Guernsey man builds and flies his own plane

Wednesday, 8 April 2026 07:10

After 8 years of building it in his garage, Colin Matthews has finally been able to pilot his kit plane.

After years as a private pilot and then in aviation insurance, Colin Matthews decided he wanted to build a plane.

In 2018, he made room in his garage and got to work on the kit.

Eight years later, after countless hours of construction and reading complex instruction manuals, Colin has achieved his dream.

On Easter Monday (6 April), his VANS RV7 was checked and approved to fly.

Colin got into the two-seat aircraft, cruised along the Guernsey Airport runway and flew for around two hours.

His daughter, Tiffany, who watched as he took off, says she is extremely proud of his craftmanship.

"One day, he said, 'I'm going to build a plane' and we were a bit like, okay, you don't normally just say that.

"But yeah, he bought himself the first toolbox, set it up and then started building a plane.

"And now eight years later, he's flying it in the air, which is crazy.

"He plays it down so much. I always say that this is such a big thing. Like, I'm so proud of you.

"And all his comments are always, oh, 'It's just an aeroplane - anyone can do it, it's just following instructions.'

"And I just think not anyone could do it. I couldn't do it. I don't have the patience and the knowledge to sit there and do that."

There are plans for Tiffany, who is a professional artist, to decorate the plane.

And then, after a few more hours of training, Colin plans to fly further abroad, possibly to Tuscany, Italy.

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