Man places WWII-era plane in garden (4 photos)

Ian Fox spent about two years restoring and repainting the plane. As a token of his gratitude to his wife for her understanding, he added her name to the fuselage.





A 55-year-old British man who is passionate about aviation, Ian Fox surprised his neighbors by installing a full-size replica of the legendary Spitfire fighter from World War II in his garden.

The huge fibreglass model of the Spitfire MK IX, measuring 30ft long and with a 36ft wingspan, was previously at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, where it was used for reconstructions. However, after being damaged in a storm, it was given to the Fenland Aviation Museum, and then acquired by Ian Fox after its closure.

It took the enthusiast two years to restore and repaint the aircraft.



To show his gratitude to his wife for her understanding, Fox added her name, "Helen", to the fuselage.

"I couldn't just put a few garden gnomes in there - no one would notice them. It's nice to have a garden feature like that, everyone likes to see them. I think it brings other people more joy than it does to me. People stop, take photos and even come in to chat," Ian said.





That a few weeks after the installation of the unusual exhibit, Britain said goodbye to another legend associated with the Spitfire. On January 24, at the age of 103, the Royal Air Force ace pilot Jack Hemmings, who participated in the fighting of the Second World War, passed away.

Hemmings defended the Bay of Bengal from the Japanese invasion, and after the war devoted himself to humanitarian work. In 1948, he co-founded the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), a charity that transports humanitarian aid to remote areas of the world.