I was at Bristol Aerospace the other year and read about a Bristolian who tried to build things to fly in the old days, can't remember if he got as far as building an aircraft like good ole George.
Btw, I nearly need an oxygen tank after reading your opening paragraph 😂
Haha Check the edit history, I posted it by mistake again when trying to save a draft so had to try and finish after posting....it's still a work in progress ;-)