Honouring a Flying Boat Veteran: Sunderland MR5 at RAF Wig Bay

Acrylic on board

Short Sunderland MR5 in RAF Wig Bay. Now preserved in the RAF Museum at Hendon.

Every painting has a story behind it, but this commission carries a particularly meaningful one. I was recently asked to create a piece for the pilot of the Short Sunderland MR5—the very aircraft now proudly preserved at the RAF Museum in Hendon, London. To paint something for someone who not only flew the aircraft, but whose service is now physically represented in a national museum, was a rare honour.

inked out

help from the cat

getting some paint on

The painting scene is set where the original pilot served on Sunderlands at RAF Wig Bay, a major flying boat base on the shores of Loch Ryan in southwest Scotland. Wig Bay was a bustling hub of maintenance, training, and operations—a place where aircrews prepared for long, low, ocean-skimming patrols in aircraft affectionately known as “The Flying Porcupine” for its bristling defensive armament.

We decided on a head-on view, the Sunderland roaring along the surface of the water, with all the theatre of the sea spray and turning props adding energy to the piece.

There’s something special about painting a machine that still exists—one that people can walk up to, stand beneath, and connect with. Knowing that my artwork now belongs to someone who flew the real thing made every brushstroke feel that little bit more significant.

A deeply rewarding project, and a privilege to help preserve a piece of both personal and aviation history.