Proving that being charitable can get you high, Citygrove Securities’ Philip Waddell was soaring last week as he took a flight in a Spitfire at the Boultbee Flight Academy at Goodwood Aerodrome.
The finance director flew over England’s south coast in the iconic World War II aircraft after winning a game of heads or tails at last year’s EG Awards.
“What an amazing experience. Nothing I’ve ever done compares to it,” Waddell said after the 25-minute flight. “I had such incredible all-round vision,” he added. “You feel like you’re being thrown out of the cockpit.”
After the early morning fog rose, 31 August turned out to be a perfect day for flying from the academy’s Chichester base.
Having taken in stunning 360-degree views of the countryside and ocean, an exhilarated Waddell said that he “managed not to use expletives whatsoever, despite the usual Citygrove approach”.
His day out of the office made him fair game for banter, as Citygrove chairman Toby Baines accused Waddell of “swanning off” after the summer break, and his colleagues said he was “trying to get the wheels of British industry moving again”.
The Boultbee Flight Academy is owned by Steve Boultbee-Brooks, the founder of Boultbee LDN.
The property entrepreneur and explorer set up the facility to keep a key part of British aviation heritage alive. It gives members of the public the opportunity to fly inside vintage aircraft, and gives pilots the chance to learn the skills to take them into the air.
This year Boultbee LDN is again giving an EG Awards attendee the chance to strap in and take a vintage machine in the sky by donating a flight to be won in a fundraising challenge in support of the property industry charity LandAid.
For your chance to win a flight in a Spitfire, book your place at the EG Awards by clicking here.
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