Grandads make history by flying homemade First World War fighter plane

A group of pensioners from East Lothian have made history and fulfilled a 24-year dream by flying a homemade replica of an iconic First World War plane.

Many of the volunteers at the Aviation Preservation Society of Scotland (APSS), based near East Fortune, are in their twilight years but have spent their retirement painstakingly constructing the Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter plane from scratch. It’s the only flying Strutter in the world.

Seeing the Sopwith, nicknamed Sophie, take to the skies, APSS chairman Mike Harper told STV News: “It was extremely anxious but excited knowing that it was going to fly for the first time.

A group of pensioners from East Lothian have made history and fulfilled a 24-year dream by flying a homemade replica of an iconic First World War plane. STV News

“Everything had been checked and double-checked, and we were very confident that she would fly straight and level, and she did. When she got off the ground and was flying, everyone was just delighted.”

The project has been a labour of love for the group of aviation enthusiasts and has been running so long, only two of the original 20 men who started Sophie are still alive.

“It’s an old guys club,” says Mike, “we come along, drink lots of cups of tea and build aircraft. We come from all different walks of life and we bring lots of different skills and knowledge to the table so that’s why this has been so successful.”

“It’s taken such a long time because it’s not just for display, it takes a lot of time and effort to get things right so the aircraft can fly.”

With members ages ranging from 16 to 99 years old, the story of their mission to build and fly the First World War fighter plane has captured the hearts of people around the globe.

“I think of it like a lunch club with benefits,” says Leonard Hart, who’s been a member of APSS for 17 years.

“It’s been a good part of my life since I retired. If I hadn’t done this what else would I have done? I remember the first time we saw it outside when we’d built it – it was awe-inspiring and goodness, we actually built that thing.”

In April 2023 Sophie was moved to an RAF airfield in Kirknewton, West Lothian in preparation for her first flight.

“It was perfect conditions on the day for lift off,” says test pilot Tim Rayner. “Sophie was very nice to fly. But we’ve got a lot of testing to do.”

Speaking about the inception of the project 24 years ago Tim told STV News, “I’ve seen it through, they’ve done a fantastic job. I think better than what the factory used to build them because this has been built carefully – the factory were churning them out.”

The Sopwith 1 ½ Strutter came into service in 1916 and in Scotland it became useful as a reconnaissance plane to protect the Forth coastline.

More than 6,000 were built, but now just three remain.

There’s been interest in Sophie from airshows across the country, so she could be going on tour in the near future.

The next goal for the society is to get Sophie doing regular flights, so pilot Tim can give every member their own flight in their homemade plane.