Brit man builds life-size Spitfire in his back garden

LONDON - A man in Britain is so crazy about planes that he has built a life-size Spitfire in his back garden.

Barry Wallond, 53, has another replica which he stores at a nearby RAF base and transports to displays round the country.

Aviation artist Wallond reckons he has spent 100,000 pounds on his two models of the legendary World War Two fighter, which can’t fly, but which he hopes to someday.

“My Spitfires are my hobby and they’ve almost become my life. I use them as a kind of educational tool and take them to the masses so we never forget,” the Sun quoted him as saying.

“The Spitfire is the most iconic airplane ever made - there’s no other airplane that can attract attention like it.

“It’s a wonderful machine. We should never forget what it means to our country,” he stated.

He bought his first Spitfire “in boxes” from a film company 12 years ago, and he then reassembled it in the garden of his home near RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall, and it has attracted up to 1,000 tourists a day.

He had the second - an exact copy of a MkII flown during the Battle of Britain in 1940 - made to order by a replica firm a couple of years ago.

“I still remember seeing my first Spitfire aged six when my dad took me to an air show. I’ve loved them ever since. I would never sell them,” he added. (ANI)