Llanbedr Anson T.21 VS562

A little more information for the ‘speculators’ out there the cockpit section pictured in post 2 is part of a prop used in a recent film, to my knowlage it is to be removed mounted on a trolley and restored, as for the remains of PG, the center section and outerwings are to be restored in due course to be fitted to a MK1 fuse

Looks like the fuselage is tacked onto a piece of 1920’s London Transport tube train stock ?

Mike Pannell

I think we need to clarify a few details here. I approached Maes Arto near the end of the museum and offered a price which I perceived to be the market value of the machine. That was for an amateur run museum with a
direct connection with the machine.
Sadly that offer was beaten by a West Country collector who subsequently offered her for sale . Clearly an opportunity existed again to purchase her but she had acquired a new value to reflect the input of time and expense put into her . That was beyond the museum .
Next she moved to a collector at Peterborough in exchange for equity.
At this stage the museum director inspected her and we agreed that it was of great interest but that the centre section was clearly on the limits of viability. Soon after I ceased my interest in the said museum and she was again put up for sale but this time on Ebay .
Her current owner purchased her and we have the current status quo.
The owner has his reasons for doing what he has done with her -I am not aware that the fuselage had / has been offered for sale and have checked
their website so the presumption on my behalf has always been that this is an historic aircraft with a value that would be restored at some stage and offered for sale as a going concern.
As part of that the acquisition of ‘PG’ appeared an obvious way of returning it into a viable airframe.

Clearly there has not been a lack of interest in the airframe from at least one museum -however as sometimes happens in preservation ‘luck’ doesn’t always
flow in the right direction. This is not about lamenting the loss of an airframe -this is about my personal belief that there was clearly a brighter future for this airframe out there – twice in the story of VS562 the vista of becoming a ‘MK.1’ and now parts for one have sadly doomed her.

As someone who has actively contributed to this aircraft’s demise through acquisition of its wing centre-section, wing outer panels and tail plane, (although still they are existing and intending to exist and be available for future research purposes ongoing, as against a scrapping outcome), I would make the following observations:

1. Its been advertised and available for anyone to take and restore it to its former glory, and has passed through a number of hands and apparantly judged to be beyond full restoration by those various owners?.

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=77867

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=77675&page=2

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=52895

2. While it was of significant provenance that wasnt reflected in any apparant pursuit of it for acquisition and restoration by either public or volunteer museums, it simply circulated among well intended collectors.

3. Its centre-section was “cut” off the fuselage and it and its wings have suffered significant corrosion from external display and expose to the salt air, and were intended to be scrapped in the UK at the time I was advised of their intended fate. Clearly given the number of complete late series Ansons surviving in the UK the work to repair and restore the wings has discouraged previous collectors and owners, and from my own point of view the cut centre-section provided a cost effective ability to containerise it for shipping, and its lack of apparant value and intended scrapping allowed for a low acquisition cost, and the metal wing, even with its corrosion and significant repair issues, still provides for a cost effective outcome for a static display mark 1 restoration as against building a one piece wooden wing from scratch.

I was advised of its risk of scrapping and availability by a UK based Anson restorer, my interest on the wing was to secure one that otherwise would have been scrapped and have it available for a future mark I restoration, clearly others would have also known of the situation and uncertain future?

Much later I was approached as to my interest in the wings of G-APGP which I understand are in far better condition but would have posed far more costly shipping costs as the wing centre-section could not be containerised other than in an open top container, exposed to sea spray and costing more for the privaledge smiles, of course I already had VS562 and had no need of a second set.

Of these two sad Ansons, VS562’s wings and certainly its centre-section was always of great risk of being scrapped, and I suspect they would not now exist at all, other than for their shipping to Australia, and they are unlikely to be scrapped here.

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=90452

4. Clearly its fuselage was intact and still fabric covered, and again could have made a viable museum display in its own right, although I suspect there may have been some tube rot in it given the condition of the wings.

But again, there doesnt seem to have been any apparant pursuit of it for acquisition and restoration by either public or volunteer museums?, or even private collectors?, even though this was again debated and its availability publicly known in 2009? as details of its wings departing for Australia became known.

