Australia's Herald Sun has issued the following report from Cameron Adams:

IRON MAIDEN are cleared for take-off, as BRUCE DICKINSON prepares to fly his legendary band-mates to Australia.

Not flying with, but actually flying.

Dickinson, a trained pilot, will be in the cockpit of the band's own pimped-out Boeing 757 as part of a world tour that will cover more than 80,000km.

The plane will hold 60 crew, and a third of the seats have been taken out to accommodate Maiden's mammoth staging.

"It's basically a big tour bus in the air," Dickinson says.

It's about to have the band's trademark logo and their ghoulish mascot, Eddie, painted on the side.

"It'll be flying around in Iron Maiden livery for a few months," Dickinson says. "I'm sure it'll be one of the most photographed aeroplanes in history."

Dickinson works at Astraeus Airlines as a full-time pilot.

"Most of my holidays are planned around going on tour with Iron Maiden," he says. "We do a lot of charter work, taking oil workers to some pretty unforgiving places."

This means Maiden fans keen to be flown by their metal god have their work cut out.

"People can come up to me after we've landed, but obviously with security they can't just come up to the front. I can't be flying a plane while I'm signing autographs. Even minor distractions can have a fairly embarrassing knock-on effect."

Dickinson has always wanted to be either a singer or a pilot. Now he's both.

"I thought you had to be a rocket scientist to fly, but nothing could be further from the truth," he says.

"When I first flew a plane it was such a revelation. One thing led to another and I went down the slippery slope to becoming a commercial pilot. There was never the intention when I started -- I just thought I'd fly to the occasional show.

"There are similarities between the two. On stage, you have to hold it all together while all hell's breaking loose. Flying a big jetliner is more of an internal headspace, though take-offs and landings can get pretty exciting."

Dickinson may front a band that's sold 80 million records, but he's more than happy to let his music become famous, not himself.

"I'll court fame if it's useful, to sell a record," Dickinson says. "But the whole concept of fame is pretty daft, really. Being famous for being famous I find nauseating. I have managed to miss watching any reality TV. I can't tell you who's on Big Brother."

This doesn't mean he he hasn't been asked to appear in Osbournes-style documentaries or reality TV.

"There have been offers," Dickinson says. "They've mainly come to me, being the singer and what have you, and being able to string a few words together. They think 'OK, he's bound to want to do it'. I was offered Celebrity Big Brother, or some crap like that.

"I wouldn't mind doing something on reality TV that was fun, like if the History Channel wanted to get me to fly a Spitfire. I'd do that."

Read the full story at Herald Sun.