'I love the noise' Carol Vorderman gets flying practice ahead of journey around the world
FORMER Countdown presenter Carol Vorderman got some practice flying a plane today ahead of her planned solo flight around the world.
The glamorous TV star opened the Royal International Air Tattoo show by being the first of 160 pilots to land with a Diamond DA40 light aircraft.
The 52-year-old arrived at RAF Fairford with her partner Graham Duff who is a former Red Arrows pilot.
Ms Vorderman, who co-hosted Countdown for 26 years, plans to fly around the world on her own next year following the route of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.
Prior to the flight, an excited Ms Vorderman wrote on Twitter: "Very excited... we've been asked to be first flight to officially land at RAF Fairford to start RIAT @airtattoo. Taking off in a mo x".
The brunette beauty has cut back on her TV work to spend time preparing for the round the world challenge.
She has been spent hours learning to fly at a school in Gloucestershire and started her lessons last summer.
Once she gains her pilot's licence she intends to embark on the 29,000 mile journey with Mr Duff following in a support aircraft.
Speaking about her involvement with the air show, Ms Vorderman said: "I'm an air show junkie, we try to get to lots of the air shows, and I've been coming to the Royal International Air Tattoo for the past five or six years.
"The Air Tattoo is the big one: it's very special because of all the military aircraft that come every year, but mainly I just love the noise."
Ms Vorderman has said it's been a dream of hers for decades to fly around the world and now she is obsessed with flying.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Vorderman said: "It has been my dream for decades and if I don’t do it now, I never will. I’m totally obsessed with flying.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I’ve got to the point in life where I just decided to do it.
"I just love the freedom and the buzz... it is like another world when you’re up there. It’s incredibly exciting and I can’t wait... although there are some pretty terrifying bits along the way."