Overview
- The trio — Paul Terry (101), Alfred Cooley (100) and Ivan Staines (99) — took to the skies in separate Spitfire flights from Biggin Hill on Thursday.
- Organisers said each flight lasted about 45 minutes and followed a route over the Kent countryside with family and fellow veterans watching from the hangar.
- One flight faced a near-cancellation because of a technical problem on the runway but was flown after the issue was resolved.
- All three men described the experience as the fulfilment of a lifelong wish and praised the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans for arranging and funding the trips.
- The events highlight the charity’s work by London black cab drivers to give time‑sensitive opportunities to ageing ex-servicemen and connect public commemoration with personal wartime memories.