Hurricane Heritage

09/08/2026

We feel incredibly privileged to spend our time flying the world’s only two-seat Hurricane, but yesterday’s flight carried a little more meaning than most.
We had the honour of flying Group Captain Peter Bedford AFC (Ret’d); whose father, Alfred William “Bill” Bedford OBE AFC FRAeS, was himself a Hurricane pilot during the Second World War.
Bill went on to fly the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang before attending the Empire Test Pilots’ School. His career then took him to Hawker Siddeley, where he became Chief Test Pilot and played a pioneering role in the development of V/STOL flight on the Kestrel and Harrier, ultimately helping to prove the capability of operating V/STOL aircraft from the decks of the Royal Navy’s fleet.
To have Peter flying in a Hurricane, following in the footsteps of his father, was a genuinely moving experience for everyone involved.
These aircraft aren’t just machines. They carry stories, memories and generations of aviation history with them and yesterday, for a brief moment, that history felt very much alive again.
It really was an honour.

04/03/2026

Monday was a special day as our two-seat Hurricane, Pegs took to the skies from Imperial War Museum Duxford for her post-maintenance air test with the team at the Aircraft Restoration Company.

After a thorough winter programme in the hangar, it was fantastic to see her airborne again — the familiar sound of the Merlin engine, undercarriage cycling perfectly, and everything performing just as it should.

A huge thank you to the engineers for their meticulous work and dedication. Seeing Pegs climbing out over Duxford is always a reminder of why we do what we do.

Now we look forward to a busy and exciting season ahead.



www.hurricaneheritage.com
www.aerialcollective.com

27/02/2026

After a thorough winter of care and attention by the incredible team at Aircraft Restoration Company, our two-seat Hurricane “Pegs” is nearly ready to roll out of maintenance and back into the skies.

Every panel checked, every system inspected, every detail lovingly prepared — all to make sure she’s ready for what promises to be a busy and exciting season ahead.

It won’t be long before Pegs’ Merlin is singing again, and we’re sharing that unforgettable sound, smell and sensation of history in flight with our passengers and supporters.

We can’t wait to see her back where she belongs — in the air.

Stay tuned… the 2026 season is almost here. ✈️

For more information:
www.hurricaneheritage.com
www.aerialcollective.co.uk/aircraft/hurricane-flights/

11/12/2025

The best Christmas presents come in big boxes 🎁! Our shiny new Merlin 29 has arrived just in time for Christmas. It's come all the way from the USA. This is part of our commitment to keep our Hurricanes flying for many years to come.

If you'd like to experience the power of the Merlin and the mighty Hurricane check out: www.hurricaneheritage.com and www.aerialcollective.co.uk

06/11/2025

Happy 90th Birthday to the Hawker Hurricane!

On a cold and clear Brooklands airfield on the 6th November 1935 the select group of Hawker staff and dignitaries assembled to witness the birth of Sydney Camm's and Hawker's newest creation. At the time she was simply called 'Monoplane', her tail number was K5083.

Hawker's chief test pilot, George Bulman fired up the Rolls-Royce PV-12 and after warming it up charged down Brooklands runway, and for the first time K5083 had felt the air beneath her wings. The legend was born. Some 14,583 Hurricanes were produced and they operated in every theatre of World War Two.

Paul Galico's poem sums her up perfectly;

She was loved and trusted by every man who ever knew her.
To the eyes of young men who looked upon her with warmth and affection she had beauty unsurpassed.
To her friends she was gentle, staunch, loyal and a protectress; to her enemies she was a lightning bolt from the skies, a ruthless and total destroyer.
She was unique in the heavens for there was nothing she could not do there when called upon by those who loved and needed her.
An inanimate piece of machinery, a mass of tubes, wire, steel, aluminium, she flew like an angel.
She had no vices.
In the hands of the young men, who mastered her and became her lovers, she saved England and all the rest of the world that cherished the right of freedom.
She was the Hawker Hurricane.

www.hurricaneheritage.com

Photos from:
Paddy Baker
Rob Hayton Aviation Photography
Brooklands Museum

08/08/2025

Op Kodak - Day 70. Hawker Hurricane flight with Hurricane Heritage. 1 Aug 25

Previously I have posted about an Air-to-Air shoot with Aviation PhotoCrew on 10 July, in which we had three Hawker Hurricanes flying with us (amongst other aircraft), including Pegs - the only 2-seater Hawker Hurricane in the world. Last Friday, I was lucky enough to be able to schedule a flight in Pegs, with the fantastic team at Hurricane Heritage.

I'll cut straight to the chase - this was everything I was expecting, and more! Firstly, the aircraft is a hunny. Mike, the pilot for my flight, allowed me ample opportunity to fly Pegs and she was both stable in cruise yet agile when he then took me through some aerobatics. The "early" three pipe exhausts seem to smooth the engine note relative to the other six-pipe V12s I've flown, but she has quite a deep voice which sound fantastic both at a lumpy idle at 300rpm, and then when she clears her throat for take-off. And looking out over the wing housing 6 guns a piece with the big RAF roundel, is awesome.

Secondly, the experience of organising, preparing, conducting and then after the flight with Hurricane Heritage was top notch. Abigail was really helpful and the preparations were very professional, preparing my well for the flight. Then Mike was fantastic both on the ground and in the air. During the flight he gave a commentary of what he was doing to take off/land the aircraft, and then also gave a few interesting pieces of info about the area including WW2 airfields that we flew near. He gave me a good look at the "sight picture" out of the window so that I could judge flying straight and level, climb, and descent (there is only an Airspeed Indicator in the back), and then progressively let me explore how the aircraft flew.

For those that have followed me for a while, you'll know I have also been lucky enough to fly a Spitfire and Kittyhawk, as well as fly in a Mustang and the seemingly obvious question is how does this rank. I'm not in the business of ranking the flights, but what I will say is that if you are considering a flight in a WW2 fighter and you are in the UK, I would seriously consider flying the Hurricane first. It is both a great aircraft to fly, but also it is probably the most unique dual control WW2 fighter in the world.

Finally, you'll see some photos at the end of the aircraft in the air and on the ground. These were taken by me of the following flight coming back from their sortie, and will give you an idea of the aircraft. I'll also place a link to my posts from the air-to-air photography below so you can refer to them as well.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16vrUvZWgY/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16kaq82Wi8/

Thanks once again to Abigail and Mike, and everyone at Hurricane Heritage. I said it a few times. This experience will live with me for a long time.

N.B. This post is another one which is out of sequence, but it is such a cool moment I wanted to post it as close to the event as I could (the only thing that has stopped me doing this earlier has been the awful WiFi that I have suffered in my UK "Hotel" , and then being tied up with relocation to Boston.

24/07/2025

Fabulous photo from Darren Harbar Photography-Aviation of our Harvard over the Needles a few weeks ago. Stunning!

The Harvard passing the and captured from the and camera aircraft a few weeks back. Great view!

26/06/2025

Our two-seat Hurricane 'Pegs' has been busy making dreams a reality over the last few weeks. Here she is in her element over the rolling English countryside in formation with our Harvard FE511.

Book your flight here: www.hurricaneheritage.com