RAF Coningsby pilot becomes first serving RAF member to win air racing title King’s Cup in nearly 40 years - with plane built in his shed

A pilot has become the first serving RAF member to win an air racing title in nearly 40 years - with a plane built in his shed.

RAF Coningsby Squadron Leader Ben Polwin, who joins the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) as its operations officer next year, clinched the title with a dramatic one-second win in the King’s Cup at Wellesbourne Airfield in Staffordshire.

He became the first serving RAF member to win the prestigious King’s Cup since 1988, with his Royal Canadian Air Force veteran wife Sophie acting as navigator.

The daring duo went one better than in 2024, when they were runners-up in both the King’s Cup and ten-race championship.

“It’s been challenging and hugely developmental as a pilot,” Sqn Ldr Polwin said of the race, in which he and Sophie averaged a speed of 201.13mph in their single-prop Van’s RV-7.

“The immense concentration for hyper accurate flying over 40 minutes or so to then see all your rivals in the final corner where possible victory awaits is a feeling hard to describe.

“I think the reason why it has been so developmental for me is that it is such a different discipline to what I have done before.

“It would be disingenuous to suggest that a 22-year fast jet career in the RAF has had no advantages, but it has required me to pull together some individual skills I have picked up over the years and put them together in a very different way.”

It’s a second major victory for the Polwins and their home-made RV-7, adding to their maiden win in their first competitive race in the 2024 Schneider Trophy.

They dedicated that triumph to Ben’s late sister Hannah and close friend Sqn Ldr Mark Long, who died in a Spitfire crash near Coningsby last May, and whose name is on the RV-7's tail.

“I thought I couldn’t top winning the Schneider Trophy last year, but the King’s Cup does feel particularly special.

“I’m particularly proud to have built the aircraft myself and it’s also special to have direct links to the aircraft on BBMF which I will be privileged to fly next year.”

Sqn Ldr Polwin will fly one of only 12 airworthy Hawker Hurricanes during the BBMF’s 2026 season, while Sophie is a senior first officer flying British Airways 787s.