HIGH-FLYING businessman Derek Mitchell has taken a trip down memory lane to revisit his working roots.

The founder of Harrogate company Environmental Linings, he began work as a trainee RAF pilot during the 1960s. When the chance to win a VIP day out at a North Yorkshire airbase came up at a charity auction, he had it firmly in his sights and placed a winning bid.

The visit to RAF Linton-on-Ouse, the pilot training base near York, was donated by station commander Group Captain Andy Sudlow to Harrogate Hockey Club, which ran the auction to raise funds.

Mr Mitchell said: "I just missed out on National Service and that allowed me to join the RAF on a career basis.

"I was selected for pilot training and got almost to the end of the course.

"Sadly, I did not quite make the grade, so I was curious to see how I would have fared on today's course."

On his tour of the base, Mr Mitchell was struck by the changes since his training days. He said: "It is much more sophisticated and professional these days."

One thing unavailable when he was in the Air Force was a flight simulator, so personnel let him take the controls in a half-hour flight in the Tucano simulator.

Although he had has not flown for 40 years, he impressed his hosts with his aerobatics.