From The Cambridge Evening News Online
Amazing Grace keeps memory alive
WHEN Nick Grace was killed in a car crash in the autumn of 1988, his wife Carolyn was left distraught. Living thousands of miles from her native Australia, in the heart of the British countryside, she was alone with two small children.
"It was devastating," says Carolyn, 54. "There was one night left where the children thought he was still alive. They were already in bed when it happened; I didn't tell them until the morning. I remember Richard, our son, coming in and asking 'Can I jump on Daddy now?' It was just awful."
Passionate about vintage aircraft, Nick died driving home from Goodwood, where he flew a Messerschmitt ME109 (which he'd renovated himself). A brilliant design engineer, he'd built both cars and boats before turning his hand to aircraft restoration.
It all started, explains Carolyn, in the late Seventies when Nick spotted a Spitfire for sale in the paper.
"He'd always wanted to fly one; he was born in '36 and remembered seeing them during the war," she continues. "He knew nobody would ever let him fly their Spitfire, so he decided to get one of his own.
And whatever he said he'd do, he did."
Inspired by his father, a DIY enthusiast who also loved aeroplanes, Nick decided to make an offer on the plane. In the event, he bought two from a museum in Scotland - selling one to fund the restoration of the other.
The plane he kept, now known as The Grace Spitfire, was ML407. Famous for shooting down the first enemy craft on D-Day, it clocked up some 200 combat hours during the Second World War. And yet, when Nick bought ML407 in 1979, it was virtually undamaged; almost unchanged since its construction in 1944.
Nick dedicated the next five years to restoring the Spitfire, now based at Duxford Airfield, to its former glory. It was a long-winded and painstaking task, which he completed single-handed, save for a little instruction.
"It was a major undertaking," explains Carolyn.
"Nick had no experience of working on aircraft, apart from building model planes when he was young. But he had a remarkable engineering brain."
"He'd come in from work and then go to work on the Spitfire; I was very much the tea-and-cake-maker in those days," continues Carolyn, with a laugh.
"To complete the renovation in five years, with everything else going on, was a remarkable feat. And it was a massive thing financially; we didn't have any money - to restore a Spitfire today (Wednesday, 26 July) would cost in the region of £750,000."
While Nick was bringing the Spitfire back to life, he and Carolyn moved house several times, gradually migrating from Cornwall to Sussex, where they could fly ML407 from their own farmland. And they had two children, Olivia and Richard. It was a busy time; every spare minute was spent on the Spitfire.
"I used to help him; I did whatever I could, though I wasn't very good," adds Carolyn. "But we worked as a team."
ML407's first flight, after restoration, was an amazing experience. Fitted with an extra seat in 1950, when it was destined to become a training plane, the Spitfire had room for two - so Carolyn went up too.
That moment, in the April of 1985, was caught on camera, part of a documentary titled A Perfect Lady.
"We used to do everything together," recalls Carolyn. "Especially the firsts. They're so important; they can't be repeated. For Nick the first engine run was more inspiring than the first flight. It was more outstanding in his memory, feeling this thing he'd been working on for so long finally come to life. It shook the plane around like a rag doll."
Nick later restored vintage aircraft for a living (while Carolyn, who was raised on a farm in New South Wales, set up a 750-strong cashmere goat stud).
But it was the Spitfire he really loved; he'd put his heart and soul into it.
"When he died, I knew I couldn't let the Spitfire go," explains Carolyn. "It was the only solid piece of Nick and his spirit I had left; I felt it represented him, in some tangible form. But that meant I had to pull my finger out."
A lot of people within the flying fraternity felt sure Carolyn would sell: "I was a woman, a widow with two young children - what would I want with a plane?"
But she was determined ML407 would fly on in Nick's memory. And that a Grace would be in the cockpit. So she sold the farm, along with her goats.
She moved her family to East Anglia and the plane to Duxford. And she started taking Spitfire lessons, from Nick's friend and top display pilot Pete Kynsey.
Fortunately Carolyn already had a pilot's licence and experience of flying a tail-dragger; she owned a 145hp Stampe.
But, with some 1,800hp, the Spitfire was a far more powerful beast.
"Nick was always very keen on me flying it," adds Carolyn, who lives in Halstead. "In fact, the year he died he wanted me to come up to Duxford for a week's intensive training. I got in the front seat once and, I admit it, I was frightened. Nick had a lot more confidence in me than I did."
Her fears were outweighed by a desire to see the Spitfire stay in the family. Carolyn spent a year learning from Pete. Then, in 1990, she went solo. Does she remember that first flight?
"Oh yes, I remember it all," says Carolyn, with a smile. "I felt so many different emotions; it's hard to put it into words. I was so pleased Pete thought I was good enough to fly on my own. I had the memory of all the veterans who'd flown before me. I was flying in memory of Nick, and as the mother of two children.
And, something I've always felt strongly about, I was representing women in aviation. I thought, if I got it wrong, people would say 'Oh, yes, it's a woman flying, isn't it.' I didn't want that."
A camera crew, filming a follow-up to A Perfect Lady,called Going Solo, also added pressure. But the flight went very smoothly. Which is little surprise, to see Carolyn now.
Ensconced in her office on Duxford Aifield, sporting a khaki flight suit, it's hard to imagine her as "a tea-and-cake-maker". Carolyn is clearly a consummate pilot; she lives and breathes The Grace Spitfire.
"It's not the kind of plane you can do a bit of," explains Carolyn, who's clocked up more than 500 hours of flight time in the last 16 years. For every hour in the sky, Carolyn estimates 40 hours of work on the ground. And she is only part, she points out, of a team (which includes her 21-year-old son Richard and Steve Kingman).
In 1991, Carolyn got her display authorisation; since then she's flown at airshows, proms nights, weddings, even birthdays. And on Sunday, August 6 she will take part in The Last Night of the Proms at Audley End - a momentous occasion, as it will be the first time she has returned to the venue since making her display proms debut there in 1998.
"It was amazing," she recalls. "I saw a video of it afterwards and it moved me to tears - I'm getting goose bumps now, just talking about it. I haven't flown there since that first time, so it's a really significant occasion."
While Carolyn is now an old hand in the air, running the plane is a phenomenally expensive business so in 1997, facing something of a crisis, she and Olivia (now in her 20s) decided to set up a supporters' group. Since then some 2,000 people have lent financial support. ML407 faced more troubles earlier this year: the plane was grounded, because Carolyn couldn't get insurance. Thankfully the HSBC stepped in.
"It's very much a group effort," adds Carolyn, unwilling to take sole credit for keeping The Grace Spitfire in the skies. But surely she must feel proud?
She is the only female Spitfire pilot in the world, after all.
"No, I never feel proud of myself," she says, emphatic. "I'm proud of my children. And the fact ML407 bears Nick's name."
Nick would, Carolyn concedes, have been "very proud" of her. "I hate it when people say 'You're so lucky, to be doing what you do'," she adds. "I'm fortunate to be flying a Spitfire, yes. But I'd rather have a husband. My husband. By keeping this going I'm keeping a bit of Nick going too."
■ To join The Grace Spitfire supporters' club, email
cg@solo-enterprises.demon.co.ukor write to Solo Enterprises, PO Box 1174, Halstead, Essex, CO9 2QF.
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Now that's a cool story!
Robbie
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