Kirklees aircraft-building club faces eviction in middle of Sopwith Camel project

Nov 16 2009 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Do you have room for a First World War figher plane?

THEY’VE worked for 12 years recreating one of the earliest fighter planes.

But now six aircraft enthusiasts face the heart-breaking prospect of mothballing their unfinished Sopwith Camel.

The volunteers from the Northern Aeroplane Workshops have been working on the First World War fighter at Alexandra Mill in Batley.

But they face being evicted in January and have nowhere to go.

Edgerton man John Worthington is part of the team which has been working on the plane since 1997.

“I feel devastated about this,’’ he said. “We’ve put in a lot of hard work into this. Everything has been done meticulously because the plane is going to fly – we hope.”

The group of aircraft enthusiasts have been constructing the Sopwith Camel in a workshop of the Yorkshire Motor Museum at Alexandra Mill.

John, 70, said: “Steven Battye from the museum has allowed us to use the workshop, but his landlord, Manchester company Jaymar, has told the museum to leave by January 10.”

The museum, which has 40 cars dating back to 1902, will close next month.

John, who doesn’t know why the museum is being evicted, is looking for a new site.

He said: “We can’t seem to find anywhere. We need a room with a 10ft ceiling and a floorspace of at least 30ft by 20ft, ideally 35ft by 25ft. We want to stay in the Kirklees area because we’ve always been based here.”

John works on the Sopwith Camel every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evening with Chris Page from Mirfield, Batley men Horace Darlington and John Thompson along with Trevor Foreman and Bob Richardson from Leeds.

Bob, who has been part of the Sopwith Camel project from the very start, revealed that the way the planes are built are just like they were back in 1916.

“We use the original drawings and produce lots of fittings. In the early years, you make the fittings and then just put them in a cardboard box until eventually you’ve enough to assemble, say, a wing.

“It’s a long job and very much like a jigsaw. It’s like building a model aircraft – but at full scale.

“You’ve got to be exact because at the end of the day somebody has to sit in the seat and fly it so we have a responsibility to make sure the aircraft is safe to fly.’’

The planes are made from wood and metal – but the modern versions do use some glue unlike the originals.

The six men have constructed the wooden and metal frame of the Sopwith Camel and are planning to add the metal body and complete the plane within two years.