Thanks for the comprehensive report – great work going on.

Roger Smith.

If Strathallan hadn’t allowed their Shack to deteriorate until it was only fit for scrap, we’d still have a first-generation machine to admire. I never understand the point of museums taking aircraft if they’re simply going to let them rot.

It’s easy to criticise 20 – 30 years on and/or with a big dollop of hindsight.

I think it was chopped (plus the Comet) when Strathallan closed down and nobody was prepared to take on moving them by road. Today it seems readily acceptable to cut a large aircraft to transport and then stitch it back together at it’s new home. I’m not critiscising but (in the UK) such operations are fairly new and I doubt it would have been considered when Strathallan closed.

IIRC the Mk.1 (T.4?) was at Farnborough due for the chop. Friend John Berkeley (at that time Chairman of MAM) played a part in getting the machine to Strathallan – saving(delaying) it from the axe.

This kind of thing has happened many times before – sometimes a long-term success, sometimes, regretably, not. Some in the latter category where large aircraft have flown to a Museum to be chopped later: Beverley at Hendon, Convair at Duxford, Vulcan B.1 and (more recently) various airliners at Cosford, etc.

Roger Smith.

Thank you edubonvi. Welcome to the forum.

I will also be interested to hear any more information on the Comper Swifts in your country.

Roger Smith.

PS. If we could speak/write your language as well as you write English the World would be a better place. 🙂

Taxi already been mentioned – if you have deep pockets. What about the other end of the scale? Lincolnshire is fairly flat and said to be good for cycling (never tried it myself though :)) – hire a bicycle??

Roger Smith.

….Could you tell us more about the Scion project??

Yep, I’d like to hear more on that too – perhaps a dedicated thread on the Scion?

Roger Smith.

I love your thinking matey, I was thinking the exact same thing!

If you wanted to go the whole hog

FM213 – CWH Lanc
PA474 – BBMF – Lanc
NX611 – Panton Lanc
KB889 – IWM Lanc
MW232 – IWM York
XF708 – IWM Shacklebomber
XJ824 – IWM Vulcan

Now, all of the above on the ramp together… that would be something else 🙂

and perhaps the Triplane, 504, Tutor and Anson could pop over from Shuttleworth’s:):):)

Roger Smith.

Can we see it naked 🙂

Roger Smith.

Thanks for the heads up.

I never worked for AWA – I applied to be an apprentice at Baginton but wasn’t good enough and was turned down 😡 However a schoolfriend who did get an AWA apprenticeship was made redundant part way through it when the Whitley factory was shut! Anyway being a Coventry Kid I am interested in the history of AWA & ASM.

My copies of AWAffairs start at Vol. 1, No.2 (March-April, 1950) but the earlier ones were much smaller booklets. They changed to the A4 format with the colour cover early in 1958 (Vol. 8). There was, I believe, a company magazine pre-war – probably a joint one with Armstrong Siddeley Motors – but I haven’t any of those.

Roger Smith.