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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 NEWS PLANES AND PRICES 2013 SEASON **** These are given further down the page with news about some of the improvements we are introducing this season.
Birthday boy ready for take off and all clandestinely organised with British Sky Tours by his wife, Sarah! A FEW TIPS IF YOU ARE CONTEMPLATING A SKY TOUR..... We always suggest that, if at all possible, you form a group of family or friends. This gives you the best deal per person. We always quote before you book a tour. Our tour prices are all inclusive for your whole group. We cannot sell individual tickets by law - in a nutshell, we are not an airline. How do we work out the cost of your tour? For a sky tour we need a car to bring you to the airfield, an aircraft with your sky guide, after landing another car with our French guide for the ground tour, plus the aircraft and that original car to take you home afterwards - these ingredients are required for one passenger or eight. We fly in a smaller aircraft for two people or a family with young children and deploy the larger, more spacious aircraft for groups up to six or seven 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. You can book a larger aircraft if you wish for two people or a family with young children. All the aircraft we deploy have big windows. Everyone has a good view. Our sky guide explains the D Day sites as you fly over each one.
Many families take our tours while visiting London. Our chauffeur, John, removes all the hassle from reaching an airport early in the morning and driving into a huge and busy city in the evening. North American families are welcome to ask John to meet them upon arrival in Britain. We put you in direct contact - may we stress that we and John have no financial connection whatsoever - and you make the arrangements together. We are not involved unless you wish. John is a great chauffeur with very comfortable cars for up to six people with luggage. 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 because we no longer need send John to pick you up. Please do bear in mind that if we stand down John, 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 *** WEATHER
Captain Glenn Heavens - yes - after a day in Normandy We can fly in any weather but the tours are more fun when the sun shines. When planning your holiday, please allow a spare day in case the weather is really awful on the day planned for the trip. We have never postponed a trip, so far, but we are prudent organisers. We monitor the weather all the time, from the Shetland Isles to the Swiss Alps. 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.
SKY TOURS AIRCRAFT WITH 2013 TOUR PRICES
Shoreham Airport - the station sits in the top left corner of the photo and the motorway is just a couple of hundred yards too far left to make the photo. The River Adur flows beside a long spit forming Shoreham Harbour before reaching the sea.
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 - 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 five people plus your guides for the day - all inclusive - for £ 4,900 with the Chieftain from Fairoaks. This price covers your whole group door-to-door for the whole day. Your sky guide was just old enough to serve as a young paratrooper and then officer with many who jumped on D Day. Our colleague in France comes from a family who lived in a village a couple of miles from the invasion beaches. This summer our tours from Fairoaks have been extended a little. We found that clients want to spend more time on the ground in France and by adding another couple of hours you can see all the main sites at a more relaxed pace! We offer tours for five people at the price others charge for two people. There are no hidden charges, no taxes, no tips expected.
Sky Leisure's Chieftain keeping historic company - left side photo, the tail of a rare Luftwaffe Me 109 just shows while two RAF Hurricane fighters occupy the top of the picture. Seventy years ago these aircraft fought over Shoreham during the Battle of Britain.
Because Shoreham is on the coast the flying costs are reduced. Reaching the airport does, of course, take longer. We can take five people plus your guide for the day - all inclusive - for £ 3840 with the Chieftain. This price drops to £ 3610 for groups that make their own way to the airport. Thursdays and Saturdays allow us more time on the ground in France because the airport stays open until 8pm during summer. Keep in mind that when we say ' all inclusive ' we mean exactly that - car travel, flight, tour, meals, tickets for museums. There are no hidden extras, no taxes, no tips. What you see is what you're buying.
Courseulles-sur-Mer along Juno Beach where the Canadians landed despite stiff resistance. The largest aircraft that we deploy on sky tours is the King Air operated by Synergy Aviation. She is larger and faster than a Chieftain and will take seven people plus sky guide with great comfort. Because she is a much faster aircraft the Channel crossing takes less time and that allows longer over the landing grounds and famous sites - such as Omaha Beach and the Pointe du Hoc. The photos above and below give an idea of the superb vision for following your sky guide's commentary while taking snapshots.
Synergy's King Air has very comfortable seats. Tall people feel very much at home. Flying with the King Air raises cost of the day to £ 5750 but that includes everything door-to-door for seven people. This cost falls to £ 5550 should you not opt for pick-up by our chauffeur and make your own way to Fairoaks Airfield. We do not charge your meals and museum tickets as extras, which makes quite a difference when seven people are taking a tour. Those who copy our tours charge all these as extras at about £ 40 per person. With seven people touring that's another £ 300 on top of the quoted price. Not to mention that our French colleague, Vanessa, is a National Guide with two university degrees and an expert on D Day who grew up just inland of Juno and Gold Beaches. She's also worked at the Arromanches and Caen Museums. Vanessa brings the French dimension to your tour. She's extremely knowledgeable about D day and Normandy. She knows where to lunch and where to buy the finest cheeses and calvados! She's also a very capable and safe driver. She studied English at university. So no language problems and two guides for the price of one - because your sky guide stays with you all day - although Adrian regards Vanessa as an impressive expert on D Day and Normandy, including Mont Saint Michel, Caen, Honfleur, the cheese countryside and many other charming places. We can land you in Normandy after your air tour and Vanessa will guide and drive you to a hotel at a local resort - such as Mont Saint Michel - but this does involve the cost of our aircraft returning to base in England. We offer you only the best - and flying with us there are no extras, no taxes, no tips expected.
The Mulberry Harbour off Arromanches along Gold Beach
The American Cemetery above Omaha Beach on the 4 July
Molly aged six enjoys the big windows while flying over Sir Winston Churchills's former home at Chartwell. *****************
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. Happy - second - retirement chaps!
TERMS We ask our clients to pay by money transfer at least fourteen days before the tour. We also accept payment long before your tour and hold the money in a bank account for you - in Sterling - which removes any worries about sudden rate of exchange fluctuations. Should have to cancel your tour, so long as you let us know two weeks ahead of the tour, we refund your money in full. Should your plans suffer disruption from a sudden crisis - such as the volcano eruption on Iceland - we would refund your money in full. Before a tour we keep in touch regularly and such decisions are taken together - which is how we avoid misunderstandings and stay friends with you the customers. We don't accept credit cards any longer because nowadays this adds 2.5% if not more on the price compared with a money transfer payment. Should no payment arrive fourteen days before a tour, rather than argue over cancellation fees, we simply assume that tour is not taking place and stand down the team. We find this is much simpler and everyone knows where they stand. 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 ourselves 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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