IAN Whittle, the son of the man who invented the jet engine, paid his own tribute to Sir Frank Whittle's work when he took to the skies above the Cotswolds.

Mr Whittle junior, now 67, recorded his first solo flight in a propeller-driven Tiger Moth 50 years ago, and went on to fly jets in the RAF and as a commercial airline pilot.

As a special surprise, his children Jason and Leonie bought him a flight in one of Kemble-based Delta Jets' Hawker Hunters, a machine he last flew 45 years ago.