Eric Carter claims he was amused rather than angry when told that he could not climb into the cockpit of a Spitfire on display at at the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent. The ubiquitous health and safety excuses were given but the reason that this is newsworthy is that Mr Carter is one of the airmen who actually flew Spitfires during World War II. He was involved in dozens of missions both in Spitfires and Hurricanes and commented that he understood that
the staff were being extra careful, it’s a pity the Luftwaffe weren’t so considerate.
Mr Carter’s missions were mainly over northern Russia, attempting to keep the port of Murmansk open. Apparently one of the reasons was that the cockpit seat had been removed, another that some paint was used in the refurbishment that contained radioactive radium – not really sure why that would be – whose idea was that?
