Published: Wednesday, 21st January, 2009 12:30pm
Skelmorlie man builds plane in his shed!
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EmailA passionate artist from Skelmorlie took on a new and dynamic hobby and built a new aeroplane and could now be winning an Oscar of the Highland variety!
Jim Hardie of The Crescent is a former lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art and built the aeroplane using old aviation parts until it was given its MOT equivalent and the Nord 1101 now flies out of Prestwick.
The landing light at the bottom of the plane was replaced with a video camera and Jim has used this film to record some of stunning scenery highlights over the Clyde and beyond.
As a result, the 70 year old has been nominated in the "film G Oscar" awards in Inverness on February 6 which will be televised on BBC Alba, and is in the process of writing an autobiography about the birth of his glorious flying machine.
Jim"s aeroplane creation has already featured on STV"s Scotland Today and is based on the model of Willie Messerschmitt"s planes dating back to 1933.
He said: 'I have been flying the plane over Islay and recorded some footage from the air. I am originally an artist and I thought it would be good to record a visual record of the flight. I managed to replace the landing light with a little camera. It was a complicated old plane and I spent 15 years working on it in my shed and garden. I used to repair old motorbikes and vintage cars but I had always wanted to do something similar with a plane.
'I then had to get something similar to an MOT so that I could have a permit to fly. I am an artist and I thought of the idea of doing a visual record. With help from a film group from Elgin, the footage was edited and a musical score was put over it. I was delighted to be selected for the Gaelic oscar ceremony. I will try not to do a Kate Winslet and forget anybody"s name!'
The nominated film is called 'Every minute of the shortest flight' and shows unique footage taken from a camera mounted on a 1947 Nord 1101, the only flying example on the British Register.
