A Flying Shed! Meet The Man Who Built Three Flight Simulators In His Back Garden

A retired airman has transformed his love of aviation into a business by converting his shed into a suite of flight simulators from a Boeing 737 shell, and retired Army Lynx helicopter.

Kenneth Mockford who served with the South African Air Force, built the simulators in his spare time from his unassuming garden shed in his Cambridgeshire home.

Kenneth is from a long line of RAF servicemen; his father Ray, uncle Stanley, grand-father Arthur and great-uncle Derf Mockland all served in the RAF.

Derf even invented the internationally recognised distress call 'May Day May Day'. So, it was only natural when Kenneth's dad, Ray lent a hand to get the simulator off the ground.

The father and son duo had previously experimented with small flight simulators, their skills from the Air Force putting them in good stead when it came to building the Lynx cockpit.

Kenneth said:

“I spent a lot of time trying to find parts, eventually I got a cockpit that was up for sale and rewired it because I couldn’t afford new parts...everybody wanted to fly the thing so I thought why don’t I charge for it to try and recoup some of the costs, and that’s how the business began.”

The inspiration for the simulators comes from close to home, as Kenneth explained when we went to see the suite:

“It was all inspired by my Dad giving me the interest in flying.”

Building it however was no easy feat. Some of the information on the Lynx operations is classified, Kenneth explained how he got round that problem by just wiring it all up to 'his understanding'.

After it was built a Lynx instructor visited the simulator, who Kenneth says was ‘pretty impressed’ by the likeness.

The business has now outgrown the shed and taking advantage of a larger location, Kenneth decided to recreate an entire 737 cabin, including a departure lounge and even a faux passport control.

Unfortunately, Kenneth’s father Ray passed away just 10 days before the business opened but Kenneth is keen to keep it in his family.

Kenneth’s daughter Serena will hopefully carry on the family legacy once her training on the 737 simulator is complete.