I have two ambitions in life. Well, now I only have one ambition in life because the first was fulfilled thanks to the generosity of Robs Lamplough who allowed me to sit in his Spitfire MkVIII at the Manor Farm Air Day recently. It's not often one's allowed close to such historic machinery, let alone let loose inside it, but to be able to spend a few minutes savouring the feel of the controls, the smell of leather, oil and metal was a magical moment for me and the fulfillment of a boyhood dream.

The event has a family feel, like an oversized family summer barbeque. The children from the local school sat excitedly on the grass with parked aircraft six feet behind them and taxiing aircraft six feet in front. Boys of all ages stared in disbelief at the sight of an Apache helicopter pirouetting just above the ground, laser-targeted gun pointing intimidatingly at them. The inverted army Lynx always amazes too.

On the flightline were the aforementioned Spitfire MkVIII, a two-seat MkIX Spitfire (bought in April by explorer Steven Brooks at Bonhams for a mere £1,739,500) and the Army Historic Aircraft Flight which consists of a Beaver Mk1, Chipmunk T10 and an Auster AOP Mk 9.

A gorgeous little Chilton DW1 with a 32hp Ford engine turned up, the pilot carrying it down the hill, and the collection was finished off with a Bucker Jungmeister parked somewhat controversially next to the Spitfires, a couple of Tiger Moths and Sir John Allison's Miles Gemini 1A. You might be interested to know that the only other airworthy Gemini is owned by our very own Mark Hales, although it's currently in the workshops, much like Mark himself.

We had a spectacular display from James Lovett flying a Hughes 500 with breathtaking precision, using his skids to knock over a traffic cone, pick it up, drop it back on the ground again and finally nudging it back upright. Stunning stuff, and not a bead of sweat.

All the pilots looked genuinely delighted to be there, enjoying the fine food laid on and enthusiastically answering questions and showing people around their steeds.

My other ambition? To fly a Spitfire, although my logbook currently shows fifteen hours in a Cessna, so there might be some way to go...

See the video.