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It’s very hard to criticise the Shuttleworth Collection, as they have done so much fantastic work, so I’m certainly not a detractor. If the Gull had to be exported, then, one may take consolation in the fact that it went to a very appropriate home.
However, the Gull is such a rare British a/c that every effort should have been made to keep it in the UK. Maybe it was. I’d have thought though, there would have been plenty of takers. The a/c was also donated to the Collection gratis, after money had been spent to refurbish it. It just doesn’t seem fair for it to be turned into a cash asset. Had I donated it, I’d’ve been a bit miffed, but I’m sure they didn’t relish this painful loss.
Of course, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. The theme of the Collection always had a very pleasant bias towards rare, old, pre-war British a/c, which was very much the greater part of it’s charm, and why I’d traverse the country for what is quite an expensive day out. The Collection is also a centre of knowledge for maintaining and operating such machines.
There is much less interest in post war a/c, and the Collection are obviously well aware of that. When it come to foreign aircraft….it’s much more difficult and I’ve seen and heard enough discussion to know that there are some strong opinions on this.
The simple fact is, all the ‘real’ Percival aircraft were made from wood, and the Collection now has none.
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