Bruce Dickinson has joked he’s only Iron Maiden’s frontman on a part-time basis – because he’s so focused on his love of flying.
And he wishes he’d been born in the 19th century, so he could have lived through the early era of flight.
He’s confirmed he’ll take part in the Duxford Air Show on the weekend of September 13-14, flying his replica World War I fighter plane in a dogfight re-enactment, just like he did above the Sonisphere festival in July.
Dickinson tells the Telegraph: “In my spare time I sing a bit, own a company that fixes airliners, and I’m trying to bring airships back to the skies. I should have been born in 1898, not 1958.”
He adds that he’d grown up wanting to join the RAF, but couldn’t because he was “rubbish at maths and physics.” Instead, he says: “I started flying at the ripe old age of 30. And 7000 hours later I finished up as a Boeing 757 captain and 737 instructor.”
Dickinson, who flew Maiden round the world on Ed Force One in 2008, bought his replica Fokker Dr1 earlier this year and joined the Great War Display Team soon afterwards. Their re-enactment also features Sopwith, Junkers and Royal Aircraft Factory machines.
