I wanted to pilot a Spitfire...so I built my own
AMATEUR pilot Alan James longed to take to the air in the cockpit of a Battle of Britain Spitfire.
But he found the experience would set him back £5,000 for just 40 minutes flying time.
So the 63-year-old did the obvious thing... he built his own.
Three years later, driving instructor Alan regularly flies in his copy of the plane, in which he has now clocked up 60 airborne hours.
Alan, an experienced model maker, spent £18,000 on the project and gave up his job to complete it.
He paid £150 for a set of plans from the Light Aircraft Association in 2012 and turned his garage into a plane assembly workshop at his home in Reading, Berkshire. He found a 100hp Rolls-Royce engine in Holland which he rebuilt and the wheels were bought on eBay.
His Isaacs Spitfire is a 6/10th model of the iconic wartime fighter.
He said: “Like every true Briton I wanted to fly a Spitfire. Five years ago you could only get a flight in one if you enrolled in a two-day course.
“It cost £5,000 and you only got 40 minutes flying the plane.
“So I thought about it and realised I could spend the money building one.” He added: “I like making model planes. I've been doing it since I was a lad.
“But full-size planes interest me, too.
“I feel very proud to be the builder and pilot of this aircraft.”
His pride and joy was inspected several times during