Latest news with #MikeHarper
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
World War One replica takes off after 25-year labour of love
It has only taken 25 years to get her in the air, but a replica World War One plane built by a group of volunteers in East Lothian is finally flying. The team behind it started the ambitious project from scratch in 2000, meeting up almost every week to work on the Sopwith Strutter - which they affectionately call Sophie. After years of painstaking work, Sophie is now undertaking a series of test flights. Once she is cleared, she will be able to carry passengers. It's one of these test flights that brings us to RAF Kirknewton, in West Lothian, on a sunny May morning. Sophie's engine is warming up and her propellers start to turn as she prepares for take off. There's no hiding the delight in the faces of the team who have put years of work into finally getting her off the ground The ambitious project by the Aviation Preservation Society of Scotland was not something that could be rushed, according to chairman Mike Harper. He said: "Every single nut and bolt has been checked, every single bracket has been checked, every single piece of wire has been checked. You don't cobble these things together. "When you're going to fly it, it has to be done right. If it was for a museum, if it was just going on display we would probably have finished it within a few years. "But the meticulous attention to detail to get this thing in the air is what's taken the length of time. Who can say they've achieved this sort of thing, a bunch of guys who've retired?" The team - whose oldest members are in their 80s - have followed the exact plans of the original Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter - which came into service in 1916. The plane was involved in protecting the Forth coastline in World War One. Recreating the Strutter involved using the talents of many people, including relative newcomer Donald Gardner. "It's a fantastic bunch of people, with a huge range of skills from craft skills to engineering skills," he said. "It's kind of humbling seeing the results of all the work everybody's put into it over, I guess, a generation. Also it's a bit sad that in the back cockpit there's a plaque to all the people that were involved at the start that haven't unfortunately been here at the end. That's quite humbling." Even on a sunny day, the team has to be very careful about the conditions, especially the wind. Aircraft inspector Tim Rayner is also the solo pilot and these test flights are allowing him to get used to the feel of the aircraft and how she reacts in certain weather. He finds a decent window for take-off and the plane leaves the ground. More stories from Edinburgh, Fife & East More stories from Scotland The flight lasts about 15 minutes and afterwards Tim - who has been involved in the project since the start - gives his verdict on how it went. "This is the icing on the cake. I'm used to flying modern aeroplanes from the 50's and 60's - the classics - and they're very different from this aeroplane to fly. This is very much more of a challenge. "The controls are nowhere near as responsive as they became as we developed better technologies. This is 1915 and it's not that many years since the first flight so you've got to look at it as flying as you would expect for an aircraft of that era." The plane has a passenger seat, but isn't allowed to take two people until passing this testing phase - and completing five hours of flying. Colin Murray has helped her to prepare for these flights and he is excited about getting a shot in her himself. "There's a backseat there and currently we're looking at putting some instruments in there, so that when you're flying along you can see what's going on. I don't think I'll be flying in it any time soon because there's quite a queue of, shall we say, older gentlemen in the club who've got first dibs at that. "But hopefully one I'll sit in the back seat and have a shot." The test flights allow them to make any necessary tweaks. But the team are very keen to show her off, and if they get enough testing time they hope to take her to air shows before too long. The men who spent 20 years building a fighter plane
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
World War One replica takes off after 25-year labour of love
It has only taken 25 years to get her in the air, but a replica World War One plane built by a group of volunteers in East Lothian is finally flying. The team behind it started the ambitious project from scratch in 2000, meeting up almost every week to work on the Sopwith Strutter - which they affectionately call Sophie. After years of painstaking work, Sophie is now undertaking a series of test flights. Once she is cleared, she will be able to carry passengers. It's one of these test flights that brings us to RAF Kirknewton, in West Lothian, on a sunny May morning. Sophie's engine is warming up and her propellers start to turn as she prepares for take off. There's no hiding the delight in the faces of the team who have put years of work into finally getting her off the ground The ambitious project by the Aviation Preservation Society of Scotland was not something that could be rushed, according to chairman Mike Harper. He said: "Every single nut and bolt has been checked, every single bracket has been checked, every single piece of wire has been checked. You don't cobble these things together. "When you're going to fly it, it has to be done right. If it was for a museum, if it was just going on display we would probably have finished it within a few years. "But the meticulous attention to detail to get this thing in the air is what's taken the length of time. Who can say they've achieved this sort of thing, a bunch of guys who've retired?" The team - whose oldest members are in their 80s - have followed the exact plans of the original Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter - which came into service in 1916. The plane was involved in protecting the Forth coastline in World War One. Recreating the Strutter involved using the talents of many people, including relative newcomer Donald Gardner. "It's a fantastic bunch of people, with a huge range of skills from craft skills to engineering skills," he said. "It's kind of humbling seeing the results of all the work everybody's put into it over, I guess, a generation. Also it's a bit sad that in the back cockpit there's a plaque to all the people that were involved at the start that haven't unfortunately been here at the end. That's quite humbling." Even on a sunny day, the team has to be very careful about the conditions, especially the wind. Aircraft inspector Tim Rayner is also the solo pilot and these test flights are allowing him to get used to the feel of the aircraft and how she reacts in certain weather. He finds a decent window for take-off and the plane leaves the ground. More stories from Edinburgh, Fife & East More stories from Scotland The flight lasts about 15 minutes and afterwards Tim - who has been involved in the project since the start - gives his verdict on how it went. "This is the icing on the cake. I'm used to flying modern aeroplanes from the 50's and 60's - the classics - and they're very different from this aeroplane to fly. This is very much more of a challenge. "The controls are nowhere near as responsive as they became as we developed better technologies. This is 1915 and it's not that many years since the first flight so you've got to look at it as flying as you would expect for an aircraft of that era." The plane has a passenger seat, but isn't allowed to take two people until passing this testing phase - and completing five hours of flying. Colin Murray has helped her to prepare for these flights and he is excited about getting a shot in her himself. "There's a backseat there and currently we're looking at putting some instruments in there, so that when you're flying along you can see what's going on. I don't think I'll be flying in it any time soon because there's quite a queue of, shall we say, older gentlemen in the club who've got first dibs at that. "But hopefully one I'll sit in the back seat and have a shot." The test flights allow them to make any necessary tweaks. But the team are very keen to show her off, and if they get enough testing time they hope to take her to air shows before too long. The men who spent 20 years building a fighter plane
