[Video] The Revival’s most famous plane | GRR
Tear your eyes away from the track action and one of the most beautiful, absorbing and emotive parts of the Goodwood Revival is undoubtedly the Freddie March Spirit of Aviation, where we gather some unique pre-jet age aircraft. The display and accompanying award is named after the current Duke of Richmond’s grandfather, an aviation enthusiast who gave permission for the creation of RAF Westhampnett airbase on the Goodwood Estate.
Famously, the perimeter track of the airfield was the setting for many impromptu races for the air crew between sorties and after the war, pilot Tony Gaze persuaded the Duke that it would make an ideal racing circuit.
Fly forward a few decades and another Spitfire pilot, Ray Hanna, became indelibly associated with Goodwood, from the very first Revival. It was Hanna who did the carefully planned and perfectly executed low level flypast down the start-finish straight during the 1998 Revival, a moment that has passed into the annals of Goodwood history. Ever since, his Spitfire – MH434 – and the aviation restoration business he started, the Old Flying Machine Company, have been a vital part of making the Revival as beloved as it is. Here, Ray’s daughter Sarah tells the story of her father’s passion for planes and why MH434 is so special.