Hamilton Metalplane changes hands

The world's only surviving Hamilton Metalplane H-47 has been acquired by Howard Wright III of Seattle.. He paid $610,000 at an auction in Arizona on January 27th 2010. The aircraft has not flown since 1978.

Thunderchief leaving DX

Nine year loan resident Thunderchief F-105D 59-1822 is expected to leave Duxford Imperial War Museum in the near future. It has been acquired by the Polish Air Museum in Krakow.

Vulcan Rescued

Vulcan To The Sky Trust has announced that an anonymous donation of £458,000 had been recieved and that this money has effectively ensured the operation of the aircraft for the 2010 season. Pre-season servicing is well under-way with celebrations taking place on May 25th, the 50th anniversary of XH558's first flight. Classic Aviation will announce the name of the donor should it ever be revealed.

Old Warden Spring 2010 Preview

The much forgotton (or over-looked) first airshow of the year takes place at Old Warden on Sunday 2nd March 2010. Old Warden is always a very pleasant, laid back, way to start the Airshow season. With so many beautiful and rare aircraft on display, and with an expert team running the show, this really is a great place for enthusiasts to dust off the camera's.
The expected line-up for next weekend's show is as follows;

Catalina
Bristol F2b
Sopwith Pup
Sopwith Triplane
SE5a
DH51 Miss Kenya
DH60 Moth
DH60X Moth
de Havilland Chipmunk
Bucker Jungmann
de Havilland Chipmunk
DH82a Tiger Moth
Miles Magister Pair
Silence SA1100 Twister & S-1 Swift Glider
Piper PA25 Pawnee
Nanchang
Hawker Tomtit
Avro Tutor
Ryan PT22 Recruit
Percival piston Provost
Silence SA1100 Twister Pair
Gloster Gladiator
Westland Lysander
Hawker Hind
Hurribomber
Hawker Sea Hurricane 1B
Piper Cub & Glider Tow
Bristol Boxkite
Avro Triplane
Deperdussin
Bleriot

Nothing too exotic is listed here but still a great line-up by the average airshow's standards! Visits from the Catalina and Hanger 11's Hurri-bomber will go down nicely. Strange that no BAE Sytems aircraft are listed to participate including Blackburn B2 (pictured) and de Havilland Rapide, but Shuttleworth being Shuttleworth they don't want to promise to over-deliver! Hawker Demon, restored last year by SkySport engineering, is currently in the workshop but finger crossed that it just may attend the show.

Stay tuned for the review and some pictures!

PR Spit Overhaul

Hanger 11 collections's Spitfire PR.XI PL965 is undergoing a major overhaul to return the fighter variant to authentic configuration. The original service engine is expected to be test-run any time now. The collection, founded and owned by Peter Teichman, also operates P-51D Mustang "Jumpin' Jaques" (above), a Hurri-Bomber and P-40 Kittyhawk.

Luton Minor for RAC

Real Aeroplane Company, based at Brieghton, Yorkshire, has acquired Luton Minor G-ATCN. It arrived at Breighton on January 26th 2010. It was restored only last year by Chris Riley and Gerry Cooper at Wickenby.

Dragon Rapide airbourne in NZ

Dragon Rapide N89HP took to the skies on 19th March 2010 after a two year rebuild. Finished as "G-ADDD" in stunning red and blue with white trimming of the King's Flight 1936/37, it is expected to arrive at the Military Aviation Museum, Viginia, USA by mid-May.

Klemm for Germany

Peter Holloway's Klemm KI D-EQXD (centre) has been sold to The Quax Club, Dortmund, Germany. Bucker Bestmann (top) and Focke-Wulf Stieglitz (bottom) may also change hands in the near future. Where Old Warden, and aviation enthusiasts across the UK, will be sad to see them go; we are assured it is to secure the long term financial future of Peter's other aircraft Storch, Miles Magister and Falcon.

B-17G "Pink Lady" Grounded

19th March 2010 cast a shadow over the European Airshow circuit with the news that B-17G Flying Fortress "Pink Lady" has been grounded indefinately. Poor availability of spares and the rising cost of insurances have been blamed. A common visitor to UK Airshows, seen above at 2010 Flying Legends, the loss leaves UK based "Sally B" Europe's only airworthy B-17 Flying Fortress. Let's hope that one day in the future someone with the kind of money to keep a B-17 in the air will get "Pink Lady" back where she belongs.

The birth of the blog!

Hello to all! Welcome to Classic Aviation! I hope you will find this blog useful for things aviation related. I will be bringing you news, reviews, rumours, gossip and facts about anything I find to with Classic Aviation. To define "Classic" would be to pidgeon hole certain aircraft and not others; but usually these will be aircraft that have to be preserved to remain in our museums and ourr skies. So anything that is no longer in service, military or otherwise, could be considered a classic! Enjoy!