BRUCE DICKINSON: Why Spitfire Replica Is 90 Percent Of Actual Size

25 July 2018

The U.K. leg of IRON MAIDEN's 'Legacy Of The Beast' tour kicks off in Newcastle on Tuesday, July 31 with a Spitfire buzzing the stage during the opening number, 'Aces High'. The plane is a 90-percent-sized replica of an actual Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb registration number AA 853 from 302 Squadron that saw active duty in 1941.

Says singer Bruce Dickinson: "We would have made it actual size, but we had to cut it down by 10 percent to fit on some of the festival stages. Otherwise, it's an exact replica of arguably the greatest plane design ever — in fact, one of the best-designed machines ever!"

Since the tour's opening night in Tallinn, Estonia at the end of May, the band has already played to around 750,000 fans in sold-out stadium, arena and festival shows across Europe, including selling out the prestigious Atletico Madrid football stadium in Spain and in Plovdiv, Bulgaria (pictured above) last week.