93-year-old Czech RAF pilot takes to the skies in a Spitfire again

Czechoslovak RAF veteran Col Emil Boček took to the skies in a Spitfire on Thursday more than seven decades after his last flight in the iconic plane. The 93-year-old veteran, one of the country’s few remaining war heroes, spend thirty minutes up in the air, taking off from Biggin Hill and piloting the aircraft himself for a short while when it was airborne. He told reporters later it was an incredible experience. Boček voiced the dream to go up in a Spitfire once more a year ago and a number of organizations including the Czech Spitfire Club and the Czech Armed Forces got together to make it come true. Before the flight Boček attended a mass celebrated in remembrance of Czechoslovak RAF pilots at St George's RAF Chapel of Remembrance at Biggin Hill. Cardinal Dominik Duka, who celebrated the mass, gave the chapel a copy of the Infant Jesus of Prague as a gift.