A ‘madcap’ military enthusiast constructed a Lancaster Bomber cockpit in his garden shed – after developing an obsession with The Dam Busters film, and now it will be turned into a state-of-the art simulator.
Leon Ellison devoted his retirement to meticulously building an exact replica of the flight deck, complete with gauges, dials and pilot controls. He even replicated the distinctive roar of the aircraft’s four Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 piston engines using a frequency device to mimic the sound it produced during take-off.
Electronics engineer Leon challenged himself to recreate the famous Second World War bomber after being captivated by the Dam Busters. It required 20 years of research and a further 20 to construct the model, which he housed in a homemade hangar in the garden of his Binfield, Berkshire home.
View 3 ImagesLéon spent decades researching and building the replica(Image: Adrian Ellison / SWNS)
Following his death in June 2024, his family have now donated the cockpit to RAF Metheringham Airfield visitor centre in Lincolnshire. The location was home to the Lancasters of 106 Squadron from November 1943 until the end of the war.
Leon’s creation will be transformed into a cutting-edge simulator recreating the daring Dam Busters raids over Nazi Germany in 1943. Leon’s son Adrian, 56, said his father would have been thrilled to see his cherished Lancaster Bomber “brought to life”.
He said: “Dad was obsessed with The Dambusters ever since he watched the film as a child in 1955. He devoted his life to learning everything he could about the Lancasters. He visited every single one still in existence.
“We thought he was mad when he started building the cockpit from scratch but he was actually a genius. “He wanted to build an exact replica of the cockpit which could be turned into a simulator so people could experience taking part in the Dambuster raids.”
Sadly, Leon died aged 77, before he could turn the replica into a computer simulator. Last week, his cockpit was winched out of the hangar which he built for it, before being transported to its new home. Adrian, who watched the emotional moment with his sister Belle, 54, said it was a fitting tribute to their late father.
He said: “He bought every book about the Dambusters and Lancasters, he made models when I was a kid, and he then built the biggest model you could build. He must have spent 20 years doing all the research, finding the original drawings and taking photographs of every Lancaster that he could get his hands on.
View 3 ImagesLeon brought the bomber to life (Image: Adrian Ellison / SWNS)
“When he retired around 2004 he started building it from scratch. He would disappear into his workshop for days and at weekends. He was obsessed with the project which was wonderful for him.”
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The only components of the cockpit not crafted by Leon were the struts around the top, which were laser cut by an outside company on his behalf. Adrian added: “Watching the cockpit fly for the first time when it was winched up by the crane was bittersweet but we are very proud.
“He wanted to build this cockpit to teach others about the Lancasters and the simulator was his dream. It feels right that it will be displayed at the RAF visitor centre which was home to the Lancasters.”
Ian Brett, from the Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre, said the cockpit is an “absolutely fantastic piece of engineering”.