Not for sale at any price! AT-6, Corsair, B-25….

Care to expand on that?

I can get a data plate in a jewellery box. 😉

JDK,

You would need a pretty big jewelry box for this lot.

These aircraft were the former collection of Dennis Kay (Manchester Tankers).

Dennis parted with his collection after the Battle of Britain film to Bill Francis of Southend who passed them on directly to John Lowe (& Larry Matt) of Chicago.

Here is a shot I took at Southend Airport on 12 April 1969. The two Spitfires ended up at the Victory Air Museum at Mundelein, Illinois for storage through the 1970’s.

The Dennis Kay Collection also included two Seafire 46 fuselages in sections but these were deemed uneconomic to ship to the US. One remained at Southend and the other was never even collected from Manchester Tankers.

Two enterprising enthusiasts at the time rescued them from the brink. 😉

Mark

I’ve been to Walt’s place a couple of times, and found him to be a very charming, if highly eccentric chap. He happily showed me around, and talked about the stories behind many of the aircraft.

Walt doesn’t like visitors much any more. They usually can only come when accompanied by one of his friends. He is very wary of people these days, as so many have tried to take advantage. His collection has been pilfered by quite a number of people over the years, stealing data plates, and other important items, which is a good reason to be so careful.

He has parted with several of his aircraft over the years, but he told me that after he sold the last (can’t remember if it was the F-82, or the F2G) he got into quite a bit of trouble with the local authorities, as his neighbours complained that he was operating a business, which the land was not certified for. The neighbours have gradually crowded in around his piece of land, and most regard it as an eyesore (it really does resemble an overgrown scrap yard, which is candy to us lot, but not to many outside our fraternity). Anyway, if he was operating a business then he’d have to do a great deal to improve the conditions of his property…. something he has neither the energy, nor where-withall to complete at his advanced age. I am sure there are ways around this, but he is a very private person (as he has every right to be) and probably does not want the intrusion that such a thing would likely bring.

Walt’s sons are well aware of the value of his collection, and I am sure that they will treat it properly upon his passing. Walt is probably the last of the great early collectors, certainly the eccentric ones. The only other chap still going strong who started so early collecting rare airframes is probably Ed Maloney.

Hope this helps… give the guy a break too, he deserves our thanks, and admiration.

Cheers,
Richard

RM694 and/or RM927

Care to expand on that?

I can get a data plate in a jewelery box. 😉

Nice link Damien, thanks, and that is not Newbury, Berkshire :p

Forgot to add in my initial post about a visit I made in 1978 to a field north of Chicago where the owner claimed to have a Spitfire in a wooden packing case. Saw the case, didn’t see inside it 😀

RM694 and/or RM927

Mark

Nice link Damien, thanks, and that is not Newbury, Berkshire :p

Forgot to add in my initial post about a visit I made in 1978 to a field north of Chicago where the owner claimed to have a Spitfire in a wooden packing case. Saw the case, didn’t see inside it 😀

Reminds me of a guy with an amazing collection of British airborne vehicles, artillery e.t.c. in South East England, i know people that know him, and although they themselves have strong interests in British Airborne stuff, they haven’t been invited once despite asking several times, beats me why you’d collect loads of stuff and not let anyone see it, then again, it is yours so i guess you can do what you like with it

Reminds me about the Flug-Revue article about Connie Edwards I read some 8-10 years ago. He has a hangar full of Buchons, a Spitfire and also a Mustang. He didn´t want to sell any, but had also no intention of rebuilding them.