RAF aeroplane laid out 'like Airfix kit'

The last surviving Blackburn Beverley is being reassembled in Cumbria

An RAF aeroplane has been laid out "like an Airfix kit" ahead of its reassembly.

The only surviving Blackburn Beverley is in the process of being put together and repainted at the Solway Aviation Museum in Cumbria, after it was transported from a former airfield in Hull.

Known as "Big Bev", the aeroplane was once the biggest transport aircraft used by the RAF.

The museum chairman Dougie Kerr said work to get it back to display quality was "ahead of schedule" and it could be open to the public by the middle of next year.

The aeroplane was previously taken out of service in 1974 and had been stored at a former military museum in Hull.

It has a wingspan of 162ft (50m) and was capable of carrying up to 100 troops.

Parts were transported to Cumbria earlier this year after its Fort Paull home closed.

The aircraft is in the process of being repainted

People will be allowed inside the cockpit once it is reassembled, while the inside of the fuselage will also be accessible.

"It's a wonderful aircraft," Mr Kerr said, adding: "It's the last in the world, it's got to be saved."

People will be allowed to sit in the cockpit once it is reassembled

Initial estimates on the timescale for restoring the aircraft ran to "a couple of years".

But Mr Kerr said: "At the rate we're going, employing commercial sandblasters to come in and take the paint off, I think it could be the middle of next year before we get it back together and we can start getting people in."

The fuselage could hold 100 paratroopers, Mr Kerr said

The museum said it expects the Blackburn Beverly to be a popular attraction when it opens.

Mr Kerr said: "With it being the only one, there'll be a lot of people seeing it for the first time.

"But there is old-timers out there that'll want to see it again.

"They'll want to get their picture taken beside it, because they never had the chance before, because they were actually working with the Beverley."