The sky’s not just the limit — it’s the stage, especially when you’re Iron Maiden’s legendary frontman and a licensed 747 pilot.

Bruce Dickinson, the iconic voice of Iron Maiden and chairman of Cardiff Aviation, has officially completed his Boeing 747-400 pilot training — just in time to captain Ed Force One for the band’s The Book of Souls world tour. His maiden voyage (pun absolutely intended) kicked off on February 19, 2016, flying the band across the globe with Dickinson at the helm of the Queen of the Skies.

Already no stranger to the cockpit, Dickinson has logged time in everything from Fokker triplanes to Boeing 737s. Now, after extensive simulator hours at British Airways’ Heathrow facilities and Cardiff Aviation’s own South Wales base, he’s fully prepared to command the massive four-engine jumbo jet across nearly every continent on Earth — all except Antarctica. That’s roughly 55,000 miles of headbanging, high-altitude action.

His training placed him alongside cadets from Air Atlanta Icelandic, who routinely attend Jet Orientation and Multi-Crew Co-operation Courses at Cardiff Aviation. Dickinson praised the facility’s simulators and groundschool offerings, calling it the perfect place to hone his skills ahead of such an ambitious tour.

“I can’t wait to tour the globe once more, sat in the best seat in the house,” said Dickinson.

The tour itself serves as the final phase of his training — known as "line training" — giving him real-time, on-the-job experience as he flies the band between venues. The schedule has been carefully planned to comply with international pilot rest requirements, ensuring the captain gets just as much downtime as the crew and fans.

Cardiff Aviation continues to play a key role in the commercial aviation training world, providing top-tier instruction for future airline pilots and offering leisure sim experiences for aviation enthusiasts — meaning yes, you could technically fly like Bruce… at least in a simulator.

As the engines spool up and Ed Force One takes to the skies, one thing’s for certain — this tour is going to be loud, fast, and cruising at 35,000 feet.

Up the Irons… and the altitude!