Lincolnshire museum unveils movie star WW2 replica fighter exhibit
BBCA full size replica of an iconic World War Two RAF fighter plane which starred in a classic British film has been unveiled at a museum in Lincolnshire.
The model of the Hawker Hurricane, built for the 1969 movie The Battle of Britain, has gone on show at the We'll Meet Again Museum near Boston
The replica of the famous aircraft was refurbished by museum volunteers.
Museum co-founder Paul Britchford said to display the model of the Hurricane had long been on his "bucket list".
Mr Britchford set up the museum at Freiston with his wife, Linda, before he was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year.
He said this particular replica had a special place in his heart as it was the same one which had been craned on to the roof of Lincoln's Odeon cinema for two months when the Battle of Britain film, starring Michael Caine, was released at the end of the 1960s.
"That story is why we wanted that particular plane," he said.
"The Battle of Britain is one of my favourite movies and I wanted to see this out on my lawn at the museum."
Bradley Cooper, from the museum, said refurbishing the replica World War Two aircraft had been a serious challenge.
"The Hurricane was in a poor condition and needed complete refurbishment," he said.
However, Mr Cooper said young volunteers had enthusiastically helped with sanding, paint-stripping, spraying and rebuilding the model fighter plane.
"There were cracks all the way through, a lot of the nuts and bolts were rusty," he said.
"It didn't have the original fabric, some of the wood had woodworm, some of the fibreglass was cracked and in a poor state. We literally had to restore nearly every panel."
Adrian Barker, trustee and secretary for the museum, said the replica Hawker Hurricane was built to the same standard and using the same construction techniques as the real thing.
"It had been left in pieces after filming and the owner kept quiet about ownership as so many organisations and individuals wanted to own it," he said.
The museum team said they hoped having the replica Hurricane would attract more visitors to the site.
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