'Claustrophobic Spitfire simulator experience sends my admiration of RAF heroes sky-high'

NORMALLY when holidaymakers soar through Blackpool's air, it is strapped in one of the Pleasure Beach Resort's edge-of-your-seat rollercoasters like the Big Dipper.

- Chris Riches

So imagine my thrill when invited to Blackpool's Spitfire Visitor Centre to don a WWII flight suit, fur-lined jacket, leather gloves and boots, life jacket, pilot's cap and even a heavy parachute and clamber into the Mk V Supermarine Spitfire that struck terror into Hitler’s Luftwaffe.

Under the watchful eye of genius designer Andrew Harper, I strapped into the authentic cockpit, pulled back the stick and watched myself roar at 300mph across the giant cinema screen to intercept a Nazi bomber formation.

And I endured the thrill and guilt our brave Battle of Britain heroes must have felt as I watched my fellow RAF pals being hit — before I shot down a five-man Heinkel He 111 bomber as it tried to wreak havoc on our factories below.

I probably should have avoided wearing a jumper, and as my mission went on it felt roasting and stifling inside the cockpit — especially as I suffer claustrophobia. But if those 3,000 RAF Battle of Britain pilots did it day after day, claustrophobia was not going to stop me getting a taste of what they must have lived through.