R.I.P Sir William Roberts

Very sad to hear this. Comisirations to his family and members of the Strathallan Aircraft Society, of which I once was a member.

The Fokker is based at Spanhoe airfield near Corby.

A sad loss to the aviation world. Where is the Fokker s11 now?

Very sad to hear this news. But what a life and what a great legacy he left the aircraft preservation world.

Delighted to see so many pictures of the aircraft in his collection have been posted on this thread. It seems that there could be no better tribute.

Then there’s KB976. Been discussed on this forum many times before.

The Cygnet went to the museum at East Fortune.

Tim

First met Sir William and Dick in 1978 when the two MK 9T Spitfires were up for sale. 45K for the two!! – complete with spares. Closed the deal but there was insufficient interest with the money side when I got back to NZ. Nick Grace then stepped in and the rest you know.
Does anyone know what happened to the G.A.L. Cygnet ‘GBN ?

A few photos of some items from the collection which may be of interest. Unfortunately they are from after the auction when the majority of the collection was sold off.

The last two are of the Bolingbroke and Bristol Sycamore arriving at East Fortune after the auction (with the DH84 Dragon already in the hangar). My recollection is that the Sycamore was bought by a private individual and was simply stored at East Fortune for a couple of months til it moved on. I think it is now at the Dumfries and Galloway Museum.

Sadly they only reflect a small selection of the collection that he built up.

grow45

I love your photo Robert! Great group of aircraft – including the Mossie in the background!

I’m sure there is a thread somewhere dealing with “Where-are-they-now”…….

Yes a very friendy place and people there.
Sir William had a great set-up, sadly missed.
Still a good place to fly into, hope that continues.

Sorry to hear he’s passed on. I always enjoyed visiting the remarkable collection Sir William funded. I only met him once, when he kindly allowed access to his aircraft before the collection was created and opened to the public.

When Dick Richardson came on board he and the team there did a great job and also made everyone so welcome. At one time the collection seemed to grow week by week with fascinating items …but all good things come to an end. Now if you visit the site it seems difficult to believe such a large and varied collection was ever there.

I assume the Magister remains stored gathering dust up there.

Tim

Couldn’t agree more – it was always a very welcoming place to visit.Iirc it was Dick Richardson who first waved my dad and me in with a cheery “Not officially open yet but please come on in.” He may have been fed up seeing two little heads peering over the fence a few times a week right enough! Eventually reached the stage where the secretary (Barbara?) phoned me first to let me know if something was about to arrive and on our evening trips Peter Thomson who worked there and lived at the gatehouse would fill us in with stories of the day’s goings on. Yes, a very friendly staff and wonderful memories. Thank you Sir William.

I only have vague memories of visiting the Strathallan collection when I was little, but as has been said, he did so much.

RIP.

I’m very sad to hear that Sir William Roberts has died. He contributed volumes to vintage aviation, as much, in his own way, as Doug Arnold. Our community here on the forum has much to be thankful for, due to the pioneering preservation work of people like Sir William.

I’m really sorry to hear that. He did so much for aircraft preservation before it became big business.

Sorry to hear he’s passed on. I always enjoyed visiting the remarkable collection Sir William funded. I only met him once, when he kindly allowed access to his aircraft before the collection was created and opened to the public.

When Dick Richardson came on board he and the team there did a great job and also made everyone so welcome. At one time the collection seemed to grow week by week with fascinating items …but all good things come to an end. Now if you visit the site it seems difficult to believe such a large and varied collection was ever there.

I assume the Magister remains stored gathering dust up there.

Tim

Very sad to hear…Strathallan was a lovely collection.

Very sad news. I met him several times in the 70s when he had Combwell Priory on the Kent/Sussex border not far from where I live. I have a kind of feeling that the sign “Strathallan Engineering” is still on the gate to the estate off the A21 road.

A lovely gentleman and character.

I heard the news a couple of days back from Dick Richardson who was manager at Strathallan. Sir William did a lot for preservation.