A former de Havilland engineer is set for an emotional reunion with the Mosquito prototype he helped rebuild 65 years ago.
Back in 1959, a then 25-year-old Ivor Lendon was among of handful of staff from the Hatfield-based aircraft company sent to London Colney's Salisbury Hall to help put the aircraft back together.
The prototype - which first flew in 1940 - was being transported to its new home at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum, after founder Walter Goldsmith had struck an agreement with the company.
Now aged 90, Ivor is set to go back to the museum to reunite with the historic aircraft he helped put together, after stumbling across photos taken by the Herts Advertiser which showed him working on the aircraft.
"I think he went back when I was kid, probably aged about 12, because I remember him taking me to see it, but this will probably be his last chance to see it," said his son, Gary Lendon.
"He's still in good health, but he's 90 now so you just never know.
"This all came about because he was going through his pictures, so I put something on Facebook and the response to it was quite overwhelming. That's when the museum got in touch and they were really keen to get him to come and visit.
"I'm going with him, because knowing the significance of that aircraft and its importance to the museum, it feels like something very special."
Ivor was at de Havilland at their Leavesden site, working on some of the British military's most advanced jets, including the Sea Vixen.
READ MORE: de Havilland Museum completes painstaking 45-year restoration of Mosquito
But by far his fondest memories come from rebuilding the Mosquito, with Gary continuing: "He was working at de Havilland in Leavesden and they allocated a handful of engineers to work on rebuilding the aircraft.
"To have worked on such an important and historic aircraft is a real source of pride for him now, but back at the time he didn't think so much of it.
"The fuss of the newspaper was something new to him at the time, and he's got some great stories about it now.
"It arrived in boxes and there were quite a few bits missing, so he got sent around the country to scavenge for parts."
A history of the Mosquito prototype
Answering an Air Ministry Specification for a twin-engine bomber, the team at de Havilland came up with the Mosquito, a fast but unarmed wooden aircraft.
W4050 - the museum's surviving prototype - took off for its maiden flight on November 25, 1940 and despite initial reservations about its design, the aircraft enter service a year later.
More than 7,700 were built between 1940 and 1950, with the versatile aircraft used in a number of important roles by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, carrying out daring raids on Amiens Prison and Berlin.
W4050 would go on to set a Mosquito speed record by reaching 439mph in level flight, but it was officially grounded in 1944.
The aircraft would be placed in storage until 1959, when Walter Goldsmith discovered drawings of the Mosquito on the wall of his home and former de Havilland design centre at Salisbury Hall in London Colney.
Having found out the prototype still existed, he got permission from de Havilland to have the aircraft for his new museum, returning W4050 to the place where it was designed and built.
Ivor and his team helped rebuild the aircraft, which was fully dismantled in the 2010s and restored, being unveiled with its original paint scheme in 2015.
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