Bruce Dickinson explains why Iron Maiden’s Spitfire is a 90% sized replica
Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has revealed why Legacy of the Beast Tour Spitfire is 10% smaller than the real thing.
Just like their dates across mainland Europe throughout the summer, the heavy metal legends will kick off their UK shows next week with ‘Aces High’, which sees a gargantuan Spitfire buzz over the stage.
The faithfully recreated plane is a 90% sized replica of an actual Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb registration number AA 853 from 302 Squadron that saw active duty in during World War II in 1941.
Iron Maiden singer, pilot and aviation aficionado Bruce Dickinson says of the replica: “We would have made it actual size but we had to cut it down by 10% 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 opening night in Tallinn, Estonia in May, Iron Maiden have played to over 750,000 fans at stadiums, arenas and festivals in Europe including Atlético Madrid’s 67,000-capacity Metropolitano Stadium last week.
The Legacy of the Beast Tour boasts an array of rarities including ‘Flight of Icarus’, the Blaze Bayley-era tracks ‘The Clansman’ and ‘Sign of the Cross’, plus ‘For the Greater Good of God’ and ‘Where Eagles Dare’.
The tour is inspired by Iron Maiden’s comic book and mobile phone game of the same name, and, in keeping with this, the stage set design features a number of different but interlocking ‘worlds’.
Meanwhile, Bruce Dickinson is currently hosting 10 weekly online educational warplanes diaries for Wargaming on YouTube.
The free-to-view videos – aptly entitled The Bruce Dickinson Warplanes Diaries – started in June and continue into August and see Bruce speak about World War II fighter and bomber aircraft such as the Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109.
Yesterday, the band unveiled an animated ‘how does paperless ticketing work’ video for fans who are attending the UK tour dates. Watch it here:
The Legacy of the Beast Tour setlist is as follows:
1. Aces High
2. Where Eagles Dare
3. 2 Minutes to Midnight
4. The Clansman
5. The Trooper
6. Revelations
7. For the Greater Good of God
8. The Wicker Man
9. Sign of the Cross
10. Flight of Icarus
11. Fear of the Dark
12. Iron Maiden
13. The Number of the Beast
Encore:
14. The Evil That Men Do
15. Hallowed Be Thy Name
16. Run to the Hills