Two British pilots have landed at RAF Lossiemouth in a 1943 Spitfire as part of their 27,000 mile expedition around the world.
Steve Brooks, 58, from Burford, Oxfordshire, and Matt Jones, 45, from Exeter, Devon touched down at the military airfield yesterday in the second world war aircraft after battling through heavy thunderstorms across Scotland.
The Mk IX Spitfire landed around 5.30pm marking the first rest stop on their Silver Spitfire – the Longest Journey expedition.
Speaking ahead of take-off from Goodwood aerodrome in West Sussex, Mr Jones said the biggest challenge during the expedition would be the weather and supplies of aviation fuel (Avgas).
He said: “I’m a bit nervous but excited to get going. It’s been a long time in planning and we’ve put a lot of work into this plane.
“The weather is going to be the biggest part of it but also getting fuel to the right places, Avgas is very common here and in the US, but in other countries we are having it supplied for us.”
The five-month journey, which remains the first of its kind in the world, will see the pair stops at 100 locations taking in the sights of more than 30 countries including Canada, the USA, Russia, Japan, Thailand, India, Greece, Egypt and Italy.