Your Host - Alan Le Marinel

Just in case you are interested, a little about me !!

As you may have gathered I am a total Spitfire freak having gained an interest in aviation from a very early age.

I was born in Jersey in the Channel Islands and as there were no trains, and the airport was barely 10 minutes away on my bike I did the obvious thing and went aircraft spotting.

In 1968, at the tender age of eleven, I was to witness at first hand a truly memorable sight. The film "The Battle of Britain" was in the process of production and Jersey Airport was used as a stopover for a number of Spitfires being flown in from the Continent to take part in the film. That was that. I was totally hooked.

Since that time I have spent a considerable amount of time travelling to airshows around the world, looking around Aircraft Museums and collecting as much Spitfire Art and Videos as money would allow.

As a final chapter for the time being, having worked for a UK Bank for in excess of twenty years, and being stuck in a rut, I left last year and finally achieved something that I had dreamed of as a boy.

I went to Florida and gained my own Private Pilots Licence after three weeks of intensive training with a sympathetic instructor (thanks Nic Mostert if you ever come across this page !!) and whilst I know that it is unlikely that I will ever be able to fly a Spitfire, I can at least now join the privileged few as a pilot friend of mine describes it.

"There are two types of person - those who can fly and those who can't"

I have now logged some 350 hours on Cessna 150/152 and Piper Cherokee and Warrior aircraft although most of this has been flown in the Sunshine State as the weather here in the U.K. does not inspire me to fly very often.

I have written a book about my experiences entitled 'Learning to Fly in 21 Days and more details can be found by following this link.

Subsequently I have also written a book about flying in Florida and information on this unique guide can be found by following this link.

To all you prospective flyers out there - it can be done even at my age !! Good luck.

I now operate my own Management Consultancy Business offering all types of assistance to businesses:

Strategic Consultancy, Marketing Analysis and Planning, Business Planning, Fund Raising, Performance Reviews, Contingency Planning and Risk Assessments. I can also undertake contracts as an Interim Management Specialist and I am available in some circumstances as a Non-Executive Director.

For more details please click the link below:

As a postscript - I had hoped to fly a Spitfire in Florida on my last visit in September 2003 although this was not to be....I had to make do with a flight in a Chippie instead.....aaahhh

(Many thanks to my original examiner - Eric Shipley, for this flight - the Chippie was to be returned to the UK and needed flying to empty the fuel tanks....)

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