87-year-old pensioner is UK's oldest stunt pilot

London, June 1 (ANI): Eighty-seven-year-old Doug Gregory has achieved a unique record of becoming Britain's oldest stunt pilot.

Gregory, who first took to the skies over 60 years ago as a Royal Air Force pilot during the second World War, braved a strong gale this weekend to race over the New Forest, Hants, in a replica 1917 war plane he built 20 years ago.

Along with another member of the Great War Display Team, Gregory demonstrated a thrilling dog-fight to celebrate the centenary of one of the forest's former airfields, East Boldre.

The Telegraph quoted him, as saying: "There was a gale blowing which made it extremely difficult to fly. Half of the team decided to stay on the ground but I was stupid enough to go up anyway."

"I was a bit scared, because when you are up in a very flimsy plane you bounce around a bit, but we didn't want to disappoint the people watching on the ground," he added.

Gregory has clocked up thousands of air miles over the years. On leaving the RAF in 1946, he became a teacher and after retiring in 1983, he decided to build a replica SE5A First World War fighter biplane, which took him four years.

He said: "Retirement gives you a whole new lease of life and I knew what I wanted to do.

"It is a wonderful feeling to be flying and I just feel right up there. Sometimes it can be frightening, but a lot of the time it's the best feeling in the world," he added. (ANI)