Historic Airfields • 1-hour experience

High above East Anglia, the Historic Airfields flight begins at the Saxon Air Business Aviation Centre at Norwich Airport. This one-hour trial lesson invites visitors to climb into a four-seat Diamond DA40 and look down on Norfolk’s patchwork of fields, airstrips and waterways while an instructor guides the experience. The DA40 is immediately memorable: an Austrian-built Diamond Star with a distinctive T-shaped tail, low wing and a glass cockpit that hands over panoramic visibility.

Inside, racing-style leather bucket seats and modern avionics make the lesson feel equal parts museum tour and pilot’s clinic. After a safety briefing and a walkaround inspection, your instructor connects with Norwich ATC, throttles up and lifts you into the familiar East Anglian sky. What follows is a compact, story-rich view of regional aviation history.

The route traces wartime runways, grass strips and once-secret RAF bases that dot the Norfolk landscape, giving a new perspective on how these airfields shaped local communities. Below, the Norfolk Broads’ slow rivers and reedbeds contrast with geometric farmland and long, straight runways — a landscape shaped by drainage, agriculture and strategic defense. The highlight is the invitation to take the controls: under instructor supervision you can handle straight-and-level flight and learn basic stick-and-rudder technique.

Practicalities are straightforward. The experience runs as a 60-minute flight for one or two passengers; participants must be 12 or older, and 12–13-year-olds require an adult observer on board. Please arrive 15 minutes early for check-in; cancellations need at least 48 hours’ notice.

Note that aircraft are not wheelchair accessible and trousers are recommended for boarding. Why book this over a standard sightseeing flight? The lesson format transforms spectators into students, and the DA40’s visibility makes even routine features—airfield patterns, hedgerows, river bends—feel newly significant. It’s an ideal way to celebrate a milestone, gift an aviation-curious friend, or add a high-adrenaline chapter to a Norfolk weekend.

For photographers and history buffs alike, the flight compresses acres of story into an hour: the geometry of wartime strips, the watery weave of the Broads and the crisp outline of Norwich below. Book through the Saxon Air Business Aviation Centre for a pilot-led, hands-on hour in the sky that threads past historic runways and over a landscape shaped by water, war and farming. Included are a welcome, introduction and safety briefing before the 60-minute DA40 lesson led by an experienced pilot.

Flights run for one or two passengers and include a full pre-flight walkaround so you learn about the aircraft. Optional on-day souvenirs are available — a branded water bottle (£19.99) or key fob (£4.50). The format blends instruction and sightseeing, leaving many participants ready to book further flying training or to pursue a private pilot course afterward locally.