Ever since he was a boy, RAF Squadron Leader Ian 'Shiney' Simmons dreamt of flying Spitfires. Joe Willis talks to the pilot about his passion and his work to commemorate the heroes of the Battle fo Britain.

THERE is no more beautiful aircraft than the Spitfire, says Squadron Leader Shiney Simmons.

And, according to the RAF instructor, there are few sights more beautiful than looking out of its cockpit on to the English countryside below.

This partly explains why the pilot volunteers to spend every weekend during the summer flying the length and breadth of the country in the now legendary Spitfires and Hurricanes.

Twice a year for ten years, Sqn Ldr Simmons, from RAF Linton-on-Ouse, near York, wrote a letter to senior officers asking to join the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight team.

The group was formed in 1957 to help celebrate the end of the Second World War and to commemorate the 2,936 Allied pilots who kept the might of the German Luftwaffe at bay for four months during 1940.

Finally he was accepted and for the past ten years has taken part in countless displays and flypasts at air shows, civic ceremonies and other events across Britain.

Sqn Ldr Simmons says he gets great satisfaction from commemorating the pilots - famously hailed as "the few" by Winston Churchill.

"There are times when you fly over the English countryside and it's a patchwork quilt of wonderful fields," he said.

"I find it quite easy to drift back to the 1940s and 1950s."

His displays also evoke strong emotions for the crowds, especially veterans.

"People stand up to clap and cheer, many with a tear in their eye," he says. "I heard one account of a Battle of Britain Hurricane pilot who had suffered a stroke and had not talked for two years.

"After watching a display, he turned to his friends and said, simply, 'Thank you'."

The pilot can spend up to six hours a day flying to displays. All navigation is done using maps, a watch, a compass and by looking for landmarks on the ground.

The Spitfire is not the easiest plane to fly, said the pilot, who has previously flown Tornados and Phantoms and is now an RAF instructor.

Last year his landing gear malfunctioned at Duxford, in Cambridgeshire. On another occasion his tyre blew as he was landing. On both occasions he was lucky to escape with his life.

One of his proudest moments came when he was awarded his wings in 1975 by Second World War flying ace, Douglas Bader.

Bader, who had both legs amputated after a crash, overcame his disability to become an exceptional fighter pilot.

"It was the highlight of my life," said Sqn Ldr Simmons.

Sqn Ldr Simmons is due to take part in the Sunderland International Airshow on July 30 and 31, after a display at Linton-on-Ouse on July 29.