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British Sky Tours |
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British Sky Tours |
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| HOme | The Team | SEALION | CONTACT | D DAY AIR/LAND | SWISS ALPS |
' Quit looking so worried, General, we'll take care of this thing for you.'
President Eisenhower recalling his conversation with a paratrooper about to emplane on the evening before D Day.
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EASY GUIDE TO SKY TOURS AIRCRAFT PLANES AND PRICES ****
IF YOU ARE CONTEMPLATING A SKY TOUR..... We always suggest that, if at all possible, you make up a group. This gives you the best deal per person. For a sky tour you need a car to reach the airfield, an aircraft with your guide, after landing another car for the ground tour, plus the aircraft and that original car to take you home afterwards - these ingredients are required for one passenger or six. We can arrange smaller aircraft for two people but there is very little difference in the overall cost - less than £ 500 - between a smaller aircraft and the larger, more spacious aircraft we deploy for groups up to eight strong.
Anyone can squash adults into a small aircraft but this is far from comfortable, not always pleasant on a hot or cloudy day, and in any case makes it difficult for all passengers to look simultaneously at places on the ground, let alone take photographs. Both the larger aircraft that we deploy have big windows so everyone has a good view.
Many families take our tours while visiting London and our chauffeur with his limousine removes all the hassle from reaching an airport early in the morning and driving into a huge and busy city in the evening. Occasionally residents of Britain and visitors from Europe, indeed North Americans living over here, prefer to drive to and from the airfield in their own cars. This drops the cost of your tour by £ 300 as we no longer need send Mick and his limousine. Please do bear in mind that if we stand down Mick, but you subsequently have second thoughts - it does happen - let us know as quickly as possible, so we can make sure he is available for your party. Have a look at the aircraft below and try our D DAY/AIR LAND virtual tour - link at top of page - also Easy Schedules, link below *** SKY TOURS AIRCRAFT
Captain Glenn Heavens - yes - with a Seneca in Normandy On board all our aircraft everyone sits beside a large window and our pilots are experts at making sure every passenger has a good view of each site on the ground and plenty of time for taking photos.
LARGER SKY TOURS AIRCRAFT
With a decade of experience behind our team we have learned that flying the larger aircraft adds a proportionately small cost to the overall price - £ 400 - far outweighed by the comfort bonus. The Piper Chieftain in the photo above is a very comfortable eight seat aircraft. The American company directors in the photo - starting two days of studying D Day for management training - told us that Synergy Aviation's aircraft was the first comfortable ride they'd experienced since their arrival in Europe! We can take up to seven people plus your guide for the day - all inclusive - for £ 4000 with the Chieftain from Fairoaks. We can take a party of eight plus your guide - all inclusive - for £ 4500 with the Chieftain from Fairoaks. The reason for the higher price is that we need cars in England and France that are large enough and comfortable enough for nine people. Should you decide to make your own way to the airport the price drops to £ 3700 for a seven strong group because we do not have to send Mick our chauffeur with his limousine. There is free parking at Fairoaks Airport. Likewise there would be a reduction for a party of eight plus guide although we would have to charge enough to cover the requirement for a large enough vehicle in France. Bear in mind that if some of the group are very tall, we might have to arrange a larger vehicle - such as a small bus rather than a people carrier - and that might add to the price quoted above for a group of seven. So far, during more than a decade, we've never had to add ' leg room ' to the very comfortable Espace and other vehicles when touring in Normandy. Keep in mind that when we say ' all inclusive ' we mean exactly that - travel, flight, tour, meals, tickets for museums. There are no hidden extras, no taxes, no tips. What you see is what you're buying.
Queen of the Skies MAYFAIR DOVE
Beautifully kept, this graceful aircraft has all the varnish and cushions one expects from a winged lady who served with Royal Air Force VIP squadrons. Adrian flew in her many times when she served as the Air Attaché's VIP aircraft during the Vietnam War. Photos below and more at OUR TEAM.
She carries six passengers* in old VIP style luxury and there's plenty of room for the family's holiday luggage. * normally five passengers with sky guide on tours and six passengers for golf days and private air travel.
