from a full restoration
and conversion. The aircraft
served with 411 Squadron RCAF
and secured several kills while in
the hands of nine pilots, including
Flt Lt Hugh Trainor. The Spitfire
was lost on July 2, 1944, while
being flown by W/O JS Jeffrey, who
escaped unharmed after tussling with
Fw 190s near Caen, France. The
aircraft’s remains were displayed at
the Musée Mémorial de la Bataille
de Normandie, Bayeux, in 1996,
before it moved to the Juno Beach
Museum in 2003. It was acquired by
Keith and arrived at Duxford-based
Historic Flying in July 2015. The
restoration was to include conversion
to T.9 status, which now affords Aero
Legends customers the experience of
a lifetime, and the aircraft wears the
name Elizabeth on the nose, as it did
when flying with 411 Squadron.
MORE CHOICE
Besides the C-47 parachuting
activity, Aero Legends has developed
its product range further to offer
‘fly along’ trips, whereby enthusiasts
can formate with a Spitfire (or
sometimes a Hurricane) while
enjoying the comfort of a very smart
de Havilland Devon. The latter
aircraft, VP981, was assigned to
Air Chief Marshal Sir Basil Embry
while he was Commander of Allied
Forces Central Europe, and in
1985 it joined the Battle of Britain
Memorial Flight as a crew transport.
To provide geographical flexibility
for customers, certain flights can
be made from Sywell airfield in
Northamptonshire, or the HQ at
Headcorn. The latter, due to its
location, presents the opportunity to
fly over the White Cliffs of Dover,
and the Battle of Britain Memorial
at Capel-le-Ferne – emotive
excursions, in which Keith labels
‘hallowed airspace’, conveying the
history involved. Other fascinating
types in Aero Legends’ collection
include a Thruxton Jackaroo, which
is a four-seat touring conversion
of the standard Tiger Moth and,
impressively, the world’s only
airworthy Percival Prentice.
It’s obvious that true
professionalism lies at the heart
of the operation, but it’s a multi-
faceted beast. Keith explains:
“There’s a combination of things
going on here, but fundamentally
we’re applying my skills from big
business. We’re not running this as a
sideline to an engineering firm – it’s
a full-on retail experience where the
customer is placed first.”And the methodology is working
well. Aero Legends won Start-up
Business of the Year in the 2016
Kent Excellence in Business Awards,
and Keith says part of that success is
because the operation is structured,
with a clear view of financial targets.
“It definitely gives us a different
approach, and the fact we are
getting large amounts of repeat
business is great... we didn’t expect
that. If you come to one of our
days you’ll find them very inclusive,
and the whole family is welcome,
even pets. The flight is almost
incidental to the experience; you
can’t fail to be impressed by a
Spitfire trip, but we know this
is often a life-long ambition for
people, and family members must be
included as many of the flights are
gifted from relatives.”
Ben is also sensitive to the
customer service needs of everyone
involved: “How relatives are looked
after is as important as the person
doing the flying. A fun factor
for visitors is our new dispersal
facility... a 1940 Nissen hut we
found on an auction site. It was
in great condition, although we’ve
modernised it and made it more
comfortable, but it still has that
original wartime feel.”December 2018 FLYPAST 49Above
One of Aero Legends’
experiences is fl ying in
a de Havilland Devon
alongside a warbird, in
this case, the fi rm’s two-
seat Spitfi re, over Capel-
le-Ferne’s emotive Battle
of Britain memorial.Bottom left
Antony ‘Parky’ Parkinson
is a regular Aero Legends
‘stick-and-rudder’
exponent. Here, the
former pilot with the RAF,
Red Arrows and BBMF
chats to a customer
before a fl ight.