Strathallan Collection 1981 (Updated 5-5-12)

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comet4
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Strathallan Collection 1981 (Updated 5-5-12)

Post by comet4 »

These pictures were taken at the Strathallan Collection at Auchterader in Scotland around 1981. It was one of the pioneer collections with a fantastic range of British aircraft.
Unfortunately, it was in an isolated location which made visiting difficult. I was working in Scotland at the time and made a couple of visits around 1980-81.
Although the collection no longer exists, it's legacy does. The Mosquito went to America for Kermit weeks and the Lysander went to Old Warden. The Battle was at Duxford for a time before going to Brussels and the Hurricane went to Canada where it was destroyed in a fire. Although not there when I visited, their Hudson went to Hendon. The Lancaster unfortunately was badly damaged when a hangar roof collapsed on it. I would imagine tha the Comet and Shackleton were broken up on site but maybe someone could confirm. Some of the light aircraft stayed in Scotland at East Fortune.
If anyone is interested, I can post some more pictures taken at the time.
Graham

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Last edited by comet4 on Sat 05 May 2012, 4:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Dragon Rapide
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Dragon Rapide »

Thank you for posting these! :smile: It was a marvellous collection and I too visited at about the same time whilst on business nearby. It was very sad when the collection was dispersed.
Listen to that Gipsy music.....

Dragon Rapide

wv383
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by wv383 »

Great to see these. Comet and Shackleton were indeed scrapped on site (July and February respectively) though the Shackleton cockpit was rescued and according to the last edition of Wrecks & Relics is privately owned and at Duxford.

As for the Lancaster, the hangar roof collapse (which broke the Lanc's back) actually happened while it was in the charge of BAE at Woodford while they had it under contract from Charles Church for restoration to airworthy status. It went through the courts with Charles Church taking out a writ against BAE to have the aircraft returned to its pre-roof collapse status and then complete the work that they were contracted to do. They weren't trying to profit from this but merely to get the work going again but BAE refused. The aircraft was then moved initially to Exeter and then to Cranfield. Eventually in 1993 is was shipped to the USA and is with Kermit Week's Fantasy Of Flight collection, though I understand not restored.

The Miles Magister is thought to be still stored on the Strathallan Estate

The Miles M.18 is at East Fortune while the Monarch is stored at White Waltham

It is also worth remembering that it was from the Strathallan Collection that Nick Grace acquired a certain Spitfire which we all know now as The Grace Spitfire.
Simon

Kip Casper
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Kip Casper »

Shackleton cockpit now at Coventry.
http://www.gcse.com/english/there.htm - learn how to use 'their', 'there' and 'they're'.

Heavy Metal
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Heavy Metal »

Very, very nice.

The first time I have seen the collection as it was.
The facility looked superb.
Was it built specifically for the collection?
Why was the collection split up?

HM

wv383
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by wv383 »

Strathallan Castle Estate has been in the Roberts family since 1910. In the early 60s the private airstrip was developed into an unlicenced airfield and there was an engineering company on site and those aircraft that fitted were housed within that hangar. The reason for the closure and auctioning off of the exhibits was really financial. With its position, north of Auchterader in Perthshire, visitor numbers declined and Sir William Roberts decided that the collection had to be drastically trimmed. The auction of the exhibits took place at Duxford on 29th July 1985 but even with the injection of cash that this brought, success still didn;t happen and the collection closed to the public finally in September 1988. Initially the Lysander, Swordfish and Magister were retained, but now only the latter remains. the Lysander is now flying with the Shuttleworth Trust at Old Warden and the Swordfish (W5856) is with the Royal Navy Historic Flight at Yeovilton.
Simon

Heavy Metal
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Heavy Metal »

wv383 wrote:Strathallan Castle Estate has been.................

Thank you for this.
I was not aware of the details of the gradual disintegration of the collection, so you have nicely filled that void.
For what it was, it was a hell of a collection with mostly fantastic aircraft.
What a shame it all went wrong.
I was lucky enough to see the Mossie good and proper, before it went to the states.
I'm glad that at least some of the significant airframes, remained in the UK.

