Pilot training: Prince George off to flying start at 11

Prince George raises the ramp on the C17 plane during a visit to the Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in 2023. Photo / Getty Images
The Prince and Princess of Wales watch their son take off in a training aircraft from White Waltham Airfield and land about an hour later.
Prince George has continued a royal tradition of taking to the skies by starting flying lessons.
The 11 year-old flew in a single-engine Piper PA-28 with dual controls, an aircraft specifically designed for flight training.
The Prince and Princess of Wales watched their son take off from White Waltham Airfield near Maidenhead, Berks, and land around an hour later.
An onlooker told The Sun: “George is only 11 years old but it is the right time to start.
“The royal family has a proud tradition of flying and it looks like George is next in line.
“His parents watched George take flight from the safety of the ground but he flew with an instructor and loved it.”
The late Duke of Edinburgh trained at the same airfield which is home to the West London Aero Club.
West London Aero Club’s website describes White Waltham as “one of the oldest and best known airfields in the country”.
“Set in 200 acres on the edge of a picturesque estate in the beautiful Berkshire countryside, it is also reputedly the largest grass airfield in Britain,” it states.
“With three long runways there is always one into the wind. The Club has plenty of parking space and a wonderful, easy-going atmosphere.”
Prince Philip, George’s great grandfather, was 31 when he began his flying training at White Waltham in November 1952.
He first trained in a de Havilland Chipmunk aircraft and then in a North American Harvard.
In May 1953, he was awarded his “wings” by Air Chief Marshal Sir William Dickson, chief of the air staff, at a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex were both in the Army Cadet Corps at Eton College but they were not given flying lessons until they were in the military.
The Prince of Wales is a trained helicopter pilot who has flown for RAF Search and Rescue and East Anglia Air Ambulance.
The Duke of Sussex also trained with the RAF and went on to be a gunner in an Apache helicopter in Afghanistan in 2012.
The King handed over the role of colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps to the Prince of Wales in May.
His Majesty spent four months training in the RAF, and Prince Andrew was a helicopter pilot in the 1982 Falklands war.
A spokesman for the royal family declined to comment when approached by The Telegraph.