In the quiet village of Hilton, Derbyshire, a project is underway that’s capturing the imagination of thousands across the United Kingdom—and far beyond. Dave Billings, a 44-year-old engineer, content creator, and self-described tinkerer, has embarked on a bold new chapter in his ongoing quest to transform his home and garden into something out of a Cold War thriller. His latest acquisition? The fuselage of a retired Bmibaby Boeing 737-500, which he plans to bury 14 feet underground in his back garden to create what he calls his “fallout bunker.”
According to BBC News, Billings purchased the bare shell of the aircraft for £4,000 after spotting it on Facebook Marketplace. “I knew there and then that I had to buy it,” he explained, recalling the moment he saw the listing. The aircraft, built in 1993, first flew for British Midland in 1994, later joining the Bmibaby fleet and earning the name "Pudsey Baby" in 2009 for BBC Children in Need. After its final landing at Bruntingthorpe airfield in 2013, the plane was scrapped—until Billings saw potential in its remains.
Transporting the massive fuselage to his property was no small feat. As reported by the Daily Mail, Billings enlisted the help of friends and a lorry to move the aircraft from a field to his yard. Once on site, he cut off the back section and began preparations to bury it, linking the plane to his existing network of underground tunnels and rooms—a network he’s been building and documenting for years on his YouTube channel, Tornado Dave.
“I want to keep the toilet and kitchen area at the back as it is,” Billings told BBC News, “but I want to show the rugged aluminium framework that lies beneath the plastic interior.” His vision is to blend the familiar and the industrial: the rear section will retain authentic galley features and trim, while the rest of the fuselage will have its insulation stripped away to reveal the aircraft’s ribs and internal structure, which Billings plans to paint in a military-style light green. “Once you come past the toilet, it’s going to look more like a military plane, with all the ribs showing so it looks quite industrial,” he told the Daily Mail. “The look is brilliant because I’m insulating around the outside when it’s buried, so it won’t need internal insulation.”
For Billings, the project is as much about fun as it is about engineering. One entrance to the bunker will be through the original plane door, giving visitors the surreal experience of boarding a flight—only to descend into a hidden underground complex. He’s even planning to install an airport-style corridor tunnel, complete with a rubber seal like those found on airport walkways, to make the approach as realistic as possible. At the far end, a vertical lift accessed via an old phone box will provide an alternative entrance and ensure accessibility for all.
Billings’s attention to detail doesn’t end with the aesthetics. He’s determined to make the aircraft’s vacuum toilet fully functional, just as it would be at 35,000 feet. “People think it only works because of altitude, but it actually uses a vacuum pump at ground level—so I’m going to make that function properly and have the toilet working as it should. I just think that’ll be a great feature,” he explained to the Daily Mail. He also plans to fit ovens into the original galley-style shelving, allowing the kitchen to work just as it did when the plane was in service.
The inspiration for the project came, in part, from Billings’s seven-year-old son—a budding aviation enthusiast who is keen to use the bunker for his next birthday party. “He was the main reason I bought this and when I first showed him the picture he asked why I hadn’t bought it already,” Billings said to BBC News. “I then suddenly realised I could bury it in my garden to make a cool space.” His wife, Beth, was initially skeptical—“When she first saw it, she asked me why I was buying a pile of junk but once I bought it she was OK about it,” Billings admitted—but now the whole family is on board.
Billings’s home sits on land rich with history. As he recounted to BBC News, the property was once the site of a World War Two US Army military camp, complete with Nissen huts and a well dug by troops. He has made the most of these features, using the old well as one of the access points to his underground network. The tunnel connecting his family home to the bunker was dug by hand, reinforced with folded galvanized metal sections, and advanced at a rate of about one foot per day, using only a battery-powered drill. “It was hard work but well worth it,” he reflected.
His YouTube channel, Tornado Dave, has become a sensation in its own right. Since launching in 2021, it has attracted more than 276,000 subscribers as of February 21, 2026, and now gains around 10,000 new followers every month. Billings documents every step of his projects, from the challenges of digging tunnels to the intricacies of restoring aircraft interiors. Revenue from the channel, along with his fabrication and storage businesses, helps fund the increasingly ambitious builds. While he initially estimated the Boeing project might cost around £15,000, he now expects the final tally to be closer to £25,000, especially as growing support allows him to upgrade key elements.
The project is not just a novelty; Billings is serious about its potential utility. He envisions the bunker as a genuine fallout shelter, capable of withstanding fallout within a 10-mile radius of a blast if constructed with thick enough concrete. He plans to fit bunks, storage, a working kitchen, and essential facilities to make it viable for several days underground. Emergency power remains one of the final pieces to be sorted, but Billings is confident: “That’s one of the things I’ve got to sort out for the project, but it has actually got a lot of the essential things.”
To help visualize the final result, Billings has used a 3-D printer to create a scale model showing how the fuselage will connect to the underground room beneath his garden. The model includes all planned entrances and features, serving as both a practical guide and a showcase for his ever-growing online audience.
Bmibaby, the airline that once operated the aircraft, was itself a fixture of UK aviation. Operating from airports including East Midlands, Manchester, and Cardiff, Bmibaby ferried passengers to holiday destinations like Alicante, Faro, and Malaga before shutting down in 2012 after heavy financial losses. Some of its planes found new homes; others, like Billings’s G-BVKB, were scrapped—until fate (and Facebook Marketplace) intervened.
For now, Billings awaits planning permission before the big dig can begin in earnest. But if his track record is any indication, it won’t be long before a slice of aviation history is reborn as one of Britain’s most unusual backyard bunkers. As he puts it, “I do have other big ideas, so watch this space.”
One thing’s for sure: in Hilton, Derbyshire, the sky’s no longer the limit—it’s just the beginning.