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Davef68
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Davef68 »

The Shack and Comet were scrapped in 1990

The Comet nose also survives, it was displayed at gatwick for a while, but is now in the Middle East at Sharjah in the Al Mahatah Museum. Interesting story regarding when it arrived - part of the u/c failed on the grass runway, but as it was on RAF charge, the MOD apparently had to repair it. The story was that the sale clause for the Shackleton passed ownership to the Collection when it was on finals to the airfield!

wv383
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by wv383 »

This is what happened to the collection with their current (as far as I know) status:

Anson C.19 VM360 East Fortune
Anson C.19 G-AWRS NEAM Sunderland
Avro XIX G-AGWE Last reported in USA
Avro XIX G-AHIC broken for spares
Avro XIX G-AHEX airworthy at Old Warden
Avro XIX G-AYWA Musee Royal de Armee, Brussels
Avro Lancaster - see previous post, now at Fantasy of Flight
Avro Shackleton - see previous post, nose at Coventry
BA Swallow airworthy in Devon
Bristol Bolingbroke 9940 East Fortune
Bristol Bolingbroke 10201 restoration to flight at Duxford as Blenheim I
Bristol Sycamore WA576 Dumfries & Gallaway Museum
DH Puss Moth VH-UQB East Fortune
DH Tiger Moth G-ANTS Hong Kong owner
DH Tiger Moth G-AOEL East Fortune
DH Tiger Moth G-APGL Stored, Warks
DH Tiger Moth DF155 Airworthy in Scotland
DH Dragon East Fortune
DH Leopard Moth G-AIYS airworthy, Herts
DH Hornet Moth G-ADMT airworthy, Norwich
DH Dragon Rapide G-ALXT Science Museum, Wroughton
DH Moth Minor G-AFOZ w/o 1975
DH Moth Minor G-AFPN airworthy, Wales
DH Mosquitob RS712 on display at Oshkosh
DH Comet 2R XK655 scrapped
DH Vampire T11 XD403 private owner Scotland
DH Vampire T11 XD547 Dumfries & Galloway Museum
Fairey Swordfish W5856 RNHF, Yeovilton
Fairey Battle 1899 Brussels Museum
Fairey Firefly WD833 restoration to fly in USA, believed to be returning to Europe
Fokker S11 G-BEPV airworthy, Spanhoe
GAL Cygnet G-AGBN East Fortune
Grumman Avenger 045 airworthy in USA
Hawker Hurricane XII P3308 destroyed in hangar fire in Canada
Hawker Sea Hawk XE340 spares sources for RNHF
Kay Gyroplane G-ACVA East Fortune
Lockheed Hudson A16-199 RAFM Hendon
Miles Monarch G-AFJU under restoration in France
Miles Monarch G-AFLW stored White Waltham
Miles Magister R1914 stored at Strathallan Estate
Miles M18 G-AHKY East Fortune
Miles Messenger G-AJOC Ulster Folk & Transport Museum
NA Harvard FT391 airworthy, Surrey owner
NA Texan G-AZJD airworthy in Spain
NA Texan 14526 under restoration in Denmark
Percival Prentice VS356 under restoration Montrose
Percival Provost WV493 East Fortune
Pilcher Hawk rep - last reported Glasgow
Reid & Sigrist Desford VZ728 stored Snibston
Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig 'Flying Bedstead' XJ314 Science Museum London
RAF SE5A rep F5447 airworthy Scotland
SAAB Safir G-ANOK stored Scotland
Short Scion G-ACUX East Fortune
Supermarine Spitfire TR.9 MJ772 airworthy in USA as N8R
Supermarine Spitfire TR.9 ML407 airworthy as The Grace Spitfire, based Bentwaters
Supermarine Spitfire TR.9 PV202 airworthy at Duxford in BoB markings
Supermarine Spitfire TR.9 TE308 airworthy in USA as N308WK
Westland Lysander P9441 airworthy at Old Warden as V9367
Westland Whirlwind XG594 Fleet Air Arm Museum

As can be seen from that list, the majority are still in the UK and a good many are still airworthy. Where it states 'under restoration' this could be to either static or flying condition
Simon

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captchaos
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by captchaos »

Re FT391, the ownership company has a Surrey address but she has been at Goodwood for a long time. A nice connection is that when taxying to take off from Popham, we got a call from Dick the airfield manger to say he used to look after our aircraft when he was GM at Strathallan and the history of the dent on the starboard wing!
Before we owned her she was with OFMC and used as a camera ship in "Piece of Cake". You and see the fin and aerial in many dog fight scenes.

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ciaranchef
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by ciaranchef »

Superb post, beautiful clear photographs and great background info on all the aircraft from everyone, any more pictures would be gratly appreciated...Ciaran
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Heavy Metal
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Heavy Metal »

Clear and comprehensive WV383.
Thank you. :clap:
I had no idea the collection was quite as expansive as the list indicates, what a collection it was!

