The Historic
Aircraft Collection
was formed
in 1985
by Guy Black and Angus
Spencer-Nairn
to restore and operate Spitfire Mk. IX TE566. Alongside this major
project, two other Spitfires were recovered from gate guardian roles in Belgium.
Spitfire IX MK912 in exchange for a Bristol Fighter and Spitfire XIV RN201 in
exchange for a Fairy Battle. Both of these Spitfires were subsequently
sold and have now been restored by Historic Flying.
In 1992 another HAC project took
to the air, World War I survivor Nieuport 28c S. 6531 (G-BSKS).
The
Nieuport was obtained
from the famous Wings and Wheels auction in America in 1981, described as a
“basket case”. It was
one of the 50 Nieuport 28 aircraft to be shipped to America after the 1st WW for
Army and Navy use. This particular aircraft was later used in the Howard Hughes
film Dawn Patrol in 1931. The aircraft is pictured with Errol Flynn sitting in
the cockpit. This has been confirmed by studying details of the cockpit
surround and comparing it with the aircraft as it was when we bought it. It was
brought back to
the
UK and restored for HAC by Tim Moore’s company Skysport Engineering. Once
operated by the United States Army it is now on display at their Museum in
Atlanta Georgia.
Spitfire TE566 first flew
again in 1993 after 7 years restoration at Hull Aero and later at Historic
Flying Ltd. HAC operated the aircraft for 4 years before selling it to Andrew Torr
in South Africa. Sadly, the aircraft crashed in 2002 and was destroyed.
The Hawker Nimrod I,
S1581, was operated by HAC from 2000 until it was swapped for the Fighter
Collection's Hurricane in 2002. The Nimrod still resides at Duxford.
HAC now operates a
fleet of four flying aircraft
that includes a Spitfire Vb, a Hurricane XII,
a Hawker Nimrod II and a Fieseler Storch. With
several rare and interesting aircraft still undergoing restoration, HAC is
fulfilling its ambition of restoring and operating some very special vintage
piston engined military aircraft.
