A SUNDERLAND flying boat is set to touch down in 2017 at Pembroke Dock where it will take on a unique education mission at the town’s Heritage Centre.

The Sunderland, an impressive scale model with 14 ft wingspan, is being created by a Narberth-based company, Autodromo, which is pioneering large aviation educational models for museums.

In a first for a UK museum the Sunderland project is being funded thanks to the generous sponsorship of the family of a former RAF pilot, Wing Commander Harry Bunting. He flew Sunderlands in wartime from stations including Pembroke Dock and returned to the town in the 1950s as a senior officer at the RAF base.

Wing Commander Bunting’s daughter, Ann McPhee, and grandsons Ross and Quentin keep in regular contact with Autodromo and with the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust which runs the Heritage Centre.

Ann recently visited Autodromo’s workshop to see the prototype model from which moulds will be made.

“It was so good to see the wonderful job Andy Cann at Autodromo is making of the Sunderland and how far it has progressed,” said Ann. “I now have a much better idea of the many stages in the production process of the model’s construction.”

Andy Cann added: “We have previously made large models for the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, Cambridgeshire. One, of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress, is used as part of the museum’s education programme with young people assembling the aircraft from component parts. The Pembroke Dock Sunderland will be similarly constructed and used for a similar role.”

The Bunting family and Autodromo are working with the Sunderland Trust’s John Evans to choose the markings depicted on the model.

Said John: “Wing Commander Bunting flew hundreds of hours in Sunderlands, in both wartime and peacetime. His is a remarkable story which we will tell thanks to the model and through archive items generously loaned by the family.

“No other museum in the UK will have an exhibit like this - and we look forward eagerly to when it is completed.”