Former Spitfire Pilot Flies For The Final Time | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

 Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.16.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.17.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.11.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.12.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.06.25

Thu, Sep 13, 2018

Former Spitfire Pilot Flies For The Final Time

Archie McInnes, 99, Is One Of A Handful Of Surviving RAF Pilots From The Battle Of Britain

By any estimation, 99-year-old Archie McInnes, who lives near Cambridge, England, is a war hero. He flew for the RAF during WWII, becoming an ace while fighting off Hitler's Luftwaffe during the war.

He recently got to fly again, possibly for the final time, in a refurbished Spitfire in the skies over Kent. McInnes was a passenger this time, but on his wing was a Hurricane aircraft like the one he flew during the war, according to the U.K. newspaper The Sun.

Jonny Cracknell, a friend of McInnes, organized the flight with the help of the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar's Peter Monk. Cracknell said McInnes is one of only eight airman still alive who fought in the famous Battle of Britain, and he is the most active of the pilots.

McInnes left the RAF in 1946 after losing his left arm in North Africa, according to the report. During his Spitfire flight, he was all smiles, and the look on his face when he saw the Hurricane pull alongside the Spitfire was "priceless", according to Cracknel.

(Hurricane image from file)

FMI: Source report

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (06.16.25): Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS)

Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS) The WAAS is a satellite navigation system consisting of the equipment and software which augments the GPS Standard Positioning Service (SPS). T>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (06.16.25)

Aero Linx: International Republic Seabee Owner's Club (IRSOC) This site includes links to Specifications, Limits and History of the Republic Seabee. We are always searching for oth>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Magniflight LLC M24 Orion Plus

Pilot Was Unable To Maintain Altitude And Made A Forced Landing In Tall Grass, During Which The Gyroplane Rolled Over Analysis: The pilot of the gyroplane reported several lane war>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (06.18.25)

Aero Linx: MQ-1B Predator The MQ-1B Predator is an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft that is employed primarily as an intelligence-col>[...]

Airborne-NextGen 06.17.25: JetZero Finds A Home, VX4 eVTOL, H55’s B23 Energic

Also: Electric Aircraft Symposium, Radia Windrunner Avionics, AIRO Debut, NASA’s Orion Ready California-based aerospace start-up JetZero has formally selected Greensboro, Nor>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Change Display

Headlines Only | Headlines w/ Teasers | View Everything

Advertisement

Top Videos

Airborne-Flight Training 06.19.25: King Update, MedXpress, Admin Nominee Fibs?

Airborne 06.18.25: DeltaHawk RV14 Flies!, Paris No-Shows, Fed Fibbing

Airborne-NextGen 06.17.25: JetZero Finds A Home, VX4 eVTOL, H55’s B23 Energic

See All

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC