but I thought perhaps it might make a turn.
“I watched it until it landed, which was when I was sure it wasn’t coming over. I like to travel for planes often and there’s always a chance you will be disappointed due to circumstances like weather but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating.
“There were lots of people there. I’d say around 40 people. There was around the same number on the bridge from what I could see and many others across the beach.
“It was nice to get out the house and watch the birds at least so it wasn’t all a terrible day.
“There was a lot of disappointment around me though, especially photographers and some kids who were both super excited and then subsequently let down.”
Explaining the decision, a spokesperson for Spitfires.com said: “We are really keen to include as many locations as possible on the Spitfire 90 trip. We know what this aircraft means to people and really appreciate the support.
“Some of the 9 flights (one each for the 90 years) are right at the limit of the Spitfire’s fuel capability.
“We had originally wanted to fly to the Forth Bridge but doing so meant entering Edinburgh’s air traffic control zone.
“Whilst the controllers were very welcoming of the idea, entering the zone would have meant accepting any restrictions they might have ahead to allow passenger aircraft to proceed safely.
“With planned fuel so tight we decided, for safety reasons, not to accept that risk, instead proceeding straight to Leuchars.
“This proved to be the right decision from a fuel perspective as despite this direct routing we still landed at exactly minimum fuel.
“We are posting the best efforts route on our website and social media each night before the flight the next day to try to avoid these issues.
“Clearly this hasn’t worked on this occasion and to all those who wasted their time today we are very sorry indeed.”
The flight formed the second leg of the SPITFIRE90 trip, a nationwide tour celebrating nine decades since the prototype took its maiden flight on March 5 1936.
The aircraft is due to fly from Leuchars to RAF Lossiemouth on Thursday, and from Lossiemouth to Glasgow Prestwick Airport on Friday.