to - Jet Art Aviation

FROM THE WORKSHOP JET ART AVIATION
The Art of Restorat
The Jet Art Aviation team. (L-r): John,
Naylan Moore, Mel Wilson, Chris Wilson
(with Tilly the dog), Brenda Corker, Colin
and Steve.
“We’re not just a money-making
business. There’s a lot of passion in
what we do”
W
hen Chris Wilson, managing
director of Jet Art Aviation
(JAA), left the Royal Air
Force in 2004 to settle down
with wife Melanie in rural North
Yorkshire, he probably did not
imagine that within a few years
he would be working on Panavia
Tornados again. Late last year,
Chris and his team at JAA
completed the restoration of
Tornado F.3 ZE256 (see News, last
issue). The jet, currently the only
privately owned F.3 in the world,
has been finished to static display
standard and is available to buy.
Having worked as an engineer on
11 Squadron F.3s at Leeming, Chris
has had the Tornado painted in the
unit’s markings, though it retains
its original serial on the starboard
fin. To say that restoring the
Tornado over 16 months has
been a labour of love would be an
understatement, but incredibly
it is just one of several airframes
that have been completed to a
similar standard by JAA. Among
the more recent machines
receiving the Jet Art treatment
is one likely to be of particular
interest to FlyPast readers –
WK275, the world’s only complete
Supermarine Swift F.4.
From ‘props’
to Harriers
After graduating as an aircraft
mechanic with the RAF in 1998,
Chris’s first posting was with the
Red Arrows, a two-year stint that
saw him touring with the team and
even flying in the back of one of the
BAe Hawks during transits. After
completing a fitter’s course, he
then moved on to 11 Squadron and
the Tornados at Leeming.
Chris and Mel launched Jet
Art Aviation in 2006. Originally
specialising in parts and
collectibles, it was Mel – who
works with Chris as director
and company secretary –
who first suggested he
might like to acquire
an entire airframe for
restoration, preferably
a type that drew on his
considerable experience
with military jets. This
duly arrived at
their private premises in
the form of a retired Hawker
Siddeley Harrier. It turned out to
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