I am amazed and very sad to hear of the demise of this Cat. It does seem unbelievable that she wasn’t saved. I have never seen any mention on a forum or in any of the aircraft mags of her being up for diposal. I must admit I wasn’t even aware that she had been moved and assumed she was still under long term rebuild.
The most likely scenario does seem to be that the airport wanted to recover their parking fees as quickly and simply as possible so they called in the scrappie.
As others have posted here she was probably worth far more as a restoration project than she was as scrap so the airport didn’t even maximise their return on the disposal. It does seem that the problem was that the airport either didn’t know how to contact interested parties or didn’t bother to try.
As Bruce said this should be a wake up call to all involved in vintage aviation. There is no way I could have afforded to save her but I would gladly have made a small contribution to a fund to acquire her and, as we proved with the HS748 collection, a lot of small contributions can deliver the required results.

My warbird (first registered in 1944) only likes airshows featuring aircraft with pointy noses and flames out the back whereas I prefer my aeroplanes with a big fan on the front.
I think that the public generally prefer mixed shows and it would be very hard for another warbird show to compete with Legends.

I can understand that the cost of fixed overheads such as rent and rates and the problems with redevelopment at Coventry mean that there is a need to relocate.
I can also appreciate that there must be financial incentives available which make a move to a commercially depressed area attractive but as others have said there is likely to be little in the way of visitors in Cornwall other than in the fairly short holiday season and I also wonder just how many holidaymakers are likely to put their hand in their pocket for a trip in a classic aeroplane. Most people I know who have no interest in aviation regard old aeroplanes as dangerous and would never dream of taking a flight in one even if it were offered for free and certainly wouldn’t pay for the privelege. It is also worth remembering that a large part of the holiday trade in the West Country is made up of families and I have my doubts that many families are likely to have enough spare spending money for the whole family to take a flight and, certainly in my family, either the whole family got a holiday treat or none of us.
I have long dreamed of a trip to Coventry to take a flight in one of the Airbase fleet but, through no fault of my own my take home pay has dropped by 25% in the last 10 years which means I can barely afford an airshow and 2 or 3 other fairly local aviation events a year so the trip to Coventry has never happened.Sadly a trip to Newquay for a flight is even less likely simply due to the distance involved and I suspect the same applies to many other enthusiasts.
I always thought that one of the atrractions of belonging to the Classic Aircraft Club was that you could visit Airbase and see where your money was being spent and feel that you were part of a movement to keep classic aircraft flying. There is nothing like seeing work being undertaken on the aeroplanes which you are helping (in a small way) to keep flying to encourage enthusiasts to keep parting with their cash. A great idea and fairly easy to sell to enthusiasts when the aircraft are in an area which is reasonably accessible and within a viable distance of a good proportion of enthusiasts but not such an easy concept to sell when visits involve a trek to one end of the country.
It is a shame that an alternative site with access to a runway and everything else that Airbase needs can’t be found in the Midlands at a viable cost.
I completely understand the reasons behind the move and want to see the collection survive and flourish but, on a personal note, it is disappointing because I stand very little chance of ever managing to visit and while, in the short term, there are obvious financial advantages in moving to the West Country I suspect that, in the long term, somewhere more central would be a better option.
Time will tell.

Could have had a kick from a petulant tennis professional!

So the country gained nothing in revenue and the public gained no static airframe to view as a reminder of what it had gone through

That sums up the situation pretty well. I can’t remember the exact figure but it seems to ring a bell that Ray mentioned that customs wanted something like £250+ in duty – a lot of money in the 60’s particularly for a recently established museum that was run on a shoestring.
Don’t forget that in those days the preservation movement had barely started and few understood the desire to preserve old aeroplanes. It was also a comparatively short time after the war had ended and many chose to forget the horrors and deprivation brought about by the war and the last thing they would have wanted to see was a B-17 – not only a reminder of the war but also a reminder of the American Air Force whose presence wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms by some sections of the population.
I got the impression from Ray that, for valuation purposes, Customs viewed it as an airworthy aircraft and duty was calculated accordingly. They weren’t interested in the fact that the prospective owner had neither the intention or funds to fly it. I would imagine that much the same applies today for valuation purposes.
We should also remember that things have moved on a long way and in those days it was very much a case of if a government dept quoted a figure that was what you paid. Negotiations just weren’t an option and the chances of getting your local MP to contest the customs charge on an aeroplane that they would probably view as an old crock were almost nil.
It was a sad loss to the preservation world but it is to his credit that Peter Thomas did at least make an attempt to save the B-17 and it was a lack of foresight by a goverment dept that thwarted his efforts – a familiar story?

Thanks for posting this. I had originally hoped to go for a flight but couldn’t afford it so had contemplated going anyway to take photos. Thankfully your post saved me the petrol costs for a 200 mile round trip and I can put that towards a Shuttleworth display later in the year.

Thanks for that – I wasn’t aware that Art Scholl had owned more than one Chipmunk.
When I was 13 or so I used to go to our local radio control flying field and the odd copy of Aeromodeller used to come my way. Art Scholl’s Chipmunk and Harold Krier’s Great Lakes were often featured but unfortunately I never got to see displays by these legends of the aerobatic scene.

If you are not happy about applying letraset direct to the model or handpainting straight on to it just buy some clear decal film. You can apply letraset, hand paint or even use ink on the clear decal film. Apply a couple of coats of lacquer to seal it all in and when it is thoroughtly dry cut out and use like a waterslide transfer. Some of the suppliers on Ebay even sell decal film and a suitable spray of lacquer as a complete kit and it doesn’t cost the earth.