Spitfire Flight FAQ’s

If you meet the requirements above and are physically fit enough to enter and exit the aircraft in an emergency, you are fit to fly. However, if you are concerned about your physical health and flying in our Spitfire, we would encourage you to request a Doctor’s note explaining that you are fit to fly with us. Before you fly, you will be asked to sign an indemnity form declaring you are fit to fly.

General health should be reasonable enough to take a commercial flight or to have a flight experience in a light aircraft. With regard to physical health, our guests are required to enter and exit the aircraft unassisted. Please imagine getting in and out of the bath for a fairly accurate comparison.

A Doctor’s note will be required for the following:

– HEART CONDITIONS

– LUNG CONDITIONS

– BRAIN CONDITIONS

– EAR/NOSE/THROAT CONDITIONS

– BACK AND/OR BONE CONDITIONS

– EPILEPSY

– DIABETES (TYPE I)

For their own safety and the safety of the aircraft we cannot fly people who are:

​- LEGALLY BLIND

– DEAF

– PHYSICALLY IMPAIRED

– MENTALLY IMPAIRED

Our weight restriction is 17 stone or 108 kg. There is no minimum weight.

Our height restriction is 6’6″ or 198 cm. There is no minimum height.

You are required to have a reasonable level of hearing. Under exceptional circumstances, hearing aids may be worn subject to the approval of the operations officers and the pilot. You must be able to hear the pre-flight briefing and our operations staff and pilot should be able to communicate with you at a reasonable volume. We cannot fly those who are deaf.

Our guests are allowed to wear glasses, sunglasses and/or contact lenses in the Spitfire. Unfortunately, due to the location of various items in the cockpit and the possibility of abandoning the aircraft, we can’t fly those who are legally blind.

There is no maximum age restriction. The minimum age we can accept is 18 years old.

We only book one customer per time slot. So your briefing and flight are entirely focused on you.

Our suggested flight route highlights the scenery around each location. But you’re not restricted to it.

If conditions allow, your pilot can adapt the route to suit your interests. But the flight must avoid restricted airspace and built‑up areas, and remain within safe gliding distance of land.

Your pilot will handle takeoff, landing and aerobatics. But when conditions allow and communications are clear, you’ll have the chance to take control of the Spitfire yourself!

We have a number of civilian and ex-military pilots who could fly your Spitfire. But we can’t schedule a particular pilot over another due to both our and their rostering. Occasionally, the day before your flight, we’ll know who’s rostered to fly the next day.

All of our pilots are trained to the highest standards. They also undergo proficiency checks and recurrent training to ensure their levels of captaincy are up-to-date and frequently refreshed.

No. No unauthorized items are permitted in the aircraft. The Spitfire doesn’t have a conventional floor. Items can be dropped into the bottom of the fuselage and restrict flight controls and control cables. The flight will be recorded by our approved fixed position 360° video camera. We record all flights. A video of your flight can be purchased.

This aircraft was designed as an effective aerial weapons platform. While beautiful, the Spitfire was and remains an incredibly capable aircraft.

The Spitfire is fast and highly manoeuvrable. Small levels of G-force may be incurred during general flight and while steering the aircraft in any particular direction.

We always try to keep these forces to a minimum during general handling. But, G-force is directly related to speed and is sometimes unavoidable. Once again, we aim to keep these general manoeuvres as precise yet gentle as possible. We like to be fair to you and the aircraft!

If you’d like to undertake some aerobatics, many manoeuvres can be performed at very low G-force.

To explain this further, while standing on the Earth’s surface, we’re subjected to 1G permanently. It’s holding us to the ground. When flying straight and level, we’re also subjected to 1G.

There are at least two aerobatic manoeuvres that can be undertaken at 1G or very close to it. The famous ‘Barrel Roll’ is one of them. It’s a very gentle manoeuvre whereby the aircraft climbs and rolls simultaneously, resulting in a dynamic and enjoyable aerobatic manoeuvre – all conducted at 1G!

Loops incur a higher G-force due to the amount of energy required to dive, climb and recover to a straight and level attitude. Loops can usually be flown at no more than 3G.

While all aerobatic manoeuvres incur some form of G-force, we always encourage our guests to go upside down in a Spitfire once!

The Spitfire is indeed a loud aircraft.

No expense or effort has been spared to ensure you can hear and communicate with your pilot as best as possible. Our ground crew and operations officers will instruct you on microphone positioning to ensure clear verbal communications can be made.

The helmets worn during the flight are state-of-the-art and have built-in noise-cancelling technology. While effective, the system won’t mute the sound of the Merlin engine! It remains very loud, especially during take-off, and those with hearing difficulty may struggle to hear communications from the pilot when the aircraft is at certain power settings during the flight.

To maintain safety standards, we usually request that hearing aids be removed before flight. In exceptional circumstances, hearing aids may be permitted at the pilot and operations officers’ permission.

However, if you struggle to hear voices at a reasonable volume on the ground, we may need to discuss this before the flight commences. We must ensure that both you and the pilot can communicate clearly and effectively.

Not necessarily. We’ve designed the suggested route to demonstrate the beautiful surroundings of the locations we fly from. But if you’d prefer to fly to a specific location, you can under the following conditions:

• The area isn’t inside restricted airspace
• There are no built-up areas
• It isn’t beyond gliding distance of land
• There’s suitable visibility and no clouds that could restrict us from flying at a safe altitude
• We can achieve this route within the flight time

In short, yes! If conditions allow, we’ll always offer you the opportunity to take control of the Spitfire in flight.

Your pilot will handle takeoff, landing and aerobatic maneuvers like the exhilarating victory roll. But when it’s safe to do so, you’ll have the exclusive opportunity to take control and fly a real Spitfire yourself!