'There is something romantic about an old plane. It wasn’t in me to scrap it'

Eddie O'Sullivan of the Cork Metal Company in the cockpit of vintage plane. Pictures: Noel Sweeney

He has smashed up everything from a jet at Shannon Airport to an old telephone box.

But, when a vintage aircraft linked to one of the greatest movie stars of all time landed in his scrapyard, Eddie O’Sullivan from Cork Metal Company couldn’t bring himself to destroy it.

Instead, he hired experts to reassemble and restore the Percival Pembroke — which features in the upcoming biopic Jimmy — to its former glory. 

While the biopic won’t hit our screens until later this year, many will recognise the impressive prop from the streets of Skibbereen where it was transported on a flatbed to West Cork Film Studios.

The aircraft was initially used in the 1950s for reconnaissance missions before being repurposed as a prop for the film. 

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Shot in West Cork between September and October 2025, Jimmy highlights the sacrifices made by movie star Jimmy Stewart, who took a break from acting to serve as a bomber commander with the US army air corps.

Director of Cork Metal Company, Eddie O’Sullivan, now plans to put it on permanent display.

“For much of its life the aircraft served the RAF in Berlin. In the time of the Cold War it used to fly out over the iron curtain on reconnaissance missions which were carried out to gather data about enemy activity.

“More recently, however, it was used in the movie Jimmy as a prop. A number of modifications had been made to the aircraft for the film.

"A wartime type windscreen with bullet holes had been added as well as ammunition boxes. One of the turrets was used for machine guns.

“I never really had an interest in aviation but there is something romantic about an old plane. It wasn’t in me to scrap it. 

"The motto of our company is ‘recycling the past and protecting the future’ but in this case we made an exception and protected the past instead.”

Eddie was first made aware of the aircraft through a phone call with Édain O’Donnell from West Cork Studios.

“He was selling it because while the movie was off site, the plane was still on his property and possibly in his way. 

"We don’t see these too often in the scrap business so my ears pricked up. 

Tim Crowley and James Radford rebuilt the plane over a 14-day period.

"It was going for a good bit over the scrap value but I saw more than scrap value in it. 

"A man in the UK had offered a lot more money for it but I told Édain that if this didn’t work out I could be his fallback. 

"I was delighted when the plane became available again.”

However, transporting the aircraft proved difficult.

“It took a lot to get it here. The width of the wings alone meant it needed separate transport. Three trucks in total were required just to get it here. 

"We put all the pieces out in a row, not knowing where we were going to start with this jigsaw. 

"All we had to go by was an original picture of the plane which was constructed back in 1957. 

"I’m told there are only two of these left on the whole planet and one of them is in Miami. 

"The rest of them are gone after being broken up and recycled for scrap.”

Eddie has amassed a wealth of curiosities over the years.

“My house is predominantly decorated with pieces that have come in over the years. 

"I’ve collected various items such as cast iron horse boxes that were used to feed horses in the First World War. 

What remains of the cockpit.

"Over the years we have scrapped stuff that would be worth a lot of money today. 

"I can remember breaking down cash registers with sledge hammers and old telephone boxes which all came through us.

“I cut up a jet in Shannon years ago but it didn’t have the old mystique of the vintage aircrafts. 

"One day they will be old too and somebody will probably put one of these back together.”

The artefact was reassembled by James Radford and Tim Crowley from Murjoy Ltd in Whitecross Cork. 

They had been working around the clock on the project for a total of 14 days.

“We are normally working on fitting pipes in the pharmaceutical industry,” Tim explained.

“This particular project was a new one for us but I just followed Jim’s lead. 

"Although we were scratching our heads at the start we just looked at it one jigsaw piece at a time. 

"This was a nice project to take on. It isn’t every day that you are working on an airplane, especially one with this kind of history.”

The rebuilt plane used in the movie 'Jimmy' based around the actor Jimmy Stewart's time as a soldier in the Second World War.

Speaking of history, he expressed his admiration for movie star Jimmy Stewart who was best known for films such as It’s a Wonderful Life.

“Jimmy Stewart is one of the great old actors and I’m old enough to remember his films. He was one of the great Americans of his day. 

"I don’t think we’ll ever have a project like this again.” 

Tim’s colleague James Radford admits it was a labour of love to complete the aircraft.

“There was a lot of stuff missing that we ended up having to fabricate ourselves. There were also a lot of repairs that had to be done to it. 

"The wings coming down had to be modified to keep them in the position they are in at the moment because there were missing linkages.” 

James initially thought the assignment was a prank after being tasked with the job by Murjoy Ltd’s managing director, Mick Murphy.

“When Mick first asked me to put together an airplane I questioned whether he was talking about a model one. When he told me it was a real airplane I didn’t believe him.” 

He is now glad to see his hard work paying off.

“My kids are coming up to see it soon. I’ve been showing them photographs so this is something I’m really looking forward to. I’m also really looking forward to seeing the film.”