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| Lancaster
KB976 Section 6 - Strathallan Life |
On
arrival in Scotland, KB976 became part of
the Strathallan Aircraft Collection owned by
Sir William Roberts. This collection was
started in the early 1970s and grew over the
1970s and early 1980s to be an amazing set
of vintage aircraft in an excellent state of
repair.
KB976 had to wait for a hangar to be built for her to be stored in, until that time for a few months she lived outside. Over the years the engines were occasionally started, especially at the annual Strathallan Airshow where, although she did not fly, the sound alone of 4 Merlin engines was a rare treat. In the mid 1970s when she arrived at Strathallan, the only other airworthy Lancaster in the world was PA474 of the Royal Air Force's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Eventually the engines were filled with corrosion inhibitor, with no plans to run the engines again. The aircraft was gradually converted back to wartime colours and her LQK markings with gun turrets fitted, this was completed around early 1985. During all this time several attempts were made to secure sponsorship which would allow her to return to the skies and perhaps perform on the airshow circuit in the UK. The Strathallan museum also continued to look for more appropriate undercarriage for operation at Strathallan airfield whilst fitting her with authentic and genuine cockpit and gun turret parts. Sadly she never flew again despite her epic journey from Canada, but remained the most significant exhibit in an amazing collection. The collection was dispersed and sold over the 1980s, with KB976 being sold in 1986 and leaving dismantled, by road to England in April 1987. |
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| Sir William
Roberts and his Aircraft Collection on Strathallan
Estate, Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland, PH3
ILA Clipping courtesy of Margaret Issa |
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| Photograph courtesy of Dick Richardson |
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| Photograph courtesy of Dick Richardson |
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| Sir William in
his Lancaster. |
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| Photograph
courtesy of Michael Blank |
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| Photo courtesy of Paul Thallon |
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| Photo courtesy of Paul Thallon |
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Photo courtesy of R.A. Scholefield |
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| Photo
by very kind permission of Franco Sella |
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| Photo
by very kind permission of Franco Sella |
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| Photo by very
kind permission of Franco Sella |
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| The above two
pictures show (left) the airfield from KB976's
cockpit in 1975, and (right) the museum hangar
finally complete some years later and housing
KB976 and much of the rest of the collection. The
circle in the grass is the Scottish Parachute
Club's gravel landing 'pit' and the two large
aircraft beside the museum hangar are a De
Havilland Comet and an Avro Shackleton, both part
of the aircraft collection. |
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| Photo courtesy of Peter Nicholson |
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| Photo courtesy of Peter Nicholson |
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| Photograph
courtesy of Wallace Shackleton |
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| Photograph courtesy of Wallace Shackleton |
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| Photograph courtesy of Wallace Shackleton |
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| Photograph courtesy of Wallace Shackleton |
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| Photograph courtesy of Wallace Shackleton |
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| Photograph courtesy of Wallace Shackleton |
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| Photograph courtesy of Wallace Shackleton |
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| Photograph courtesy of Dick Richardson |
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| By now much of
the painted livery that she arrived with has been
stripped off, this was done with the assistance of volunteer members of the Strathallan Aircraft Society. |
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| 30th May 1981 -
Picture courtesy of David A. Ingham |
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| Photograph courtesy of Alan Waddell |
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| Perthshire
Advertiser cutting supplied by Margaret Issa |
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| Hamish
Mahaddie gets the feel of a Lancaster cockpit
again in KB976 at Strathallan in 1982.
Leith-born Group Captain Thomas Gilbert Mahaddie
DSO, DFC, AFC (Bar), Czech Military Cross, C.Eng,
FRACS, completed several operational tours early
in World War II before joining the Pathfinder
Force to recruit (steal, said many senior squadron
officers, who nicknamed him “Don Bennett's
Horse Thief”) top crews for the elite group that
located and marked targets with flares. He retired
from the RAF in 1958 and became involved with the
film industry, tracking down rare aircraft for
major movies such as Battle of Britain, 633
Squadron, A Bridge Too Far, Heroes of Telemark and
Operation Crossbow. Hamish Mahaddie died in
1997 at the age of 85. photo © Arthur Allan |
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| “Tell
me, son”, asked Hamish Mahaddie, “do you fly that
wee thing or wear it?” The former Pathfinder
shares a joke at Strathallan in1982 with top
aerobatics pilot Richard Goode, sitting in the
tiny cockpit of his Pace aircraft, dwarfed by the
massive nose of KB976. photo © Arthur Allan |
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| 25th July 1982 Engine Runs |
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| The repaint has
started. See newspaper articles further down this
page. Photograph courtesy of Dick Richardson |
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| Photograph courtesy of Dave Thaxter http://www.british-caledonian.com/ |
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| The Scottish
Parachute Club still operates at the airfield to
this day. Here member Mike Ramsey lands in front of the Lancaster whilst the repaint is in progress. |
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| Clipping
courtesy of Margaret Issa |
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| Photograph courtesy of Dick Richardson |
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| Photograph courtesy of Dick Richardson |
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| Photograph courtesy of Dick Richardson |
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| Photograph courtesy of Alan Waddell |
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| Although the
small rear observation windows of the Lancaster AR
configuration were present when the new paint
scheme was first applied, these were eventually
removed for further WW2 authenticity. |
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| Photograph courtesy of Alan Waddell |
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| 10th August 1986 - Photograph courtesy of Stephen Rendle |
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| Photograph courtesy of Graeme Stewart |
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| Photograph courtesy of Alan Waddell |
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Photograph courtesy of
Derek Fleming
This was as good as it got for KB976 at Strathallan - back to original WW2 colours and appearance. This was a very high class restoration and certainly one of the main show pieces of the collection. She was a credit to her owner Sir William Roberts and to Dick Richardson and the rest of the engineering team at the Strathallan Aircraft Collection. |