IIRC there is / was an ex French Auster Workmaster stored at the Wings Museum. It is G-OJAS which was once under rebuild at Shoreham.

Robert

It’s doubtful you will tie this to a specific airframe as Boeing Aircraft Of Canada Ltd didn’t construct any complete Ansons, they only made tail surfaces, wings spars, ailerons and flaps, so the plates you mention are likely to relate just to components.

Sources: “Canadian Aircraft Since 1909” (Putnam) and “The Anson File” (Air-Britain)

Tim

When the Failsworth yard existed some of the Firefly engines were extracted to aid the restoration of another type ……yes you have guessed it – Spitfire! Had the yard been full of Spitfires then I expect all the airframes would have been recovered for return to flight. Here is an extract from a 2004 thread about that yard in which the engine deal done with the yard owner was mentioned. The removal of the Fireflies’ power plants can’t have helped their attraction as possible projects in their own right.

“I fronted a group purchase of about six Griffon 74’s still attached and cowled to Fireflies. She was just ‘impossible’ to deal with at a business level. She was paranoid that she was being cheated. The going rate for the parts would be agreed then it would double the next day and then it would double again the day after that. She was three times more expensive than Marine Salvage at Portsmouth, noted Griffon and Merlin engine dealers. They wern’t Spitfire engines but they were a source of common parts. There was great risk of internal corrosion.She preferred to see everything go at scrap price than think that she had sold cheaply and others were going to profit by it. A very strange lady or maybe very very astute. The group including, Spencer Flack, bit the bullet, winced and paid. I have got some photographs somewhere taken July 1979
Mark”

Saw a partial fuselage on display at MOSI manchester.

That example which was on loan moved on and deteriorated but is now one of the components at Newton Abbot.

Circa 1968 while being taken with a coachful of air cadets from Blackpool to RAF St Mawgan we stopped somewhere in The Bristol area for a fuel and toilet break.It was dark, cold and wet. Imagine my surprise and pleasure at spotting an Auster AOP aircraft on display at the garage.It had dayglo panels over camo.

Any other encounters?

I suspect this is the Auster which you encountered. I photographed it a while later by when its fuselage had been over-painted orange.

REALLY hope this happens! remember living, going to school near Bishops Stortford late 70’s early 80’s ? and often seeing, HEARING a Bristol Freighter slowly making its way somewhere…MAGIC, guess this was the last one flying?

Nice memory – it was probably G-BISU you heard while still operating with Atlantic Air Transport / Instone. At that time it was not the sole example flying in the world as other examples were still in commercial use in Canada for some time after that. Ironically, G-BISU itself was later sold in Canada but was subsequently flown back to the UK but sadly crashed at Enstone. The very last flying B.170 flew in Canada and is now preserved at Wetaskiwin, Alberta.

There is the mortal remains of C-FDFC at Enstone.

The cockpit area of this one was removed from that site years ago to a private residence, although other parts do remain at Enstone.