08-05-2025
Cadets recreate WW2 aircraft photo at Luton Airport for VE Day
An aircraft built to train pilots before World War Two has once again flown over its hometown the "Maggie", the Miles Magister was originally built in Luton and is now part of the Shuttleworth collection in aircraft flew into London Luton Airport on Wednesday as part of a series of VE Day cadets recreated a photo taken with the Maggie in the 1940s, and pilot Scott Butler said: "The opportunity to fly the Miles Magister was simply too good to miss."
Mr Butler, now an easyJet pilot based at Luton and a volunteer pilot at Shuttleworth, started flying as an air cadet before serving in the Royal Air Force. "Flying the Maggie has many links for me," he said. "We were thrilled that the cadets were all as enthusiastic about the aircraft as their predecessors from all those years ago."
Production of the two-seater aircraft began in October 1937, with more than 700 of them entering service in RAF training schools. It said to have a wingspan of 33ft 10in (10.31m) and can fly at speeds of 132mph (212km).After the war, the aircraft were converted for civilian use and re-designed as the Hawk Trainer Miles Magister is now housed near Biggleswade at Shuttleworth, and will be on display at the Shuttleworth Military Air Show on 31 May.
Charlemagne Kirk, one of the visiting cadets, said: "We all feel immensely privileged to have been invited to get a close look at a working Miles Magister... and recreate such an important moment."Neil Thompson, chief operations officer at London Luton Airport, commented: "We are extremely proud of the airport's past and it was an honour to have this opportunity to pay tribute to the Second World War generation in this way."
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