The pilots took off from Goodwood Aerodrome, Sussex, in August for the mission, titled 'Silver Spitfire - The Longest Flight'
Two British pilots have successfully traveled the globe in a Second World War fighter plane, a world first.
Steve Brooks, 58, and Matt Jones, 45, landed in an original Spitfire on Thursday afternoon, four months after they left for the 27,000-mile trip.
The pilots took off from Goodwood Aerodrome, Sussex, in August for the mission, titled 'Silver Spitfire - The Longest Flight'.
They were bid farewell in a lavish ceremony featuring several celebrities, including former Formula One driver David Coulthard, who said: "Seeing you off was very emotional and it's fantastic to know it's been a great, successful trip."
Prince Harry told them as they left: "Have fun."
An epic journey
They returned to British soil on Thursday flanked by two RAF Red Arrows, in front of a roaring crowd.
The project hoped to set a record for the furthest Spitfire trip in a refurbished 1943 plane, painted silver to avoid appearing “provocative”.
Mr Brooks, from Oxfordshire, and Mr Jones, from Devon, travelled 30 countries, stopping 91 times, and spanning 27,000 miles.
The route saw them first visit Scotland, before navigating to the US, Canada, Japan, Russia, India, Europe and back home to Britain.
They entered airspace never before travelled by a Spitfire.
Red Arrows support
Not without its pitfalls, in September Mr Brooks, from Oxfordshire, and Mr Jones, from Devon, were held in Sokoi, Russia, in a pay dispute with handlers.
But the turbulence passed and the Red Arrows even joined them in Ottawa for a fly-over of Canada’s parliament.
They bought the MX IX Spitfire at auction in 2016, after it had spent 50 years grounded following its active WW2 days.
A plane with a backstory
It first entered combat in February 1944 with 118 Squadron at RAF Detling, patrolling the Dutch coast and helping attack Berlin.
In April 1944 it was relocated to RAF Ford and tasked with divebomb targets, before retiring from duty damaged in December 1944 in Belgium
But a team of engineers at Boultbee Flight Academy, in Chichester, spent two years restoring the original plane to its former glory, focusing on repairing rather than replacing parts.
They still managed to squeeze in an iPad.
After landing, the Silver Spitfire team tweeted simply: “Mission accomplished."
(Source: Ewan Sommerville, Inewsletter.com- 5/12/2019)
https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/world-war-two-spitfire-record-breaking-flight-pilots-1333974
