More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
“Bandits at one o’clock!”
You can almost hear Biggles in his flying helmet, goggles, leather jacket and white silk scarf dodging the bullets as he banks away from a German Messerschmitt.
The Battle of Britain is being recreated in a barn on Sheppey as former butcher Bob Watson and his wife Vicki lovingly build a Second World War Spitfire from scratch.
The pair, from Warden Bay, have been working on the half-size £6,000 project since October and have set themselves a target of finishing it by May 1 – the date of its debut air show appearance in Northamptonshire.
“A little pressure concentrates the mind,” said Bob, who runs the Warbirds company in his spare time.
He and Vicki already have a near full-size replica of a 1916 First World War Bristol M1C bomber in the barn near Harty.
Bob, 49, admitted ruefully: “It would have been bigger but we ran out of space.”
He originally built it in the back garden of his home in Warden Bay but then came up against his neighbour’s boundary.
He had to demolish a fence and get friends to manhandle the plane out. Now he and Vicki have turned their attention to the Spitfire.
This time they are building it in the barn which they rent off a friendly farmer.
Neither plane is designed to fly. Instead Bob, who flies radio-controlled model aircraft at Barton’s Point, has turned them into simulators so ‘pilots’ can climb into the cockpit and discover the thrill of engaging the enemy.
Bob said: “It all started when I tried a simulator at an air show and was really disappointed. It was just a box you sat in and watched a screen.
"This way, people can control how the plane goes up and down or banks. They have real control over it.”
He added: “The Bristol has gone down really well but people asked why I hadn’t built a Spitfire. So this is what I am doing now. Vicki and I will be taking it to air shows and events.
“We’d really like to take it to schools, too, to let boys and girls climb inside to have a go so they can understand what it was like to fly in the Battle of Britain.”
The hydraulically-controlled planes can ‘shoot down’ enemy aircraft with a laser and both boast realistic sound effects.
Bob and Vicki dress in flying gear and give talks about the history of the planes and the pilots.
Vicki said: “It is particularly important on Sheppey to ensure youngsters know that this Island was the birthplace of British aviation. I was born and bred here and I didn’t realise how important it was until I met Bob.”