In fact at that time surely the fuselage without its complication of storage and restoration of its sad wings was an even more attractive proposition for a suitable museum to take on?- however clearly it wasnt to be?

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=90452&page=2

Yes, I think its a crying shame that she has been split up as she has – no offence to Mark P.

However, it she has been available for sale for an awful long time, and no-one has been able to give her a good home. The fact that the centre section was cut was always going to be a serious problem…

Bruce

Pardon my ignorance of all things Anson, but am I correct in thinking there is a wingless Anson fuselage or cockpit currently for sale in the UK as a result of this? And if so, could someone in the know tell me a little more about it – condition (!), completeness, location etc?

Thanks
JK

She sold from Maes Artro for circa 5K and then passed through a couple more hands until being sold on E-Bay for circa 5K again! Having expected her to sell at the Retro Auction -I rather lost track of her but she seems not to have wandered far. She isn’t a very good reflection on British preservation.

As for your notes Mark -yes indeed the centre section parts did spend a long time at Maes Artro which is efectively Llanbedr and the atmosphere in this part of Wales is best described as ‘Maritime’ for the best part of the year!

There is only one place where the fuselage belongs in the U.K – I hope something could happen to make it happen.

5. Equally it would seem there was an opportunity to bring the good fuselage of VS562 together with the good wing centre-section and wing outer panels of G-APGP (although there are restored Ansons about, that started with less than G-APGP was, even in its worst condition!) to create a viable and complete post war anson display probably still presented as VS562 and its significance, however apparantly again there doesnt seem to have been any apparant pursuit of it for acquisition and restoration by either public or volunteer museums?

6. I know when I acquired the wings in 2009 that the intact future for VS562’s fuselage was at risk even then and that a cockpit section outcome was likely, and that again was a time that anyone interested in the intact fuselage could have pursued it?

7. I am not sure VS562 when became a cockpit section and when G-APGP arrived into the same ownership?

I certainly know APGP’s availability was notified to me long after the delivery of VS562’s wings, and I do know the owner has probably pursued and acquired them for a mark I project for a customer, and not to complete VS562. It is very likely VS562 was already a cockpit by then?

8. VS562’s cockpit section clearly survives today, albeit in a strange film set apparatus, but the cockpit itelf is probably largely intact as it was in 2009, and I am sure could still make a reasonable display should a museum pursue it?

In fact I’m not sure the removed fuselage section might not still exist and “simply” require welding, wood and fabric work to restore it into a complete fuselage again – those concerned or interested should make contact with the owner?, But clearly that fuselage section is likely to be disposed of in the longer term as well, if it hasnt been already?, it seems largely intact but cockpitless in the photo below, with VS562 fuselage frame to the RHS of the wing, and the remains of G-APGP’s fuselage frame to the LHS of the wing?

Was a museum ever wishing to do so, there seems to have been ample time to enquire and express interest in VS562 when it retained all its parts, or still constituted at least a complete fuselage, or even today to acquire I assume a relatively complete cockpit that still holds its prototype provenance?

We “cant” save them “all”, but if there are “those” we “do” want to “save”, we need actively express interest in them and ensure they are saved “somehow” by “someone, and not lament after the fact, that they were not.
“
By the way her engines remained in the UK and clearly may be of interest for preservation as well?

Regards

Mark Pilkington

If this a/c is where i think it is i doubt that it will get any tlc!!!!

It looks as if it’s attached to an old railway carriage!

Aggie Paggie’s parts

PG’s parts (all flying surfaces) were acquired for an Anson Mk.1 static rebuild, which is why the fuselage was surplus to requirements.

Anon.

Yes -Mark of Lincoln fame acquired the centre section and outer wings for an Australian Mk.1 rebuild. I had presumed that ‘PG’ was acquired for the centre section and wings to make ‘562’ more presentable -I presumed wrong!

Dave,

Didn’t the rest of this Annie go downunder ? Photo i have certainly shows it tacked onto something, hesitate to call it an ‘aircraft’ though. In fact not sure what it is…
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