Prince George learns to fly aged 11 as he pilots his first plane, report says
Prince George is learning to fly at just 11 years old after he completed his first flight on the last day of his summer holidays, The Sun reports.
The future King was seen flying above White Waltham Airfield near Maidenhead, Berkshire on Friday where his parents came to watch.
He had his lesson in a single-engine Piper PA-28 with dual controls designed for novice pilots.
Several onlookers watched Prince George in flight, one of whom told the Sun: “He loved it. It’s the right time to start. The royal family has a proud tradition of flying and it looks like George is next in line."
Another person present at the airfield said: “There were probably 30 or 40 people in the clubhouse. Catherine and William watched George take off. But they were relaxed about it. All three of them had been pretty chilled in the clubhouse.”
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William and Kate, both 42, had arrived in a three-car convoy to the airfield where George’s great-grandfather, Prince Philip, trained, The Sun reports.
Flying has been a longstanding tradition among the Royal Family, although Prince George has started to learn much earlier than his father and grandfather.
Prince William began aged 27 when he was training with the Royal Air Force, and later served with the East Anglian Air Ambulance.
Prince Philip started training aged 31 and was awarded his “wings” by Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir William Dickson at a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace in 1953.
When William was made colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps in May this year, the King praised him for being “a very good pilot indeed”.