Absolute delight at surprise 50th birthday helicopter flight

There was shock and then absolute delight for Russell Gibson when his wife told him right at the last moment of the surprise she had booked for his 50^th birthday; a return helicopter flight to a luxury island retreat and a two-night stay.

Jane and Russell Gibson from Lothersdale were almost at the Multiflight facility at Leeds Bradford Airport before Jane told her husband that they were about to travel to Portsmouth by helicopter for a two-night stay at Spitbank Fort, a luxury boutique hotel in the Solent, with their best friends John and Kath Harrison from Laycock.

“My husband was so surprised when I told him how we were travelling,” said Jane.

“I only told him about 500 yards from the entrance to Multiflight. Everything was arranged perfectly including the taxi driver at the other end who was lovely.

“We were amazed at how relaxing it was arriving at Multiflight and having coffee before we went – totally spoilt now and would love to travel that way all the time.  Thank you to everyone at Multiflight.  We had a fantastic experience.”

Jane kept the trip a secret for well over a year, having had to book the hotel 16 months earlier, and said she was bursting at times to tell her husband.

“We had a fabulous time.  The helicopter ride was amazing and we could absolutely do it all again.  Mark (the helicopter pilot) was lovely and pointed out so many landmarks to us.  Even funnier when we landed and there was a huge car boot sale going on; we got some looks!”

Pictures show Russell and Jane with friends John and Kath Harrison with Multiflight’s VIP Airbus H155 helicopter and an aerial shot from the trip.