A group of aircraft fans have created a memorial that marks one of the most important moments in the past century.
The staff and members at Rules of Engagement in Benfleet Road have spent three weeks designing and building a replica for a WWI plane. This life-sized plane was created to commemorate 100 years since the beginning of the Great War. The 10m by 6m bi-plane was created by using scrap metal and it will be placed in the middle of the Vic House Corner roundabout so the whole town can enjoy it.
Robert Drury, co-manager of Rules of Engagement, sells airsoft guns in Hadleigh, has said the staff took great pride in recreating the plane. He tells the Echo: “It looks fantastic, considering we only started building it at the start of the month. It’s an idea we’ve been mulling over since the start of the year, but it only came into being after we put our heads together. “The only item we had to buy was the propeller, because we picked up the tires from a local breakers yard.”
The staff consisted of the Rules of Engagement members, young and old. The youngest member was 6 years old and the eldest was 86. The store has been given permission by Essex County Council to put the plane on the roundabout and it will later be relocated to the Airsoft Plantation in Goatsmoor Lane, Billericay.
Because the plane is so large, the company is still trying to figure out how it can be successfully moved to the roundabout. Mr. Drury said: “The feedback from the community has been really positive as everyone acknowledges this is an occasion which needs to be remembered. “If people want to talk to us about it they are more than welcome to drop in and have a chat.”