90 years young, and raising money for RAF Benevolent Fund

To mark the 90th year of the Spitfire this spring, a joint initiative between Spitfires.com and the RAF – led by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) - saw a two-seater Spitfire fly a route consisting of nine individual flights on a round-Britain circumnavigation. Members of the public were able to bid for their chance to be the passenger in this iconic plane on each of the nine legs. 

Proceeds from the auction for this celebration of one of the most important and well-loved British aircraft were split between two charities: RAF Benevolent Fund and the Mark Long Trust and recently we have received our incredible donation of £50,000.

Rebecca Hooton, a Fund Community Fundraiser went to greet the Spitfire when it landed at RAF Coningsby: ”The Spitfire is one of the most celebrated and recognisable fighter aircraft in aviation history and it was great to be able to meet the plane at RAF Coningsby after it had finished the first leg of its journey from its home airport of Southampton. The Fund is so grateful to be one of the two beneficiary charities and thank you to everyone who bid and won their place as a passenger on this epic journey.”

The flights took place between 7 and 17 April and each flight lasted between 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. On each flight the lucky auction winners also flew alongside an RAF aircraft for five minutes in formation. The flight was made in Spitfire.com’s two-seat BS410 World War II Spitfire, painted exclusively for this event in the blue colours of K5054, the Spitfire prototype.