With up to six passengers - door-to-door and all inclusive - our D Day one day tour to Normandy costs £ 4300 with the Mayfair Dove. Many families take our tours while visiting London and our chauffeur, Mick, with his limousine removes all the hassle from reaching Biggin Hill Airport early in the morning and driving into a huge and busy city in the evening. Occasionally residents of Britain and visitors from Europe, indeed North Americans living over here, prefer to drive to and from the airfield in their own cars. This drops the cost of a tour by £ 300 to £ 4000 for up to six people all inclusive - as we no longer need send Mick and his limousine. Please do bear in mind that if we stand down Mick, but you subsequently have second thoughts - it does happen - let us know as quickly as possible, so we can make sure he is available for your party. The Dove flies from Biggin Hill, once the most famous fighter station in the Royal Air Force. There is free parking beside the passenger terminal.
MORE ABOUT THE MAYFAIR DOVE
Because the Mayfair Dove is a former Royal Air Force aircraft, she's highly versatile, built to demanding standards and able to fly from grass runways - a feat beyond more modern aircraft - which opens up many airfields in glorious countryside both in the British Isles and on the Continent. She's also very much more stable than a modern aircraft when flying in adverse weather - those long wings smooth away all those unpleasant bumps. No spilt coffees on board the graceful Mayfair Dove. Above a sister aircraft takes off from a strip in New Zealand. Mayfair Dove served as the RAF Air Attaché's aircraft based at Saigon during the Vietnam War and flew VIPs safely all over Indo-China. She also landed at some remote places such as Kontum in the Central Highlands and Dalat where the strip is the top of a 5000 feet high mountain. Our guide Adrian Hill flew in her many times as a young diplomat on somewhat varied duties.
Air Commodore Mickey Swiney alongside the Devon among the blast pens at Tan Son Nhut airbase on the outskirts of Saigon. The lady herself flying low over the Bay of Cambodia. The coastal hills of that country are the background.
Mayfair Dove flying VIPs today - Molly aged six enjoys the Dove's big windows while flying over Sir Winston Churchills's former home at Chartwell. Should you would like to learn more about the Dove - known as a Devon when serving with the RAF - have a look at two goldmines: one is the 207 Squadron RAF Association's pages on Devon VP962 - now the Mayfair Dove - and the other is the Australian Clyde North Aeronautical Preservation Group's pages on the DH Devon/Dove. You will find pictures of both pilot and plane in Vietnam and some fascinating details about how the aircraft left the factory with all sorts of features which only recently have been required for modern small passenger aircraft. Perhaps most surprising, because she was an RAF aircraft for so many years, despite her maturity the lady has not yet flown half her airframe's life. *****************
SAFE HANDS Former British Airways jumbo captains, Bill Pritchard and Dave Frost, checking their passengers are ready to start a sky touring holiday. During many years service with British Airways Bill Pritchard and Dave Frost spent no less than five years flying 37,000 feet in the sky at the controls of jet airliners. Many a jumbo jet captain has been taught how to fly 747 aircraft by one them during their years as senior training captains with British Airways.
TERMS Like any other airline, we expect payment for tickets before passengers board the aircraft. Thus we require payment at least 72 hours ahead of departure. When you make a tour booking we will ask you for a credit card number. We do this to avoid late cancellation. No money is taken off your credit card but a tour must be cancelled 14 days before the date of departure to avoid a late cancellation charge. This is levied on a sliding scale. For example, if a tour is cancelled with less than 48 hours warning we reserve the right to charge 100% of the tour cost – this does not apply in cases of force majeure. To avoid a situation involving cancellation charges, unless other arrangements have been made, when we have not received full payment within 14 days of the booked date for a tour, we regard this as cancellation within 14 days before a tour, and stand down our team. You can make enquiries and arrange a trip by e-mail, fax or telephone to our representative – Air & Marine Travel Limited of Brewster, New York, USA - also with Mayfair Dove Aviation at Biggin Hill Airport in the UK and by email to our Operations Desk via the Bookings and Enquiries link below.
PLEASE MAKE BOOKINGS & ENQUIRIES HERE Easy Sky Guide Easy Schedules Easy Overnight Schedules Why not combine a Normandy Sky Tour with a visit to Sir Winston Churchill's Archives at Cambridge University.
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