Get ready to check in for your all-inclusive vintage military flying day! If you’re a fan of historic aircraft you will love these aviation experiences. The Silver gives you 30-minute flights in two classic military trainers – the Chipmunk and the Harvard. The Gold adds in a Stearman for that full historic aircraft experience.
First up is the Chippy. This is 1950s aviation at its very best. In fact the Chipmunk was so good that it served as the military trainer of choice for the RAF Air Cadets all the way through to the 1990s. Now that’s what we call dedicated military service. Ask pretty much anyone who learnt to fly in the Forces and they’ll have only good things to say about this most elegant of aircraft. It’s pure joy to fly and to fly in.
Then it’s the formidable Harvard. One of the finest examples of a North American Aviation T-6 Texan currently flying in the UK she is utterly resplendent in US Navy training colours and ridiculously photogenic too. N6972C was built in the States in 1946 and served as a trainer to both the US Army and Navy eventually landing at Compton Abbas in 2016 to take up her new role as the star crowd-pleaser. You can’t miss that 600bhp engine. The sound is incredible. And you’ll be in the cockpit experiencing those low-level flypasts from the co-pilot’s seat. And if you’re up for it there could well be the chance for you to get inverted!
If you go for the Gold experience you will also be treated to some open-cockpit flying in the Stearman. This vintage 1940s biplane from Boeing was an incredibly popular trainer (and some would say roomier and warmer than its Tiger Moth counterpart). This flight gives you the chance to feel the breeze after the closed cockpits of the Chipmunk and the Harvard flights.
Almost as legendary as the vintage aircraft at Compton Abbas is the cafe. This is where you and your guest will be invited for your two-course lunch in between your vintage military flying escapades. The cafe affords lovely views right across the runway stretching as far as Stourhead Gardens and boasts a large terrace and garden area too.
And after your flights what better way to celebrate your vintage military flying day than with a Champagne toast in front of the aircraft? A very fine way to round off the day you flew in some priceless historic aircraft out of Compton Abbas.
