Master restorer Kevin Crumplin taxis his
Tiger Moth out for a flight.
British airplane restorer Kevin Crumplin recently put the finishing touches on not one but three de Havilland Tiger Moths that look better than the day they came off their respective factory floors, one from Morris Motors and two from de Havilland, between 1936 and 1943. There were more than 7,000 Tiger Moths produced in England during the war years. They were used primarily as basic trainers, but they were outfitted as bombers, as spy planes and even as radio controlled drones. Crumplin started the restorations four years ago; he worked simultaneously on the three trainers. All three Tigers were painted in authentic World War II RAF colors. (Click here to check out the before picture!)
Crumplin (72) says he chose the Tiger Moth for the best and most predictable reason imaginable: he learned to fly in one. One of the three Tigers will go to the Airfighter Academy, a German air museum, another will go to a private collector group in England, and the third, you guessed, will be kept by Crumplin to do a little aviating.
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