Enjoy vintage cars and planes with Ian

My passion has been old cars and old airplanes. I have restored 8 Model A Fords and have recently created static replicas of a 1916 Sopwith Camel (Snoopy's plane); a 1918 Fokker DR 1 ( Red Baron's plane) and a 1944 Spitfire MK 1X. I am currently building the Spitfire's rival, a 1944 Messerschmitt. All the planes are constructed mostly from recycled materials. It's ironic that there is a Model A Ford wheel welded in the nose of all my planes.

I chose to build the Sopwith Camel to commemorate " The Year of the Veteran" in 2005.I enjoyed the project so much that I decided to build the Red Baron's plane, the Fokker DR1. My favorite plane is the Sptifire MX 1X. After building the two W.W.1 planes, I thought building a Spitfire may be a possibility. The construction techniques are a lot more complex and it is a much bigger plane. I finished the Spitfire in the summer of 2009 and started constructing the Messerschmitt in Dec.09.

Messerchmitt in progress

The Messerschmitt is progressing well. I now have the wings and wheels installed. The next step will be installing the pulleys and cables for the control surfaces, followed by the skinning of the fuselage. I recycle the metal wall from old above ground swimming pools to skin the planes. In total, for the 4 planes, I will have used 20 pools.

Ian with 1944 Spitfire Mk 1X

1918 Fokker DR 1 (Red Baron's Plane)