Dave Billings Airplane Bunker: Engineer to Bury a Bmibaby Boeing 737-500 in Hilton Garden
The plan to convert a section of a former Bmibaby Boeing 737 into a buried shelter has advanced into active work, with the project leader describing the effort as the dave billings airplane bunker. The fuselage section has been bought, partially gutted and earmarked for burial on the owner’s property in Hilton, and the find has already produced unexpected personal touches inside the cabin.
Bmibaby Boeing 737-500 fuselage bought for £4, 000
Dave Billings, a 44-year-old engineer and content creator, purchased a cabin section of a former Bmibaby Boeing 737-500 on Facebook Marketplace for £4, 000. He bought the fuselage as a bare shell and has been removing materials, including lashings of insulation, to prepare the structure for refurbishment and eventual burial. Billings said he spotted the section and "knew there and then" he had to buy it; that decision followed encouragement from his seven-year-old son, who asked why he had not already bought it and who is keen to use the space for a birthday party.
Tornado Dave YouTube channel documents work since 2021
Billings has been documenting an existing network of underground rooms and tunnels at his home in Hilton, Derbyshire, on his YouTube channel, Tornado Dave, since 2021. The channel now has more than 276, 000 subscribers and Billings says he gains around ten thousand new subscribers a month. He set up the channel after working on the Guy's Garage television programme with presenter and former motorcycle racer Guy Martin, who drove one of Billings’ modified Land Rovers.
Dave Billings Airplane Bunker: plans to retain galley features and show aluminium framework
Billings plans to add the fuselage to his underground complex once he is granted planning permission. He intends to retain the toilet and kitchen area at the rear of the cabin and to expose the rugged aluminium framework beneath the plastic interior. Work already under way includes gutting the interior and overhauling parts of the shell, and Billings has purchased airplane seats, windows, a trolley and a first aid kit from a parts dealer and memorabilia maker to outfit the space.
Galley discovery and a planned red phone box underground
During inspection of the interior, Billings discovered signs of previous repairs to the fuselage body and a personal note tucked in the galley at the back of the plane; the note is believed to have been left by a crew member or possibly a captain on the aircraft’s last service. He has described finding the message in the galley as a heartwarming twist. Separate plans for the buried complex include placing a red phone box underground as part of the finished fallout shelter.
Hilton property sits on former military camp with Nissen huts and a troop-dug well
Billings’ home and business premises occupy the site of a former military camp thought to have been used by the US Army during World War Two. He recalls there being around fifteen Nissen huts on the site and a well dug by troops for water, a feature he says he has made the most of in his underground work.
Public reach, planning permission and next steps
Billings has spoken about the plan on local radio with Steve Beech of Radio Derby and continues to post progress for hundreds of thousands of viewers. The fuselage is set to be buried and added to the start of the underground space in the coming months, but Billings has stated that the addition will proceed only once planning permission is granted. The shell needs to be rejuvenated and kitted out with the correct materials before burial; as part of that preparation he has been removing insulation and other fittings to ready the fuselage for its new role.
What makes this notable is the combination of hands-on engineering, public reach and archival detail: a purchased fuselage, a small family’s imprint on the decision, a found personal note in the galley, and a clearly stated planning hurdle that will determine the project’s timeline. A separate piece published on Feb 15, 2026 at 12: 06 AM (UTC+4) by Grace Donohoe, last updated on Feb 12, 2026 at 6: 07 PM (UTC+4) and edited by Emma Matthews, framed the work as a complete transformation into a nuclear fallout shelter and described many of these same elements and finds.
The cause-and-effect of the project is straightforward: Billings’ prior excavation and tunneling work, and his decision to buy the fuselage prompted by his son’s enthusiasm, led to the purchase and to immediate gutting and refurbishment work; securing planning permission will be the decisive official action that allows the fuselage to be buried and joined to the underground complex.
