Man Raises Money To Save Ultra-rare 1960’s Airplane Cockpit

Inside the cockpit of a Carvair aircraft. An aviation enthusiast has splashed out thousands of dollars to save the only- surviving cockpit of a rare 1960s car freight plane. PHOTO BY MARC WILMOTT/SWNS 

An aviation enthusiast has splashed out thousands of dollars to save the only- surviving cockpit of a rare 1960s car freight plane.

Marc Wilmott, 62, spent £4,200 ($5,243) moving the huge cockpit of a Carvair aircraft, one of 21 car ferry planes ordered by airline legend Sir Freddie Laker half a century ago.

The planes were converted from Douglas DC-4 military planes in Southend, Essex, England, to ferry up to five cars at time across the English Channel.

Marc, who lives at Hadleigh, near Southend, said he the cockpit was “finally coming home” and hoped it could be preserved and put on display locally.

Marc said the cockpit is now being kept at a secret location in his hometown of Hadleigh, near Southend stating it’s “finally come home.”

The cockpit is 15 and a half feet long, 10 and a half feet wide, eight and a half feet tall and weighs one and a half tonnes.

The cockpit of a Carvair aircraft being transported. Marc, who lives at Hadleigh, near Southend, said that the cockpit was “finally coming home” and hoped it could be preserved and put on display locally. PHOTO BY MARC WILMOTT/SWNS  

Sean Connery’s James Bond could been seen driving an Aston Martin DB5 on to a Carvair in pursuit of Goldfinger in the eponymous 1964 film.

Marc arranged for the cockpit to be transported from its abandoned location in Beccles, Suffolk which he did using a combination of a hired truck and finally a large forklift truck.

The dad-of-one, said: “The Carvair could carry up to five cars and 22 passengers across the channel.

“The guy I bought it from had it for 44 years and it’s one of the only remaining ones in the world.

“I knew I couldn’t let it go to waste so I raised the money to ensure it’s preservation.

Marc Wilmott on the left and ex-British Air Ferries Engineer Richard Walker on the right in the cockpit of a Carvair aircraft. Sean Connery’s James Bond could been seen driving an Aston Martin DB5 on to a Carvair in pursuit of Goldfinger in the eponymous 1964 film. PHOTO BY MARC WILMOTT/SWNS 

“Transporting it from Suffolk to Southend Airport was a challenge but it had to be moved sharpish.

“It was quite precarious but I managed it in the end.”

Marc said he was told there was no room for the cockpit in the Vulcan Restoration Trust hangar at Southend airport.

However, he hopes an individual or organization in the city could house it for preservation and even as a display for the public.

Of the 21 Carvair’s built only two un-airworthy airframe examples remain, one in Johannesburg and one in Texas but they do not include cockpits.

Produced in association with SWNS Talker