FLYING vet Maurice Kirk is preparing for his latest daredevil adventure - and you can guarantee there'll be the odd hairy moment.

Action man Maurice is taking part in a vintage air rally from Crete to Cape Town in a pre-1940 aeroplane, the first time such an event has been organised, and all at the age of 71.

His Piper Cub is one of 25 pre-war planes competing in the five-week long recreation of African aviation of the 1920s, starting in November and following in the slipstream of the early pioneers.

Participants will be staying in accommodation ranging from five star hotels to tented camps and the only obligatory equipment is a sleeping bag, full black tie and beginner's guide to Swahili.

And don't bet on an incident-free flight if the Taunton born and bred adventurer's past history is anything to go by.

He said: "I'll be flying one of General Patten's D-Day Piper Cubs, which were used to ferry messages between tank regiments.

"It's designed to land in small fields and ploughed ones."

He has being flying his machine in the Taunton area recently, camping in a field near Hestercombe and also at the Seven Sisters, on the Quantock Hills.

Organisers of the Crete to Cape Town rally promise "trials and tribulations, mechanical and human stress", all of which suits Maurice fine.

In his younger days, he paddled across the English Channel in a home-made canoe, hitch-hiked around North America, Australia and New Zealand and even parachuted into his first wedding at Stoke St Mary Church.

Controversy has never been far away - he received a hero's welcome after coming last in the 28-day 14,000-mile London to Sydney air race in 2001.

He put finishing 28 hours behind the rest of the pilots down to several unscheduled stops, including being detained as a suspected spy in India.

He was banned from the finishers' fly past after bets were placed on him being the first pilot to loop-the-loop round Sydney Harbour Bridge, while it emerged he flew solo at a maximum height of 5,000 feet in an open cockpit, while the other competitors were at 25,000 feet to take advantage of tail winds.

Then in 2008 he was arrested after landing his plane near George Bush's Texas ranch - he had been trying to reach the president to thank him for help given by US coastguards after he crash landed in the Caribbean sea.

If you're interested in supporting his flight, contact Maurice by e-mail at maurice@kirkflyingvet.com