A FEARLESS flyer has taken to the skies to raise funds for a cash-strapped scout group.

Dom Wilkinson, who lives in Eldene and has held a private pilot’s licence for 20 years, last month gave a bunch of plucky volunteers the flight of their lives – all to help the 1st Dorcan Scout Group.

Dom’s step-daughter, nine-year-old Ellie Maes, is a member of the group and Dom, astonished at how much the scouts manage to do on such a small budget, decided he wanted to help.

“I’ve been extremely impressed with the number of events they have organised and run for the youngsters,” said Dom, 49.

“I was so impressed that I decided to help contribute to the future of the group and help raise funds for them.

“They are a very active group and the amount of money they charge in subs is really quite small, especially when you think about all the things they do.

“Throughout the summer they took the kids kayaking at Coate Water, as well as organising camping trips and archery and air rifle shooting.

“I wanted to do something a little different, and as a private pilot I came up with the idea of offering flights in my ex-Russian military aircraft – a Yakovlev (YAK) 52 – in exchange for a donation to the group.”

So, on August 6 at Popham Airfield in Hampshire, Dom sped through the air in his YAK with 10 different passengers, each of whom had paid £50 to see southern England from the sky.

Dom, who works for Virgin Media when he’s not on cloud nine, has been flying regularly for the past eight years and often takes his plane to local air shows to show it off to wide-eyed enthusiasts.

“It has gained quite a following because it’s something a bit different,” Dom said.

“It has quite a large fanbase on social media and it’s instantly recognised by people who attend the air shows.”

Dom’s fundraising flights managed to pull in £500 for the scout group and, spurred on by the success, he is keen to hold another flying day as soon as he can.

“The response from people was wonderful, they were really keen to go for a flight and they thought it was fantastic. The thing they kept asking me afterwards was: ‘When are you doing it again?’”

Dom has further praise for the work done by the scout group, saying: “The work they do with the kids is absolutely brilliant and it’s amazing to see how far they have come.”

For more information on Dom’s YAK 52, log on to his Facebook page on www.facebook.com/groups/yak.one