Norman set to take to the skies to celebrate his 100th

A Barnham centenarian is looking forward to taking to the sky again.

Norman MacFarlane has been promised a flight in an open-cockpit plane to celebrate his 100th birthday.

He and his son will try again at Goodwood on July 26 after their bid a week before was ruled out because of strong winds.

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Mr MacFarlane said: "It's been years since I was in an open-air cockpit.

"I've flown in plenty of planes since those days but never in an open cockpit. If you're flying in a cabin, you may as well be on a train as a plane."

The joy of feeling the air on his face was a common experience for Mr MacFarlane in the 1930s.

He was an engineer for the flying circus of the famous pilot, Sir Alan Cobham.

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The show's aerial exploits were enjoyed all around the world. Wherever the planes went, so did Mr MacFarlane.

He went on to work for Imperial Airways and again travelled the globe ensuring its fleet of planes was air-worthy.

He later spent time servicing jet engines as that form of transport took off.

It is one of nature's aviators to whom Mr MacFarlane attributes his long life. He has kept bees for the past ten years after a spell with some hives during the second world war.

He has four hives with some 30,000-40,000 bees each.

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"I eat a jar of honey a week and I don't think I would be alive today if I didn't. I don't feel any different at 100 than I did when I was 90.

"Bees are fascinating things and they are essential for the environment, of course."

Mr MacFarlane was born just outside Edinburgh to an engineer father. He had two sisters and a brother and is the last of them to survive.

His family moved to Coventry when he was two. He left school at 14 to begin a five-year engineering apprenticeship.

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The Second World War saw him building Lancaster bombers by day and protecting Coventry as a member of its fire brigade by night.

His lifetime in engineering came to a formal end with his retirement in 1965.

He moved to Church Lane in Barnham with his late wife in 1984 and has lived in Clare Court, Barnham Road, since 1988.

His neighbours held a party for his birthday last Wednesday.

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They blew up a balloon for each year of his life and some 50 friends turned up to celebrate the special occasion.

Mr MacFarlane enjoyed a second get-together four days later with his family of a son and a daughter, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

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