Now that one really does justify the question – will it be at L…..
I know the answer but we can dream.

The fact that EADS are sponsoring RIAT could well have a huge influence on the fact that the 109 is appearing there.
I have had no hand in organising a display so can’t speak from experience but there must be a huge number of reasons why some of the Europen warbirds don’t appear here including fuel costs (balanced against the fees for a display), possibly insurance restrictions and it could even be that some are not keen to risk a channel crossing (even though the channel is a comparatively narrow stretch of water) where the consequences of a technical problem could be an almost certain total loss into the sea as opposed to there being at least some chance of a successful forced landing or diversion to the nearest airfield if the aircraft had problems over the European mainland.
The above is only my own personal view based on a common sense approach but it does seem a fairly logical explanation for the situation.
Incidentally although I wasn’t lucky enough to see it I think TFC deserve huge credit for bringing the Caudron Racer replica over last year for what I believe was its only UK display. It was a great pity that it didn’t also make it to Old Warden while it was here as that was probably the most appropriate UK setting for it.

I had no knowledge of this Messerschmitt or the wheelings and dealings until I read this thread today.
It appears to me that the Rare Aero have described the situation pretty simply ie someone offered the college items in exchange for the ME-109 and the college accepted the offer. The “entrepreneur” who made the trade then sold the aircraft on to Rare Aero and it was exported from India.
It seems that later someone else has come along and decided that it was a poor deal and feels that items exchanged were worth a lot less than what he considers to be the true value of the ME-109 so the police are called in to try to get the aeroplane back – a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Over the years the classic car and motorcycle worlds have been littered with deals where potentially valuable basket cases have been sold after years of storage for a lot less than what others believe is their perceived worth. The moral of the story is that anyone wanting to sell a potentially valuable item should do their research before agreeing to any deal. It seems that in this case no one at the college did any research and took the first offer going.
Perceived values is a minefield anyway. As an example what was Bluebird K7 worth when it finally surfaced. Who would have wanted to buy it and keep it in “as recovered condition”. From one point of view it was a priceless artefact even though it was basically a load of bent aluminium admittedly bent ali with a significant history) which would have meant little had it been displayed in recovered condition. The restored K7 is a different matter altogether. I would regard it as genuinely priceless as it is a live machine AND as a bonus contains a great deal of material from the original boat. It would mean something and be easily identifiable to almost anyone who knows a little about the Campbells and fast boats / hydroplanes BUT to get to the stage where it will be complete again has meant huge amounts of hours and large amounts of money. Without someone prepared to invest that time and effort it could be argued that the recovered boat had no financial value beyond scrap metal value.
The same must apply to old cars, motorcycles and aircraft. They are only worth whatever someone willing to restore them is prepared to pay.

Took my other half for her first flight at a DH Moth Club Charity Day at Old Warden around 1995. We flew in G-AOIR. The wind was barely within limits so the the turbulence was really bad until we got well clear of the ground. Unfortunately this, together with a formation of 4 Canadian F-18’s passing underneath us as they left from a low pass at Henlow ( the pilot knew about them and had been given a minimum height for safe seperation)and the pilot pointing at the Skyport strip as we descended and telling me they were rebuiding his other Jackaroo (she thought he should have been looking where he was going as the ground was doing a fairly good job of filling the windscreen) thoroughly put her off flying and I have only managed to get her back in any kind of aeroplane once since then.
I keep telling her we can go to the States as things like that don’t happen in large airliners but she doesn’t believe me!
I was very impressed by the skill of our pilot who pulled off a difficult landing in quite nasty conditions with no drama at all. A memorable flight.

The scheme looks more accurate than when she was at Southend. I always thought the duck egg blue we mixed at Southend and used for the Sea Hawk and Sea Fury had too much green in it. I see she still carries XE364 which was applied at Southend to represent a Suez crisis aircraft rather than her true identity XE489. I think the serial change was because 489 hadn’t worn much in the way of interesting colour schemes during her service career. She was black overall when delivered to Southend in 67.

Not an expert on jets so I can’t offer any personal experience but everything said here seems to make sense.
There are comparisons in the classic car world though. At one time a nice 1970’s Lotus Esprit was probably £15000 to £20000 BUT the servicing costs (partly because everything was so inaccessible) were horrendous as were prices for some of the Lotus parts.
A rough one could be bought for £8000 to £10000 but the first work most rough ones needed was a complete rear suspension build including the fabricated rear suspension arms which were something like £400 a side. I met at least two people who bought rough cars because they were within their budget and landed up moving them on at a huge loss because they became bottomless money pits and they would never have been able to afford the servicing costs had they got them to the point where they were likely to be viable (or as viable as an old Lotus can ever be) as regular transport.
The moral of the story is please be very careful before parting with your cash and do a proper analysis of all the costs involved in restoring, running and maintaining your potential pride and joy before you part with any cash at all. I know from your posts that you have put a lot of work into WR963 and I would hate to see you or any other forum member jump into a project and lose their savings because they didn’t appreciate the full costs from the outset.

Swanky new flats is obviously a realistic and probably very successful alternative.
My contention was that most tourists visiting RAFM were likely to travel by underground. If the area between Colindale station and the RAFM had upmarket shops and cafes /restaurants then there was always the chance that these visitors would spend some time and money in the area around the museum instead of getting through it as quickly as possible. Most of us know that a while spent in a shop where the wife sees something she wants can ultimately mean getting away with spending more time at the museum we really came to the area to visit.
The better quality shops would lead to rises in the value of commercial property meaning a rise in business rates leading to more local government income for further regeneration.
I admit this is a slower process than building swanky flats but to be honest I haven’t visited Hendon for a long time so I hadn’t realised that any regeneration was taking place.
As admission is free at Hendon you would logically think that visitors would spend a bit more in the shop but in my experience this is not the case.
When I ran a shop at Brands Hatch circuit there was one meeting each year where spectators got free admisiion by showing acopy of the Daily Mail (who sponsored the race meeting) at the gate. generally speaking this proved to be one of the worst days of the year in terms of shop takings and even the food stalls reckoned their takings were down as many of the spectators brought their own food with them. It seemed to be a case of free admission meant that the public had little or no expectation of sppending any money at all if they could avoid it.

Thanks Bruce. It seems a shame that Shuttleworth ever parted with the Blue Tit as it fits in well with the other inter war types. Just one thought though.
How would you obtain a C of A for it now as there are no plans, no stress calculations and I don’t doubt there are many other bits of paperwork that the CAA would normally require even if it were put under the umbrella of the LAA. I assume it would be possible to obtain a C of A but I should think it would be very expensive for a one off like this.
Had it remained a Shuttleworth aeroplane I assume that the C of A may have been less of a problem as I gained the impression that the CAA are a lot more helpful with types that will only operate within the circuit at Old Warden or have I got this wrong.