Sunderland flying boats will again be taking off and landing in the Milford Haven Waterway - thanks to a unique project at the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre and funding through a Ministry of Defence covenant programme.

The Royal Air Force’s Senior Officer in Wales, Air Commodore Adrian Williams, OBE, ADC, had a preview on a return visit to the centre where a replica of a Sunderland cockpit is being created by a volunteer team.

County councils throughout the UK, including Pembrokeshire council, joined forces with the MoD to create the Community Covenant programme. Following the launch of the programme last year, the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust decided to apply for, and was subsequently granted support, to enable this innovative and unique exhibit to be created.

Measuring over five metres long, the cockpit is rapidly taking shape and will include the positions for two pilots and other crew. It will be accessible for wheelchair users. Three large TV screens will feature take-off and landing sequences around the Haven Waterway of the giant Sunderland flying boats which graced local skies and waters for nearly 20 years. The flying sequences are being created by volunteers Ron Boreham and Graham Clarkson.

Leading the construction crew is retired RAF officer Rik Saldanha helped by Mike James, Colin Evans and other volunteers.

Said Rik: “We are recreating the full-sized cockpit, using wood and fibre glass. You now realise just how big these aircraft were, and PD had dozens of them here in wartime.”

Air Commodore Williams was delighted to see the progress being made on this unique project and how the Heritage Centre is developing.

He said: “The Sunderland Trust is preserving important and unique RAF history and we are most grateful for the work it does. During my visit, I was immensely impressed with the Heritage Centre. In particular, I was delighted to see the excellent progress being made in building the Sunderland cockpit and I think this will be a great addition to what the Heritage Centre offers, not least because it will help to bring to life what flying and operating in a Sunderland might have been like during the Second World War. I am delighted that the MoD Community Covenant fund has been able to support the Sunderland Trust and the people of Pembrokeshire in this way.”

Gareth Mills, chairman of the Sunderland Trust, which runs the Heritage Centre, welcomed Air Commodore Williams, along with trustee John de Havilland, business development manager Mark Pittman and Rik Saldanha, who are pictured.