A FORMER RAF serviceman from Newquay said it will bring a tear to his eye to watch the aircraft he took his first flight in more than 60 years ago fly into its new home at Newquay airport.
Fred Boreham will watch in awe as the very same Gloster Meteor T7 – the oldest twin jet in the world still flying – lands at the base some 62 years after he took off in it.
Fred, now 80 years old, was just 18 when he was treated to a special flight in the two-seater trainer during the spring of 1951, just days after joining the RAF in Driffield, Yorkshire.
The aircraft is now due to join the Classic Air Force display at the Aerohub in May – Newquay's new visitor attraction set to open on Friday – and Fred will be watching as it arrives.
To be reunited with the T7 will be a poignant reminder of Fred's first few days as a young lad in the air force.
"It is a very emotional thing," he said. "I think there will be a few tears shed.
"A couple of days after I joined the air force in 1951 I managed to get a flight in a Gloster Meteor T7. I loved aeroplanes so I asked if I could go up. That was my first flight in an aircraft."
Fred found out that it was the same T7 after contacting the Classic Air Force office to find out exactly which aircraft would be landing. He said its serial number had "rang a bell".
"I heard that the Classic Air Force were coming down to Newquay so I contacted them. I spoke to a wonderful gentlemen, Chris England, and I asked what aircraft were coming down and he told me one was a Gloster T7.
"He gave me the serial number of the aircraft – WAS91 – and it rang a bell. I found the form which was sent to me when I was accepted as aircrew and there it was. The same plane 62 years ago."
Fred has written his story for the Classic Aircraft Trust magazine and has been invited to watch the T7 as it lands in Newquay.
Bosses at Classic Air Force decided to relocate their planes to the new Aerohub after outgrowing their previous home in Coventry.
A fleet of 30 classic aircraft will eventually be based and maintained at the Newquay Aerohub Enterprise Zone.
The attraction will open to the public on Friday. There will be free entry for the entire Easter weekend.
