The NHS Spitfire is due to fly over Harrogate District Hospital at 11.51am this morning.
The aircraft was scheduled to pass over the town last week but its mission was aborted due to bad weather.
With the weather set fair, today’s journey will hopefully go ahead.
The aircraft, which has the words ‘Thank U NHS’ on its undercarriage, has so far raised more than £90,000 from its flypasts for NHS Charities, which is a federation of 250 charities that support the NHS.
Donors can nominate a name to be written on the aircraft’s airframe. There is room for 80,000 names.
Read more:
- Eyes to the skies as spitfire flies over Harrogate hospital
- Mission aborted: No Harrogate hospital NHS Spitfire flypast
The aircraft was due to have left Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire at 10am today.
From there it was scheduled to fly over hospitals in Wakefield, Leeds and Bradford before arriving in Harrogate and then head on to York, Northallerton, Darlington and Teesside.
Low cloud and poor visibility forced the NHS Spitfire to cancel its flypast over Harrogate District Hospital today.
The aircraft set off from Duxford airfield in Cambridgeshire and was due to pass over the hospital at 10.50am this morning but the weather forced it to change route south of Doncaster.
After returning to Duxford, it was due to set off on a revised schedule over four hospitals. The figure is considerably down on the 27 originally planned.
Thousands of people had been waiting across the country to catch a glimpse of the Spitfire, which has “Thank U NHS” painted under its wings.
NHS Spitfire revised route
- Haltwhistle War Memorial Hospital – 3.39pm
- Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle – 3.45pm
- Annan Hospital – 3.49pm
- Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary NHS – 3.55pm
A spokesperson for the Aircraft Restoration Company, which is behind the NHS Spitfire, said today:
“The weather has taken an unexpected turn for the worse with low cloud and poor visibility forcing the NHS Spitfire to return to Duxford.”
The hospitals which missed out on a flypast will get to see the aircraft at a yet to be announced date.
Read more:
- Eyes to the skies as spitfire flies over Harrogate hospital
- Harrogate is the smoking capital of North Yorkshire
- Harrogate group unveils plaque to thank organ donors
Since July, the NHS Spitfire has raised more than £80,000 for NHS Charities Together, a federation of 250 charities that support the NHS.
The blue spitfire PL983 nicknamed ‘L’ was built for photo reconnaissance in the 1940s and has an interesting history. Lettice Curtis, a famous female pilot, once raced the spitfire, which now carries her name alongside those of the NHS workers.