Daredevil Nora Brier celebrates 100th birthday by doing loop-the-loop in glider


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Self-confessed adrenaline junkie great-grandmother Nora Brier celebrated her 100th birthday by doing a loop-the-loop in a glider, saying she 'loved every minute of it'.

Former nurse Nora had previously enjoyed going up in a glider, which inspired her daughters Kay Draper, 58, and Sonya Long, 52, to arrange the surprise flight at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk.

Nora, from Hopton, Suffolk, took two eight-minute flights, getting a chance to control the aircraft on the first time up and with a pilot showing her an entire new angle on the world from 11,000ft with a loop-the-loop on the second. 

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Nora Brier celebrated her 100th birthday with a loop-the-loop in a glider in Suffolk

Nora Brier celebrated her 100th birthday with a loop-the-loop in a glider in Suffolk

Nora took two flights at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk, first controlling the craft and then doing a loop-the-loop

Nora took two flights at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk, first controlling the craft and then doing a loop-the-loop

'I'm so grateful to my daughters who got it all planned for me,' she said. 'I'd been in a glider several years ago and they knew I liked that sort of thing so thought it would be a good gift.

'I wasn't nervous at all, I really enjoyed it. Although I had no idea it was going to be any different to before so I was really shocked when I did a loop-the-loop.

'I would say I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie, I always look forward to my birthdays where I get to do something a bit different.'

For Nora's 95th birthday she went on the back of a Harley Davidson motorbike while on her 80th she took a hot air balloon ride - she's also flown in a microlight and a helicopter.

Nora's two daughters, Kay Draper and Sonya Long, gave her two eight-minute flights as a surprise present

Nora's two daughters, Kay Draper and Sonya Long, gave her two eight-minute flights as a surprise present

Nora, a former nurse from Hopton in Suffolk, says she is 'a bit of an adrenaline junkie'

Nora, a former nurse from Hopton in Suffolk, says she is 'a bit of an adrenaline junkie'

Daughter Kay, a glider pilot herself who works as an occupational therapist, said the loss of her second husband Tom Brier, who died at the age of 78 in 1982 with emphysema, contributed to Nora becoming the adrenaline junkie she is now. Nora's first husband died in a Japanese prison camp during World War II in 1943.

'She spent many years looking after [Tom],' said Kay. 'She was always very very busy when we were younger and I suppose it was only after all of that her horizons opened up and she had time for herself.

'She is completely fearless and that had a wonderful influence on us growing up.

'I took her flying in a glider once and she really liked it and I thought her 100th birthday would be a great time for her to do it again.

'She asked me if she could paraglide with the Red Kites but I told her a line had to be drawn somewhere and it wouldn't be sensible at her age. But she would do it all if she could.'



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