IT was the high cost of lessons that finally grounded John Greenwood's dreams of flying solo.

But thanks to his wife and the RAF, his ambitions finally became a reality - albeit at the controls of a Tucano simulator.

Mr Greenwood, 64, comes from Osmotherley, near Northallerton, and his dream trip came about courtesy of a charity auction in aid of Lister House, a Royal British Legion care home, in Ripon.

His wife, Jacky, heard of one lot on offer - a VIP day out and flight simulator ride at RAF Linton-on-Ouse - and was determined to outbid all others so her husband could make the grade as a pilot.

"This was the one lot I knew I had to win," she said.

"Our children bought John a course of ten flying lessons for his 60th birthday, but we are now retired and can't afford to buy any more."

Before retiring, Mr Greenwood, 64, was head of support services at Lister House.

He said: "It was fantastic. When I learnt on the Robin aircraft, I managed to get it to fly straight and level but this was something else entirely.

"I was used to landing at about 75 mph, but the Tucano comes in at twice that speed. Everything happened very quickly."

Mrs Greenwood said: "John has looked forward to this ever since I told him about it. Trouble is, I know what's going to happen now - he'll want to take up flying again,"