The Shuttleworth Collection includes: 1909 Bleriot XI 1910 Deperdussin 1916 Sopwith Pup 1923 English Electric Wren 1930 Southern Martlet 1938 Gloster Gladiator 1941Hawker Sea Hurricane 1942 Supermarine Spitfire

"They could just nip to the stores to get a spare part. You don't exactly get these down at Halfords today," he says tapping the securely-fixed exhaust.

Mr Preslent - one of Shuttleworth's four fulltime engineers and the resident expert at replacing aircraft fabric - has laboured over these aeroplanes for all 30 years of his working life.

"I don't think I'd work on them if they didn't fly. It's frustrating if you can't get the parts or if things keep going wrong, but to see the things fly at the end of your labours is worth it."

As the Lysander roars into the sky flanked by Spitfires, Mr Preslent's efforts are not wasted on Peter Robbins - an RAF veteran who "looked after the gubbins and kept the tyres pumped up" on Lysanders more than 60 years ago.

'Beautiful to fly'

"It's marvellous to see it fly! It really sets my old ticker thumping."

Mr Robbins is no stranger to going up himself. "You'd be changing a tyre and get a tap on the shoulder and have to become the air gunner. They're beautiful to fly in. They can land on a postage stamp."

Andy Sephton: "The Lysander will bite you."

Jumping down from the cockpit, Shuttleworth's chief pilot Andy Sephton is less complimentary about the Lysander: "You have to be very careful or it will bite you. Even the official flying notes say 'a foolhardy pilot will be tempted to take liberties'. I've never seen that written in any flying notes."

Many of Shuttleworth's aircraft may look rudimentary - such as the world's oldest airworthy aeroplane a 1909 Bleriot XI, skeletally built from wood, linen and wire - but the pilots selected to fly them have to be amongst the UK's finest.

'Unlearning' to fly

"We have an air chief marshal, two group captains, two chief test pilots, a Gulf War veteran and that's just for starters. These aircraft are not difficult to fly, just totally different to modern planes."

Irrespective of their former rank, new pilots have to serve an apprenticeship during which modern flying techniques are "unlearned" as they progress to piloting older and older aeroplanes.

The Bleriot looks simple, but takes skill to fly

"If you went straight to the oldest planes from a modern one, you'd soon crash and die," says Mr Sephton. "None of these planes are bad or dangerous, but they have certain characteristics you must understand."

Mr Sephton had earlier shown his understanding of a 1923 De Havilland Humming Bird's foibles, casually landing the aircraft before a hushed crowd when the plane's engine cut out.

Tricky ride

"It has a high propensity to turn over. It's crashed several times, breaking one pilot's legs and trapping another upside down in a potato field with fuel dribbling over him."

Given that many of these craft are irreplaceable milestones in aviation history, is it not folly to fuel them up and launch them into the skies?

Chris Morris: "In a museum they would deteriorate."

"You could stick them in a hangar for posterity, but to see them in a museum is to see them as dead objects. Here we demonstrate the real sight and sound of the aircraft," says Mr Sephton.

Shuttleworth's chief engineer, Chris Morris, has more interest in seeing the cantankerous Humming Bird remain in one piece than most people - he first worked on it as an apprentice in 1962.

"It's bloody lovely to see it fly. If it was slung up in a museum it would soon deteriorate. We keep them in good condition inside as well as out so they will fly safely. In fact, more historic aircraft are lost to museum fires than to crashes."