A 68-year-old Tiger Moth biplane was rolled out at the Aviation Museum today in a milestone in its long restoration process.
The 'moth,' started being produced from 1931 and most of Britain's wartime pilots took their first training flight on it.
The aircraft bought by the Aviation Museum, built in 1942, it being restored to full flying condition, a first for the museum.
"The restoration work is almost complete, we have now started the process of certification and hope to fly it for the first time by the middle of this year," a proud Ray Polidano, chairman of the Malta Aviation Museum said this morning.
The flight would also mean that it will be the first time in more than a generation that a full-sized aircraft would have taken off from Ta' Qali, which is a former airfield.
Some 700 metres of the old runway still exist, enough to get the nimble 'moth' on its way, but for that to happen the museum authorities would have to overcome administrative hurdles and make arrangements for the removal of low walls and the closure of a street.
The Tiger Moth was acquired from the UK in 2000, minus its wings, which were bought separately. A complex restoration process was then taken in hand, with most of the engineering work being carried out in-house under the engineering direction of David Polidano.
The work was funded mostly by donations from the UK, as well as some from Malta, and the Good Causes Fund made a donation which enabled the museum to settle the final payments due.
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech was present for this morning's roll-out and blessing ceremony.
Mr Polidano said restoration work of this nature usually cost £80,000 but the aviation museum was able to spend less because it was able to use its own expertise.
The museum has already restored a Supermarine Spitfire fighter to static display condition. It is concluding the restoration of a Hawker Hurricane to taxiing condition.
Once the 'moth' takes to the air, efforts would be concentrated on the more challenging restoration of another biplane, a Swordfish torpedo bomber.
Mr Polidano regretted that no progress has been made in what the museum regards as its most important wish -- the transfer of the remains of Gloster Gladiator Faith on loan from the War Museum and its complete restoration, including the provision of wings, which the museum bought some years ago.
The Tiger Moth was first flown in 1931 and was also used to patrol the British coast.
It eventually became the RAF's standard basic trainer and was built in large numbers in Canada.
The aircraft was also used by air forces in Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Uruguay, Iran and Iraq.