James May attempted to fly a 1000-piece model plane across the English channel

James May once attempted to fly a 1,000-piece model plane across the English Channel. 

The bizarre challenge began in 2009 when May was filming an episode of his BBC TV show, James May’s Toy Stories. 

The episode in question was about the Airfix model planes many British kids grew up making – and as part of the show, the TV host created a 1:1 scale model of the Spitfire, which ended up on display at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford. 

Nicely done.

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James May set himself a record-breaking challenge

It seemed the model plane had a big impact on the former Top Gear presenter because two years later, he revisited the once-popular toys in his Christmas special, Flight Club. 

This time, he had an even more unbelievable challenge planned. 

May set his sights on building a – completely engineless – model plane and sending it 22 miles across the English Channel to France. 

If successful, it would set a new world record – and if unsuccessful, it still makes for pretty interesting TV, right? 

With a plan in mind, he set about finding the perfect toy plane to scale up and settled on a Swingsbury Swallow – a former RAF training glider from the 1950s. 

After tracking down the plans for one of the model plane kits, he visited a factory where they made him his own balsa wood plane kit – albeit quite a bit larger than the ones from his childhood.

They even fitted it with a guiding system and GPS so it didn’t go off-course. 

However, they were hit with a snag early on when they were told by air traffic controller that their initial planned route was a no-go.

Ouch.

The team were hit with several snags during their attempt

Undeterred, the team went back to the drawing board and decided to glide it from Devon to Wales—a distance of 22 miles. 

But when it came to launch day, the British weather had other ideas, and then the glider’s autopilot malfunctioned, which meant that…well, it didn’t go to plan, and the poor model plane ended up crash landing in the sea. 

Double ouch.

However, May wasn’t ready to give up just yet, and the very next day, he decided to give it another shot.

This time, due to the wind, they sent the model plane across the Bristol Channel, from mainland England to Lundy Island, which is – in case you were wondering – a distance of 22-miles.

With the weather on their side, May and his team launched the balsa wood, an oversized toy, from a helicopter at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

Somewhat miraculously – the glider made it, landing safely on Lundy Island, meaning May managed to set a new record after all.

A great day for May and a great day for nostalgia.