A spitfire enthusiast has spent 28 years building a life-size version of the famous fighter plane from scratch.
Terry
Arlow, 56, built the 'perfect' replica of a Spitfire Mk. IX, the same
one flown by his friend Tony Cooper during World War Two, despite having
no engineering skills, after landing on a plan for the aircraft.
He
was inspired by the 1969 war film Battle of Britain when a youngster.
But it took eight years alone to secure the plans from the RAF museum in
Hendon.
In 1990, Mr Arlow set about building the famous fighter and scoured Europe for parts.
With
the help of his family, father-of-four Mr Arlow hand-crafted the plane
from aluminum and spare parts salvaged from other Spitfires.
Mr
Arlow, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, said: 'It was like a jigsaw puzzle. I
had to make all the parts from bare materials and then piece them
together.
'It has literally taken tens of thousands of hours to make. It has been non-stop really over the 28 years.
'My
life has revolved around the project. You're never away from it. Even
in my spare time I'd be studying books and doing research to make sure
it looked perfect.'
Mr Arlow used aluminum to hand craft each
individual part - including the fuselage, wings and tail - while
sourcing original parts for the cockpit and detail.
The finished
article - completed in 2010 - was so spot on, friend and former RAF
pilot Tony Cooper was amazed by the level of detail.
Mr Cooper
flew the Spitfire Mr Arlow based his model on, which had the
registration number MK 805, on 38 operational missions during WWII.
During his time in the RAF Mr Cooper, who is now 97, served with the 64 Fighter Squadron and was stationed at Harrowbeer
The
Spitfire MK 805 became the personal airplane of F/Lt. Cooper and
inscribed 'Peter John III', as it was the third Spitfire to carry the
name of his son who was born two months before it entered service on
July 5, 1944.
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