Sound of jet aircraft repaired in Lincolnshire to be played at the Proms

The sound of a jet aircraft which was restored in Metheringham is set to become part of a unique piece of music played at the Proms. 

Ruskington man Paul Flynn and a group of his friends have spent more than £20,000 restoring the Jet Provost XS186.

Now the noise of the engine whirring to life will be heard by a crowd of thousands and a worldwide audience of millions of listeners after the sound was recorded by a member of the restoration team and sent in to the BBC for a competition to decide listeners favourite sounds.

The Proms and Radio 4 have commissioned a piece by Scottish composer Tom Harrold, which will feature the sound and it will be performed by the Aurora orchestra at the Royal College of Music on August 20.

Paul told the Target he bought the jet as an empty shell for £400 from a scrap yard in 2004. Since then, the team has spent the past decade restoring the plane at Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre.

Paul says it won’t fly again but instead will be used in exhibitions and open days where it will be used for taxi runs.

Paul said: “We’ve spent every weekend down there come rain or shine to get it finished.”

Ian Allaway, a member of the restoration team, works at RAF Cranwell as an aircraft technician.

He said: “The project tested my memory. We were using skills we had long forgotten, but it does come back to you.”

Throughout the restoration, the team arranged fundraising events to keep the project going.

Paul said: “We did everything from casino nights to market stalls, and even demonstration events where we’d start the engine up and taxi it around in the airfield.”

Tony Bennett, a member of the restoration team, added: “Earlier in the year, I heard Eddie Mair on Radio 4 ask for people to send in their favourite sounds.

“I sent in the sound of the Jet Provost starting up, and heard nothing initially, but then several weeks later we were surprised to find it had been chosen and it was aired a couple of times.

“You can imagine the excitement of the crew finding out that their hard work and dedication will be there for many years to come because of this piece of music.”

Tony said that it was a great feeling for the team to know they had added to the history of the plane.

Source:  http://www.bostontarget.co.uk