Replica WWI plane

[TheCommandTent]

A plane-mad pilot has taken his job to a whole new level – by building a replica of a First World War fighter plane and even installing a runway in his garden so he can fly it from home.

Mike Clark, a commercial airline pilot, spent £12,000 on constructing his very own Fokker Eindecker – a copy of the first German purpose-built fighter aircraft.

The 62-year-old from Horsham, West Sussex, said: "It's still flying, but it's very different from airline flying.

"It's the freedom – in some ways it's more challenging. In the airline world everything is done by numbers, it all comes out of a book, whereas it's much more experience and judgment when you're flying from a grass strip.

"The grass is a bit longer, it's wet, the wind is not quite right – it's all down to judgment. The Eindecker is very exposed.

"It's an open cockpit so it gets quite cold in the winter and you have to wrap up really warm, but I've flown it all through the year.

"It's not dangerous – if it was, I wouldn't be flying it."

As the video above shows, it took Clark 18 months to build the single-seater monoplane before its maiden flight in June 2012.

http://home.bt.com/news/oddnews/pilot-builds-ww1-plane-replica-video-11363922318000

Make sure and check out the video at the link.  Its very cool to see it flying especially as he takes off from his homemade airstrip in his back yard.

[Al]

Very cool.  I amazed at how small that plane is.

[bob48]

Nice story, TCT. Thanks for posting that.

[Staggerwing]

That plane looks awesome! I see the replica does make at least one obvious concession to practicality and safety though- no Oberursel rotary engine!

Very cool.  I amazed at how small that plane is.

It's probably a 3/4 kit. Here's a site that offers one:

http://www.grass-strip-aviation.com/prod_1.php

[Al]

That plane looks awesome! I see the replica does make at least one obvious concession to practicality and safety though- no Oberursel rotary engine!

Very cool.  I amazed at how small that plane is.

It's probably a 3/4 kit. Here's a site that offers one:

http://www.grass-strip-aviation.com/prod_1.php

That would make sense.