Jersey veteran pilot flies WW2 plane for 101st birthday present

A veteran Jersey pilot has returned to the skies for his 101st birthday.

Bernard Gardiner took off in the world's only two-seat Hawker Hurricane having last flown it more than 80 years ago during the Second World War.

The flight was a thank you from the Hawker Preservation Group after Bernard's support to help raise funds for the rebuild of another aircraft, the Hawker Typhoon, that he also flew during WW2.

The group is hoping to raise £6.5m to restore it back to its former glory.

101-year-old Bernard Gardiner taking to the skies in the Hawker Hurricane. Credit: Hawker Typhoon Preservation Group

Bernard first caught the flying bug after winning a free flight at a flying circus in the early 1930s.

He then joined the RAF in 1940 at the age of 18 and served until the end of the Second World War.

He later became a commercial pilot and met Queen Elizabeth II at Gatwick Airport in 1958.

Talking to ITV News last year on his 100th birthday, Bernard said he flew more than 18,000 hours during his career.