Tony "Taff" Smith founded the Real Aeroplane Company in 1989 at Breighton airfield near Selby in Yorkshire. The airfield is a former RAF bomber base, part of which was owned by Tony Smith who wanted to set up an operating company for this air strip. Tony already owned a growing number of vintage aircraft and wished to establish a group of like minded aviators to fly vintage aircraft away from the aeroclub environment.

In the beginning RACo had four aeroplanes and two hangers, but this has now grown to a staggering eight hangers including a "super hanger", and forty aeroplanes! Not all the aircraft at Breighton are warbirds, RACo owns an Aeronca 100, which was built in 1936 and is the only airworthy example of this type in the world.

The RACo restores vintage aircraft types with projects underway, but specialises in the Bucker family of German Bi-Plane trainers several of which are based at Breighton. A welcome restoration project was the Hispano HA-1112 Buchon C4K-102 ( G-BWUE) , a Spanish licence built version of the Messerschmitt 109 but with a Rolls Royce Merlin engine in place of the German Daimler Benz powerplant. 

There is also a couple of interesting restoration projects under way at RACo in the shape of Spitfire Mk1 X4276, which was flown by Al Deere, as well as a P-51 Mustang.

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