Iron Maiden frontman and qualified pilot Bruce Dickinson was banned from flying his band around on tour last year, fearing performing would leave him too tired to pay attention in the skies.
The band took a personalised Boeing 757 - dubbed Ed Force 1 - on their Somewhere Back in Time tour, and Dickinson, who flies for a commercial airline in his spare time, hoped to be behind the controls the whole way, as Iron Maiden took in 13 countries in five continents in just 45 days.
But officials at the British Civil Aviation Authority forced him to take a 12-hour break between rocking and flying, meaning the band and their entourage had to rely on a co-pilot for many of the flights.
Although Dickinson was disappointed, many of his crew were relieved, bandmate Nicko McBrain says,"Some of the road crew were like, 'What? After running around onstage, he is going to fly us back?'"
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