A ROYAL Air Force flying instructor has been celebrating the 40th anniversary of his first solo flight as an RAF pilot.

Flight Lieutenant Alan Mawby, an instructor at RAF Linton on Ouse, first went solo in a Chipmunk plane in April 1964.

To celebrate, he took to the skies in a Tucano aircraft and his wife, Diane, also commissioned local artist Norman Appleton to paint the very Chipmunk he first flew in as a solo pilot, alongside a Tucano.

Fl Lt Mawby said: "When I first went solo, I didn't imagined I'd be lucky enough to still be flying all these years later. I'm really glad to still be fit enough to pass on my experience to the students here at Linton."