There is a chapter on Rattray in this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scottish-Airfields-Grampians-v-Series/dp/1846741696

Might be worth seeing if the local library

Indeed. A significant preservation hole plugged in the story of the Harrier.

Wasn’t there one in use for Flightdeck handling training at Culdrose at one time, or did I imagine that?

The Kestrel at Cosford (XS695) is the one that was used at Culdrose as well (along with the P1127 XP984 now at Brooklands, formerly at Dunsfold). the one at Yeovilton (XP980) was used for Barrier trials prior to this, hence the Harrier wing.

There is a tale however – at some point, the wings all became swapped, so that XP984 had the wing from XS695 and XS695 had a P1127 wing. When Dunsfold restroed XP984, it was with the Kestrel wing, which is almost correct as externally XP984 was the same as a Kestrel. The P1127 wing was from an earlier airframe – most likely XP980. When the RAFM started the restoration of XS695, they reclaimed the wing from XP984 at Brooklands, leaving it with an incorrect P1127 wing.

I’m delighted at what Cosford have done – having seen the state that she was in when she arrived at Cosford, they have done an amazing job.

Thanks to Tim and Mike for sharing their excellent photos.

A few more photos taken on my first post-museum visit, during May 1989.

Better weather on this visit!

I have a couple of almost identical photos taken a few years before that!

Anyone got a spare £250,000?….2500….250…25 ??????? Every little bit helps!

If the rubber balls come up tonight…..

Very interesting photos – thank you for sharing them with us.

You can have a trust for lots of things, it doesn’t need to be a charitable trust. In the LUSH documentation, they describe the Spitfire Heritage Trust as a not-for-profit Company.

http://issuu.com/ianhewitt/docs/lush

I always wondered if official ‘Ditching’ trials and research left a number of airframes on the bottom around Rhu in Scotland?

Bearing in mind it’s current use, I suspect anything will have been cleared some time ago. Although I do wonder if the MAEE Ar196 is still there somewhere. My sister lives there, must ask her what the local gossip is!

AS someone interested in historical aircraft colours, the underside is fascinating. You can see (I think) the original US version of Sky under the Azure Blue. there is a lot of controversy about that colour, so this relic might be important in that regard. I know colours aren’t regarded as ‘serious’ history by some, but I find it very interesting.