The world’s oldest Spitfire pilot

Hemmings undertook the flight to mark the 80th anniversary year of D-day and raise funds for a charity he helped launch shortly after the war ended, Mission Aviation Fellowship. The organisation provides humanitarian aviation services to isolated parts of the world and has two headquarters in Australia. Not that this flight was a first – two years ago, he performed aerobatics on his 100^th birthday and raised more than $75,000 for the charity.

Barry Hughes, a pilot who accompanied Hemmings in the aircraft, said the veteran had a natural touch. “He didn’t need any instruction, really. He just took control, flew us around, made some turnings and basic manoeuvres,” Hughes said. “I think he enjoyed every single moment of the flight.”

The aircraft itself, MT818, is unique and the only surviving Spitfire prototype of any mark. It was the first and only Spitfire High-Speed Trainer Prototype trainer created by legendary manufacturer Vickers-Armstrongs. “Some unusual features on this aircraft include a hatch for an anti-spin parachute in the rear fuselage and the retractable tailwheel, which is found on all MkVIIIs, both of these elements are disabled for passenger flights,” explains custodian Fly A Spitfire.

The organisation is a flight and restoration facility dedicated to returning Supermarine Spitfires to the air. “The wording EXPERIMENTAL, which was painted during the MT818’s time in the US, is still visible inside the door hatch. Between 1948 and 1953, the aircraft was a regular on the display and air race scene wearing numerous colour schemes.”

Aircraft aside, Hemmings himself had an equally illustrious career that saw him join the RAF in 1941 and become squadron leader of 353 Squadron in 1945, flying Lockheed Hudson and C-47 Dakota aircraft. “Jack was awarded the Air Force Cross for exemplary gallantry while flying and later received the RAF’s Master Air Pilot award in 2017,” says Mission Aviation Fellowship. “While in India in 1945, one of the airmen at his Delhi station discovered a copy of the Mildmay Outlook, a magazine with an article written by New Zealand pilot Murray Kendon about launching a Christian air service.

Jack responded, and once back in London in 1947, became a member of the early Mildmay Movement, which became MAF. Helping launch the first mission air service from the Mildmay ‘Operations Room’ in Islington [North London], Jack was appointed chief pilot of the first MAF survey flight from Croydon on 13 January 1948.

“Alongside him in MAF’s first Miles Gemini aircraft, RAF Engineer and MAF co-founder Stuart King helped plot their route across Libya, Egypt, Kenya and the Belgian Congo using the River Nile as their guide. The pair became the first British airmen to survey the needs of isolated areas across Central Africa and formally began the worldwide mission of MAF, which now spans more than 25 countries. Stuart King died in 2020, aged 98 – 75 years after MAF was founded in the aftermath of WWII.”

Fast-forward to the present day, and one detail makes Hemmings’s latest accomplishment even more astonishing. In 2020, he received emergency heart surgery following a sudden heart attack. The situation was so tough, he spent weeks receiving end-of-life care – before making a recovery. “What a truly memorable day we had at Biggin Hill yesterday,” he said on his Just Giving page, which has already raised thousands. “The flight was faster than I was used to in my bomber days.

“Being off the ground – the sky is yours, and there’s a great sense of peace. Thanks to everyone who came along to support and for those who have already chipped in.”

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