Santa will be flying over North Devon in a helicopter tomorrow

Santa will be flying over North Devon tomorrow morning (Friday, December 15) as he swaps deer power for horsepower and his sleigh for an iconic Sea King helicopter.

The annual Christmas Santa Fly-By organised by the Historic Helicopters charity will fly over much of North Devon and Somerset, landing at Little Bridge House children’s hospice in Fremington to deliver presents and at North Devon District Hospital to drop off presents for the children’s ward.

Santa and the team also plan to fly over as many schools enroute as possible too.

The bright yellow Sea King will lift off from its base at Chard at 10am tomorrow and roughly follow the North Devon Link Road to North Molton, South Molton, then Bideford and Westward Ho! before heading to Fremington.

The aircraft will land at Little Bridge House at around 10.50am, then the hospital at 11am.

The route then takes them over Braunton, Chivenor and they will follow the coast to Saunton, Croyde, Woolacombe, Ilfracombe, Combe Martin, Woody Bay and Lynton before making their way into Somerset.

The flight ends with a final stop at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton before heading back to base.

The flight has become something of a festive tradition and was resurrected by the Historic Helicopters team in 2020 after a rubbish year with Covid.

It was something many of the engineers and pilots were familiar with as it was a regular fixture when some of them were stationed at the then RAF Chivenor Search and Rescue flight.

Visit the Historic Helicopters Facebook page for updates