AN AVIATION museum show-piece which was designed as a "suicide bomb" is to return to Germany for a complete rebuild.

The original pilotless V1, better known as the doodlebug, was used with devastating effect across Kent during the Second World War.

But towards the end of the conflict, the Germans came up with the idea of a similar weapon but one flown by a pilot.

The targets would be places such as Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. Rather than being ramp-launched it would be loosed from underneath a Heinkel 111.

One of the test pilots was the famous aviatrix Hanna Reitsch and one of the prototypes she flew, and safely landed, found its way to Headcorn Aerodrome in 1970 after being saved from the scrap heap.

Trevor Matthews, one of the founder members of the Lashenden Air Warfare Museum based at the aerodrome, said the VI would be taken to a small village near Munich for the restoraton, which will cost about £30,000. So far, fund-raising is about £10,000 short of the target.

Mr Matthews said: "They made 175 of them and they convinced Hitler that the pilot would parachute to safety. It was very unlikely due to the side opening cockpit and high speeds. They would probably be sucked into the engine.

"The only reason they didn’t fly over Britain was they ran out of fuel to train the pilots. If they hadn’t, we would have seen suicide missions over England."

It will take about six months to restore the doodlebug which will then go on display in the German Technical Museum in Berlin before returning to Headcorn in Easter 2009.

To make a donation towards the restoration, contact the aerodrome on 01622 890226.