HER Royal Highness Princess Anne paid a special visit to Somerset's Fleet Air Arm Museum to view the team's work on "bringing an extinct aircraft back to life". 

The Princess Royal was shown Barracuda Live: The Big Rebuild at the museum near Yeovil on Friday, September 13.

As part of the rebuild, staff and volunteers at the museum are trying to save the world's only Second World War Fairey Barracuda from extinction. 

The museum, now in its 60th year, was opened by His Royal Highness Prince Phillip in 1964.

The National Museum of the Royal Navy is showcasing a complex engineering and archaeological task, rebuilding this iconic aircraft as part of the visitor experience at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton. 

Piece by piece, a passionate team of staff and volunteers at the museum has been given Ministry of Defence (MOD) permission to gather scattered parts from wreck sites across the British Isles.

Their unwavering commitment is driven by a desire to not just preserve the aircraft but also to honour the courageous individuals who built, flew and maintained them. 

Matthew Sheldon, CEO of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, said: “It was such a privilege to host Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal at the Fleet Air Arm Museum.

"We are very proud of the ground-breaking work that our team of conservationists are putting into the Big Rebuild.

"What we’re learning here will benefit other conservation projects across the UK and beyond. We hope Her Royal Highness thoroughly enjoyed the experience.”