| 3rd June | Mid Summer Blues | 2008 |
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Here at the Oldnautibits HQ we have recently experienced yet another wet holiday weekend; we had the same story over Whitsun and as a result the Popham Aerojumble was cancelled. The good news is the event has been rescheduled for Sunday, August 3rd, so we hope to have better luck. We will be stalling out in the marquee so come and say hello. Whilst you have your diaries out, make a note of the Aircraft Enthusiasts' Fair on Saturday, 22nd November, to be held at the excellent Museum of Army Aviation at Middle Wallop where we will be exhibiting. Entry tickets also entitle you to enjoy all the museum displays and the fair is perfectly timed for those special Christmas gifts. The U.K. airshow season is fast approaching and we all hope Vulcan B.2 XH558 will be the star of the Summer displays but she first needs her permit to fly from the CAA. All being well, her first public outing could be at Waddington on July 5th/6th. She is also still looking for significant corporate sponsorship, so if Richard Branson reads this, please take note! On a more modest level, we have finally taken the plunge and after several false starts have commissioned a Spitfire Mk. IX cockpit section and it has been fun tracking down original parts for the project. We will publish more information on her in due course, so watch this space but if you happen to have any surplus parts gathering dust in your garage or loft, please get in touch! |
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| 30th January | Tempus Fugit | 2008 |
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With Christmas, New Year and now Burns Night behind us, it is rather too late to wish you all the compliments of the new season, but we will do it anyway! January has proven to be a very busy month for the team here at Oldnautibits HQ. We have sold a record number of assorted flying jackets, both RAF, USAAF and Luftwaffe to customers who have been patiently waiting on the Wish List.The U.K. is forecasted to receive its first real Winter weather over the next few days, so no doubt, some will be put to the use for which they were intended. We continue to burn the rubber travelling the country following up leads on interesting stock. Recently we have taken advantage of a beneficial exchange rate against the dollar and have been able to re-import some interesting aviation stock from North America. Perhaps the most exciting find of the New Year has been the bell from the WWI Battle Cruiser RMS Bremse, originally recovered by the salvors in the 1930's. We are currently researching this item before offering for sale, so watch this space! Our soap box entry this month has to be concern for the future of Bentley Priory, the nerve centre during the Battle of Britain and of course the spiritual home of "The Few" and the headquarters of Air Chief Marshall Lord Dowding. It appears that when the RAF withdraw from its 6 London sites including Bentley Priory, the MOD is planning to sell it off as a multi million pound luxury apartment development. Let it be hoped that we and all like minded enthusiasts will support the pressure groups to prevent this happening, or at the very least to retain and preserve the key areas of the building, including the entrance hall and of course Dowding's office. |
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