Special Spitfire flight set to take in Forth Bridges as part of 90th anniversary celebrations
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The 90th anniversary of the first Spitfire flight will be commemorated in style this week, with a special fly-by taking in three Forth Bridges.
The special flight was auctioned off in March as one of nine ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ flights around the UK. The second leg, on Wednesday, April 8, will set off from RAF Coningsby heading for RAF Leuchars. Along the way, the famous plane will pass along the Firth of Forth where some of the RAFs earliest Spitfires were in combat with the Luftwaffe during the initial phases of the war.
Following on from there it will head over RAF Grangemouth the home to Spitfire training during WW2. It will be escorted by a Phenom T1 as it heads to RAF Leuchars. There is also the chance that it will be joined in formation by two Red Arrows Hawks.
Sharing the news on Facebook, the Forth Bridges official page said: “It's eyes in the skies on Wed 8th April for a flyover from the Spitfires.com Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (Official) as part of the SPITFIRE90 UK Trip on Flight 2 of their route.
“Leaving RAF Coningsby at 10am and scheduled to arrive at RAF Leuchars about 1135am, with a detour via the Forth Bridges.
“Follow Spitfires.com for the latest on flight routes which will be subject to weather and air traffic control. We don't have any more details to share at this time.”
The special flight is part of Spitfires.com’s celebration of the first Spitfire flight on March 5, 1936. Thousands were bid on the auctions with all funds going to The Mark Long Trust and the RAF Benevolent Fund.