Lincolnshire pair sells Tornado fighter jet on Gumtree Published duration 30 June 2015

media caption Dave and Leslie Blissett spent six years rebuilding the Tornado GR1

A Gulf War-era fighter jet has been put on sale online for £20,000 by a couple who took six years to rebuild it.

Dave and Leslie Blissett, of Lincolnshire, bought the Tornado GR1 - extensively involved in the 1991 conflict - as a shell.

For sale on Gumtree, it has no engine, or guns and the wings have been removed for transportation purposes.

The ex-RAF engineers, whose love of aeroplanes brought them together, said it would make an ideal museum display.

Mr Blissett said he has always had a passion for taking things apart.

'Like a metal caterpillar'

He took on the project after being involved in the restoration of a Lightning jet at RAF Binbrook, near Market Rasen.

"What we started with was literally a bare frame - you couldn't recognise it as a Tornado," he said.

"Over the years we've bought, swapped and gone through scrap bins to get it to where it is now."

image copyright Gumtree image caption The Tornado has its wings temporarily removed so it can be transported

Mrs Blissett said when it first arrived it looked like a "metal caterpillar on the back of a lorry".

"Some people go for garden gnomes, we go for aeroplanes," she said.

The Panavia Tornado GR1 was used extensively in combat by the RAF in 1990s, including in the Gulf War in 1991.

On the classified ads website, the couple have written: "She is virtually complete and is ready to move as her wings have already been removed."

image caption Tornado GR1s flew more than 1,500 sorties during the 1991 Gulf War - six were lost in action, with five crew members killed

Andrew Panton, manager of the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, said it was "unusual" to sell aircraft on Gumtree, as they are generally sold via the Ministry of Defence surplus service.

"They way they are doing it - making it known worldwide - could work in their favour," he said.

As interesting as the piece is, it is the "wrong era" for the centre in Spilsby, which focuses on World War II aircraft, he said.

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