Meet our magnificent man and his flying machine

BOGNOR bound - Birdman Andrew Atherton and his impressive, home-made airplane

WE have lift-off ... well almost!
This was the scene in a pub car park in Chadderton as an incredible flying machine got a trial run ahead of a daredevil stunt this weekend.

The magnificent man behind the ambitious model is Andrew Atherton, the landlord-come-pilot of the Whitegate pub in Broadway, who has set his sights on becoming this year’s Bognor Birdman.

He’s stayed faithful to the 1902 Wright Brother’s plane, albeit altered the materials by using bed sheets, wood and steel cables to keep the structure together.

Revealing his creation in full for the first time, he dashed up and down the car park in practice for jumping off the pier into the chilly English channel on Saturday.

Andrew (42) said: “We got a little bit of wind and it seemed to get hold of the glider, it felt like it was going to fly like a kite – it was trying to fly away.

“I’m feeling quite confident now. It was the first time it’s been put together so at least it didn’t collapse in a heap.”

With an impressive 27ft wingspan and measuring 6ft in height, Andrew is hoping the glider will help him soar over 100m and rake in cash for his chosen cause of Wateraid.

The charity aims to improve access to safe water in some of the world’s poorest countries.

In the five months Andrew has been working on the mini aircraft, he’s had a great deal of help to ensure a smooth flight instead of a sharp plunge.

He said: “Guys that have been staying in the hotel have been helping me out, we’ve even had a pilot here giving me training books and videos to give me advice.

“Everyone thinks I’m a nutcase, you could tell people were looking in wonder when we were running up and down the car park.”