BBMF Spitfire cockpit experience Club prize winner

Header Image: Club members Julie Louth, who won the Spitfire cockpit experience prize, and her husband Anthony, with BBMF Spitfire IIa P7350 on 5th September. (Photo: Clive Rowley)

Club member Julie Louth from Derbyshire was the lucky winner of the March ballot prize, a Spitfire cockpit experience at the BBMF’s home at RAF Coningsby. Julie took up the prize on Thursday 5th September, bringing her husband Anthony, who is also a Club member, with her to RAF Coningsby.

Club editor, Squadron Leader Clive Rowley MBE RAF (Retd), a former BBMF Spitfire pilot and OC BBMF, hosted the ‘money cannot buy it’ experience in the BBMF hangar with Spitfire IIa P7350, the world’s only largely-original Spitfire to have fought in the Battle of Britain which can still fly. He began by giving Julie and Anthony a full explanation of the Spitfire, its remarkable history and its external features with a walk around the aircraft. After this, Julie settled into the tight confines of the Spitfire cockpit to experience first-hand what it is like, and Clive explained the controls and instrumentation. Julie commented that she could see what was meant when she had read that you ‘wear’ a Spitfire, you don’t just sit in it, and she also noticed the limited forward visibility from the cockpit when the tailwheel is on the ground. She spent some time just sitting in the cockpit soaking up the experience after Clive had explained everything. Anthony then also got to sit in the cockpit and try the controls.

Once the Spitfire cockpit experience was complete, Julie and Anthony had a privileged tour of the other aircraft in the BBMF hangar, including seeing Lancaster PA474, which was outside the hangar and is Anthony’s favourite aircraft. Each of them also received a ‘goodie bag’ containing BBMF-badged items and the brand-new BBMF Official Souvenir Guide as a present from the Flight. Julie said that the experience had exceeded all of her expectations.