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alanp
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by alanp »

My first contact with Strathallan was seeing the Lancaster overfly Blair Drummond Safari Park on it's delivery (and last) flight. My first visit was 78 when I had my first flight (Tayside Aviation's Aztec G-AZHA) and subsequently we visited regularly - train from Dundee to Auchterarder then bike to Strathallan for the Moth Rally and the regular shows. Although it's location hampered it's development, one small bonus was that being far away from authoritarian eyes display rules tended to be "relaxed" so the likes of Sea Furies, Fireflies, Swordfish, Spitfires and the Lysander were displayed much lower and closer than elsewhere. The Mosquito running in to start it's display from behind the crowd at low level is etched on my brain for ever. The field also had a dip to the south that was used by displaying aircraft it the way that the valley at Biggin was, for making dramatic entrances and exits. I continued to visit regularly through to the mid eighties, spending a couple of very cold mornings there in Dec 84 waiting for George Aird to fly out the Mozzie to Booker for onward delivery to Florida. I subsequently flew in in a variety of aircraft (as pax), Cubs, Airtourer, Belfair and a Partinavia Victor and it was very sad to watch the decline of the place. When I finish my scanning project I'll post some stuff.

Kip Casper
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Kip Casper »

Avro 19 at Shuttleworth is G-AHKX not G-AHEX.
http://www.gcse.com/english/there.htm - learn how to use 'their', 'there' and 'they're'.

andyxh558

Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by andyxh558 »

The comet nose is in a museum in the middle east.

Haskey
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Haskey »

Great pictures of what was a great collection before it disbanded. Thanks for sharing the pictures. The Kay gyroplane G-ACVA which used to be at East Fortune is now displayed inside the National Museum of Scotland in Chambers Street in Edinburgh city centre.

Dragon Rapide
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Dragon Rapide »

Many thanks for the detailed listing, wv383. And it really is good to see how many exhibits have remained here and many still airworthy or being restored to fly. A great heritage.
Listen to that Gipsy music.....

Dragon Rapide

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Lumix
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Lumix »

Excellent post! Good to see the Strathallan Collection getting some much needed coverage. It was probably the biggest privately owned collection in the UK at the time.

More photos please!

There is some footage on Youtube from some of the later airshows:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... .9.0...0.0.
The '85 BAW HS748 display is worth watching!

More: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp0486rs ... ure=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsqvgPIg ... ure=relmfu
Last edited by Lumix on Sat 05 May 2012, 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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alanp
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by alanp »

Thanks for the links Lumix, it's just how I remember the show. They really threw that Shackleton around!

Dragon Rapide
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Dragon Rapide »

Seconded. Hadn't seen those videos before - marvellous footage of the Mozzie and its departure.
Listen to that Gipsy music.....

Dragon Rapide

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Lumix
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by Lumix »

alanp wrote:Thanks for the links Lumix, it's just how I remember the show. They really threw that Shackleton around!


No problem. Glad you enjoyed them. There are some more photos on the Air Britain website worth a look:
http://www.abpic.co.uk/search.php?page= ... =&limit=50

and there's some more that I've never seen here:
http://www.airport-data.com/photographe ... 283:1.html

comet4
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981

Post by comet4 »

I'm glad that you found the pictures interesting or brought back memories. Also thanks to wv383 and others for all the information on the collections fate.
Due to popular demand, here are a few more pictures taken at the same time! They include the aptly named "Flying Bedstead" and a "Ju-52" which might have been visiting at the time. There are also oddities such as the Desford and Cygnet.
Sorry that I don't have pictures of all the aircraft in the collection - maybe other people could help out here.
Graham

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wallace
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981 (Updated 5-5-12)

Post by wallace »

I photographed the Magistair at Strathallan as late as 2006
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php? ... 55&nseq=49
I have never been able to get into the old Engineering hangar since that day and it was a pure fluke that I managed it at all.

There are a lot of memories tied up with those pictures, I was a "Museum Nutter" right up until the Auction, it was great being a member of the Strathallan Aviation Society.

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alanp
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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981 (Updated 5-5-12)

Post by alanp »

Coming full circle, my brother is currently being checked out on the ex-Strathallan Moth G-ANFV/DF155 at Shempston. I'm looking forward to getting up with him over the summer.

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Re: Strathallan Collection 1981 (Updated 5-5-12)

Post by Maisie »

Some lovely bits there, thanks! shame about the Comet, Whats the bumps for under the fuselage?
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