When Florence Clarke was asked what she wanted for her 90th birthday, she joked: “Well I’ve never been in a plane before.”

Family friends Ben and Michelle Warrilow took the nonagenarian at her word and she climbed aboard a two-seater plane at Wolverhampton Halfpenny Green Airport at Bobbington for her maiden flight.

The widow, from Sherwin Avenue, Woodcross, was watched by family and friends as  she took to the skies.

Mother-of-two Florence, who has five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, was all smiles as pilot Bob Kirk ran through the controls before taking off for the half-hour round trip. Despite her nine decade wait for her wings Florence showed no sign of pre-flight nerves, saying she felt “not too bad” before strapping herself in.

After landing she said the experience had been “alright”, adding she would like to do it all again – which is just as well as Ben and Michelle have arranged for her to go up in a helicopter in November.

Florence grew up in Turton Road, Princes End, Tipton, and turned 90 on August 22.