If you are a frustrated wannabe fighter ace like me you will understand why I could not resist buying a share in WV 322 when the chance arose.  For one thing it was so so cheap!  OK, I know everything in avation costs money but compared with historic piston warbirds, jets are for nothing and in my view
much more interesting. They fly better, faster, higher, further, pilots who have flown far more recent machinery such as Phantoms, Hawks, Tornados and even Typhoons still rate the Hunter as possibly the best pilots aeroplane of all.

A Hunter is about the last of the RAF's front line fighters that can sensibly be operated privately.  Not only that but it is still possible to enjoy the real experience.We fly with pilots who flew Hunters operationally and the ground crews who get us into the air are the same people who maintained them in squadron service. To a man, they are total enthusiasts, they love the aircraft and it is a real privelege to mix with such people and be accepted into their world. It is not a world that can last for ever, we are all getting older and it will be a sad day when their thousands of hours of cumulative experience and skills can no longer be brought together to fly Hunters.

When I was growing up I dreamed of being a fighter pilot and these were the 'planes that were roaring through the skies and feeding those dreams. Well I never made it into the RAF but this is like being given a second chance.  A 350 hr. PPL doing circuits at Kemble, Lyneham, Brize and Filton in one of the best fighter aircraft this country has ever produced. Pressure of work had prevented me from flying the Hunter this year, so last month I was quite excited by the prospect of strapping into the hot seat again.  I was not to be disappointed,  it turned out to be the best and most satisfying days flying that I have ever had. 

I had arranged with John Hurrel to be my instructor for the day.  John works for B.A.E at Warton, a stones throw from Blackpool where I do most of my flying. and we had met earlier in the year at the Coventry Airshow where he was displaying '322. We flew down to Exeter in a hired TB 20 as my faithful C182 was having it's annual, WV322 was already on the apron when we arrived, fuelled up and ready to go.  John Sparks and his excellent crew at the Hunter Flying Club seemed as excited at the prospect as I was. The intention was to get two sorties in, one before lunch, (a bag of crisps), and one in the afternoon.
 
The first sortie involved me doing some general handling to get the feel of the aircraft again and then going to Filton where John had pulled some strings to allow us to  do some circuits and 'rollers'.  We then did some more general handling followed by low level work over Lyme bay before returning to Exeter for a roller and then a circuit to land. The morning had gone extremely well, the feel of the 'plane came back much quicker than expected and with John's gentle coaching from the right-hand seat I had managed some of the best touch downs I have ever acheived.

Filled with confidence, thanks to John's easy, laid back style of tuition, I was really looking forward to the afternoon flight.  The crew had it ready bang on time and we were soon accelerating down Exeter's 26 runway.  This time it was accross the Bristol Channel to Cardiff for a low level pass followed by a run and break for another 'roller' and then straight up to eight thousand feet for some aeros.  A vertical drop through a hole in the clouds and we were once more low level, doing handling exercises in manual mode this time, just to build up the muscles.  All too soon it was back to Exeter where we executed a go around before landing in front of The Red Arrows who were just dis-embarking having landed some minutes before.  A perfect end, The Red Arrows watching me for a change!  Thank God it was a decent landing.

After that the return flight to Blackpool was a bit of an anti-climax although we did manage to set a bit of a speed record as with a mighty tail wind we recorded 198 knots ground speed in the TB 20, still not quite as fast as the Hunter.

I would once again like to thank all concerned, as I said at the start, it was the best days flying I have ever had...
 
John Kent