It will be sad to see these two go, but if they found no buyers over here there can’t be any complaints. The Meteor F.8 went to Australia for similar reasons, so it’s not a new phenomenon.

Talking of classic jets in general, they seem to have everything against them and it’s amazing that we have been able to see as many as we have flying over the years. They can be very thirsty, very complex and spares can be hard to get hold of depending on the type, which all adds up to high costs. There also isn’t the same sort of “cottage industry” supporting them as there is for warbirds. Add to this the finite life of structures and components and rising fatigue indexes with use, you end up with a recipe where owners can spend thousands operating something that is worth much less than what they bought it for, ie you spend a lot only to devalue the aircraft by flying it. Then there’s the public perception of “if it’s a jet it can’t be that old”, which leads to a lack of kudos in owning one. The only thing keeping many types airborne is sheer passion and deep pockets, and individuals with both of those are in short supply.

There only seven airworthy Ju 52, only the three in Switzerland have BMW engines and those are BMW 132 according to JU Air’s website.

I count eight if you include the SAA Museum’s ZS-AFA (which also has R1340’s), although it hasn’t flown much in recent years as far as I know. The list would be:

HB-HOP/HOT/HOS, the three original Ju52’s with Ju-Air
HB-HOY CASA 352 also flown by JuAir
D-CDLH “D-AQUI” Ju52 re-engined with 1340’s, operated by Lufthansa Stiftung
F-AZJU CASA 352 owned by Salis
N352JU the ex-CAF one now owned by Yeagen and flown with 1340’s
ZS-AFA CASA 352 SAA Museum, also 1340 powered

There are more colour scheme choices for military Maggies than some might think, everything from Irish Air Corps to Latvian AF and even Luftwaffe, so you could do a military scheme that isn’t just the usual RAF trainer schemes. There was also a rather nice “Sunburst” CFS aerobatic team colour scheme just pre-war (similar to the Shuttleworth Avro Tutor at the moment). There are quite a few representations of these schemes via a quick Google, but most seem to be artwork so I can’t vouch for their authenticity.

Thanks for your info Graham. Out of interest, was there a specific instruction about using only metal props on SeaHurri I’s or was it more on a common sense basis?

It seems that RW388 is now in the very capable hands of MAPS at Rochester:

https://rochesterairport.co.uk/latest/news/welcome-to-ryan.html

As I understand it, the Shuttleworth Hurri had a badly corroded tailplane spar which was replaced during restoration with a kind of steel beam, which along with the tail-hook and lighter wooden propeller caused the tail-heaviness. This was in the days before the correct Hawker-spec tubular sections could be made.

It’s worth remembering that the UK was awash with all the above types at one time, ex-French examples being returned to US hands by flying them to USAF bases in Britain (they were funded by the US, even the Mysteres, and had to be returned to American hands at the end of service). A number of museums snapped up examples of one or all of these types, hence the numbers now meeting the axe after a few decades on outdoor display. Overall, the numbers are still pretty healthy.

Great news! I saw she’d been sold but didn’t dare hope she would be coming back this way. Much missed and looking forward to hearing more details.