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Oldnautibits - who are we?
Oldnautibits, as a commercial venture, was born from a life
long interest in, and the collecting of, nautical antiques and
aviation collectables. We are a family business with Naval and
Air Force connections. My father flew with the RAFVR; after
training on Tiger Moths and Harvards in Canada, he joined 144
squadron piloting Handley Page Hampdens, sometimes referred
to as "The Flying Suitcase". Fl. Lt. Ian Pringle was
fortunate in many ways to have been shot down in 1941, he spent
the rest of the war in Stalag Luft III with the likes of Eric
Williams and his Wooden Horse friends - he was one of the "lucky"
10,000 bomber command aircrew to survive in captivity. He told
me the odds of surviving a tour of operations was less than
1 in 10 and as a result 55,000 British, Commonwealth and allied
members of Bomber Command paid the ultimate sacrifice.
 Ian
Pringle's love of aviation, despite his war time experiences,
rubbed off on me. From the late 1950's I made and flew model
aircraft, was an air scout and avidly attended every air museum
and air show available. This interest, combined with a love
of classic sports cars, led me to purchase an original RAF Irvin
Flying Jacket (my father having swapped his for a Rolleiflex
Camera while in Stalag Luft III), the rest, as they say, is
history! That one jacket led to three, and soon the collection
grew to include other original flight clothing from both sides
of the Atlantic. Current stocks are made up of a wide range
of aeronautical items with the emphasis remaining on flight
clothing of the 1939-45 period.
The other specialist interest of Oldnautibits is Marine and
Maritime Collectables. Not one to be content with a single direction,
ships and the sea have always been part of my life. Family holidays
in Cornwall led to sailing; learning on one of the very first
Mirror Dinghies, then GP 14's and, more recently, a very exciting
Hobie 18 Catamaran. In addition to on-water activity the "silent
world" beneath the waves also beckoned. In the early 1970's
I was taught to scuba dive by members of the RAF Mountbatten
Sub Aqua Club in Plymouth. This resulted in the whole new pursuit
of wreck diving on both ships and aircraft. On long drift-dives
over apparently virgin sand, while my buddies surfaced with
nothing, Mr Oldnautibits honed his underwater non-ferrous metal
detecting skills - and so began another collecting interest
which has lasted over a quarter of a century. The family home
soon became filled with marine flotsam and jetsam, some of which
now resides on the office wall!
 This
then is our heritage - but what can we offer you? In essence,
as enthusiasts, we can supply from current stock or be commissioned
to acquire fine original examples of a wide range of aero and
nautical collectables. When not attending Antique Fairs we continue
to add to our stock, using our network of contacts in the UK
and beyond. In a market where there are many reproductions and
fakes, Oldnautibits guarantees to sell only genuine originals.
In addition we believe our product range will appreciate in
value over the coming years as supplies of quality items continue
to diminish.
Thank you for visiting our site, we hope you will browse our
other pages and get a feel for our stock. Individual items are
changing on a daily basis, however the photographs represent
typical stock lines that we carry. Please contact us if you
have a specific interest - if we don't have what you are looking
for, we are more than happy to hunt down that elusive item.
We have the time if you have the patience.
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Geoff & Val Pringle - Oldnautibits.com
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