Britain's former youngest female pilot is set to break another record when she flies a WWI warplane - built by pensioners who started the job before she was born.<br /><br />Ellie Carter, 20, will become the first woman to fly a Sopwith Strutter after the retired volunteers began rebuilding the iconic plane 23 years ago.<br /><br />Ellie became the youngest solo glider pilot on her 14th birthday and flew a proper powered plane just three days after she turned 16.<br /><br />And she will now fly the replica Sopwith Strutter that has been over 20 years in the making.<br /><br />Some of the people who began the project have since died.<br /><br />The Sopwith Strutter took to the skies for the first time in 1915, and were used by the British Army until 1917, when they were replaced by Sopwith Camels.<br /><br />A replica of the warplane, built by the Aviation Preservation Society Scotland (APSS) in East Lothian, finished construction earlier this year.<br /><br />Once Ellie, from Great Torrington, Devon, found out about the project she was eager to get involved.<br /><br />Now a fundraising campaign has been launched to create a documentary chronicling the plane’s construction and Ellie’s journey to become the first woman to fly one.<br /><br />Ellie said: “I’ve been into flying since I was nine – I got my pilot’s license at seventeen and became the youngest female pilot in the country at the time.<br /><br />“Ever since then, I’ve been flying old aircraft!<br /><br />“I would’ve loved to have been involved in the building of the aircraft, but that was all the APSS.<br /><br />“I heard about the Strutter a little while ago, and I got in touch with them, because it’s my dream to fly warbirds – and the Strutter is a classic one.<br /><br />“When I’d got in touch with them, they already had a filmmaker involved, and they suggested that we could all do something together.<br /><br />“I went up to Scotland last year and spoke to the people involved and saw the aircraft – it was lovely.<br /><br />“A lot of the people involved are retired and a lot of them have had an interest in aviation for a really long time, so building the aircraft was something they really wanted to do.”<br /><br />Members of the APSS have been constructing the replica since 2000, with the group comprised of retired volunteers, aged 65-100, who have no previous experience with aircraft.<br /><br />Nine members sadly passed before the construction of the Strutter was completed, and each of their names have been engraved onto a plaque in the plane’s cockpit.<br /><br />The plane, which has been affectionately nicknamed 'Sophie,' will be flown by Ellie, who hopes to be able to take each of the volunteers for a ride in the two-seater aircraft.<br /><br />The group, along with Ellie and filmmaker Alex McCall, are aiming to raise £22,300 through a Kickstarter campaign to put their documentary together, named Ellie and the Time Machine. <br /><br />“This film records in real time the meticulous efforts over a quarter of a century of a group of seniors to recreate a unique piece of aviation history as the only flying Sopwith Strutter in the world,” said filmmaker Alex.<br /><br />“Their project, described as a "Men's Shed On Steroids," also represents the power of community to nurture mental health and is an opportunity for a young woman to fulfill the dreams of the women from a century ago prohibited from piloting aircraft.”<br /><br />As the volunteers and filmmaking team wait to see if their fundraising targets will be hit, pilot Ellie is eagerly awaiting her chance to fly the iconic ‘warbird.’<br /><br />“You have to really fly these planes – there isn’t any modern technology, so you’ve really got to fly by the seat of your pants,” she said.<br /><br />“With warbirds, you know that someone’s flown that plane before in a terrifying situation where they didn’t know if they’d be able to come home.<br /><br />“There’s something incredibly humbling and inspiring about that.<br /><br />“It’s such a beautiful aircraft and this is something I’ve always wanted to do.<br /><br />“It’s going to be incredible. There aren’t many women flying warbirds at the best of times, so it’s amazing to be the first woman to fly the Strutter.<br /><br />“It will be an absolutely brilliant experience and I can’t wait for it.<br /><br />“It’s been a hard project to get the funding for, and we’re trying our best – hopefully we can get there soon!”<br /><br />To donate visit:<br /><br />https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/453296716/ellie-and-the-time-machine?ref=creator-nav