BBC News
18 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
World War One replica takes off after 25-year labour of love
It has only taken 25 years to get her in the air, but a replica World War One plane built by a group of volunteers in East Lothian is finally team behind it started the ambitious project from scratch in 2000, meeting up almost every week to work on the Sopwith Strutter - which they affectionately call Sophie. After years of painstaking work, Sophie is now undertaking a series of test she is cleared, she will be able to carry one of these test flights that brings us to RAF Kirknewton, in West Lothian, on a sunny May morning. Sophie's engine is warming up and her propellers start to turn as she prepares for take no hiding the delight in the faces of the team who have put years of work into finally getting her off the groundThe ambitious project by the Aviation Preservation Society of Scotland was not something that could be rushed, according to chairman Mike said: "Every single nut and bolt has been checked, every single bracket has been checked, every single piece of wire has been checked. You don't cobble these things together. "When you're going to fly it, it has to be done right. If it was for a museum, if it was just going on display we would probably have finished it within a few years."But the meticulous attention to detail to get this thing in the air is what's taken the length of time. Who can say they've achieved this sort of thing, a bunch of guys who've retired?" The team - whose oldest members are in their 80s - have followed the exact plans of the original Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter - which came into service in 1916. The plane was involved in protecting the Forth coastline in World War the Strutter involved using the talents of many people, including relative newcomer Donald Gardner."It's a fantastic bunch of people, with a huge range of skills from craft skills to engineering skills," he said."It's kind of humbling seeing the results of all the work everybody's put into it over, I guess, a generation. Also it's a bit sad that in the back cockpit there's a plaque to all the people that were involved at the start that haven't unfortunately been here at the end. That's quite humbling."Even on a sunny day, the team has to be very careful about the conditions, especially the wind. Aircraft inspector Tim Rayner is also the solo pilot and these test flights are allowing him to get used to the feel of the aircraft and how she reacts in certain weather. He finds a decent window for take-off and the plane leaves the ground. The flight lasts about 15 minutes and afterwards Tim - who has been involved in the project since the start - gives his verdict on how it went."This is the icing on the cake. I'm used to flying modern aeroplanes from the 50's and 60's - the classics - and they're very different from this aeroplane to fly. This is very much more of a challenge. "The controls are nowhere near as responsive as they became as we developed better technologies. This is 1915 and it's not that many years since the first flight so you've got to look at it as flying as you would expect for an aircraft of that era."The plane has a passenger seat, but isn't allowed to take two people until passing this testing phase - and completing five hours of Murray has helped her to prepare for these flights and he is excited about getting a shot in her himself."There's a backseat there and currently we're looking at putting some instruments in there, so that when you're flying along you can see what's going on. I don't think I'll be flying in it any time soon because there's quite a queue of, shall we say, older gentlemen in the club who've got first dibs at that. "But hopefully one I'll sit in the back seat and have a shot."The test flights allow them to make any necessary tweaks. But the team are very keen to show her off, and if they get enough testing time they hope to take her to air shows before too long.
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Headlines: 'Bristol Airport row with Cardiff' and 'murder trial collapses'
Here's our daily pick of stories from across local websites in the West of England, and interesting content from social media. Our pick of local website stories Wales Online's Bristol Airport v Cardiff Airport story has sparked a lot of interest. The story comes after the Welsh government gave Cardiff Airport a subsidy. Bosses at Bristol Airport reportedly said the grant distorts to clean up the River Tone after tests showed poor hygiene for bathers has been published by Somerset Cotswold Wildlife Park has been named the UK's best zoo for the second year in a row, according Gloucestershire Live. Our top three from yesterday What to watch on social media The partner of Mike Harper who died during Bristol Half Marathon last year has posted on Reddit saying she "finished the race he couldn't". She says Mike – who was 26 - collapsed 200 metres from the finish line from an undiagnosed heart lots of people have been commenting on Swindon Borough Council's post about a new specialist early years centre for children with special educational needs is opening in June in Bristol ARC says it took in 17 animals on Thursday, the highest in a single day this year – and bosses are asking for support.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mercyhurst University students take a bow at mini play festival
A popular semi-annual event concluded on Sunday at Mercyhurst University. The Student-Directed Ten-Minute Play Festival took place at the Taylor Little Theater on campus, featuring five short plays completely organized and performed by students. Mercyhurst University president named among Top Women Leaders of PA Plays ranged from comedies to dramas and were completely free to the public. Students said they were happy to share emerging voices and creative vision, even with finals just around the corner. Meteorologist Tom Atkins hosts bi-annual spring SKYWARN class 'It's not really work for us, so in our free time, me personally, I just go back and forth to the script, and then coming here after a long day, it's just refreshing to come, and the actors are excited as well. It's a working relationship, and as soon as you get the ball rolling, you forget that it's even work,' said Mike Harper, one of the play's directors. The students rehearsed for the last several months to bring the show to life for the festival. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
