Fly past re-enactment

Enthusiasts in the Hunter Flying Club hope to recreate Sqn Ldr Neville Duke's historic 1953 flight in a bright red Hawker Hunter, which averaged 727.6 miles per hour on a measured course from Rustington to Kingston Gorse.

The 50th anniversary commemoration is provisionally scheduled for September 6-7, exactly half a century after the flight made news round the world.

Thousands of people lined the seafront from Littlehampton to East Preston for the original record bids, and large crowds are likely to watch the re-run.

The enthusiasts' club, which has 10 Hunters based at Exeter Airport, is seeking permission from the Civil Aviation Authority to follow Sqn Ldr Duke's flight path of half a century ago, after flying from Farnborough to the original start point at the old RAF Tangmere.

Continuing over the former Tangmere base, the Hunter, painted up in the same red colour scheme of Sqn Ldr Duke's Hunter F3, will head for Selsey Bill and then turn eastwards along the coast towards Rustington.

Dubbed the "speed king" and "the man who has flown faster than any person in the world in level flight", Sqn Ldr Duke celebrated his record-breaking feat with dinner at Littlehampton's Beach Hotel, where RAF top brass and senior management of the Hawker aircraft company, toasted the flying ace's success.

A few years ago, Sqn Ldr Duke returned to Rustington seafront to unveil a plaque marking his achievement.