4:07pm UK, Thursday February 07, 2002

Hollywood star Ewan McGregor took to the skies in an RAF jet with his brother at the controls.

McGregor and older brother Colin, an RAF Flight Lieutenant, took off from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray for the white-knuckle ride to support terminally-ill children.

sp ewan mcgregor flying 07/02/2002

Before he boarded the RAF Tornado, McGregor said he was looking forward to the flight, describing it as an "extraordinary opportunity".

He said: "I like speed very much, I ride motorbikes and stuff on race tracks ridiculously fast and this is like the next level."

Fly-past

The brothers' route was due to include a fly-past at children's hospice, Rachel House, in Kinross, Perthshire.

McGregor supports the Children's Hospice Association Scotland, CHAS.

CHAS was founded in 1992 by a small group of parents and professionals to provide hospice services in Scotland to children and their families.

'Exceptional fee'

McGregor has said in the past that he was impressed by the "exceptional people" who worked and visited the hospice.

He has also spoken of how his own daughter Clara had a meningitis scare when she was born, giving him an experience of "the threat of loss".