Sir William Roberts

[nuuumannn]

On 23rd November a prominent player in the history of aviation preservation, Sir William Roberts passed away in Scotland. For those of you unfamiliar with his name, he was the founder of the Strathallan collection of historic aircraft near Auchterarder, Scotland. Roberts was one of the first individuals to establish a privately run working and flying collection of aircraft in the UK back in the early 1970s. His collection was admired from around the world for its diversity and the list of aircraft once owned by Roberts was something that any collector/museum would be envious of today.

He had a Mosquito restored to flying condition, B/TT.35 RS712, now at Air Venture, Oshkosh, a Canadian Lancaster, a Hurricane, two two-seat Spits as well as a number of single seat ones, a Fairey Battle, now in Belgium, a couple of Bolingbrokes, none of which were finished and one of which became the basis of the flying one at Duxford, the Hudson at Hendon, Lysander at Shuttleworth, Swordfish, Avenger, Shackelton, de Havilland Comet on static display and a host of other light aircraft, most of which are scattered about the UK in museums now.

After many years of flying displays and making people happy as one of the few privately run airshows in the 1970s, Roberts sold his collection off in an auction held in 1981. The aircraft were dispersed; the most of the lighties went to the Museum of Flight at East Fortune, but many escaped abroad, including the Mossie and Lanc. Roberts retained his love of aviation throughout his life and held on to his Miles Magister, however and it is still gathering dust at Strathallan airfield to this day.

The importance of Strathallan is often overlooked since its demise; it was the 'Duxford' of its day (for want of a better description), where privately owned warbirds regularly flew about the Scottish countryside. Restoration work was done on site and the 'museum' was open to the public most weekends. From those I knew associated with the place, its feel was like, say an Omaka open day, for those of you who have been to one of these; where you could happily admire the aircraft at close quarters and talk to the pilots and engineers.

When I lived in Scotland I was a member of the Strathallan Aircraft Society and became quite familiar with the collection, having worked at East Fortune for a number of years, even though I was too young and living in New Zealand when Strathallan was at its heyday in the 70s. I never met Sir Willie, but knew personally many of the characters that had been involved with the collection and they all spoke with muted admiration for him.

Slange, Willie.

Here is a link to Secret Scotland, a rather informative site:

www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/StrathallanMuseum

[dakman]

Thanks for the post , sorry to read of Sir williams passing .I enjoyed several visits to auchterarder in the mid 70s, and the collection was a credit to his insight and initiative..
I meet Dick Richardson there .his PR man then and managed to get a closer look at their aircraft.including the Lanc . BTW where did his Hurricane and Lanc go ?The engines were pulled from the Comet by the RAF so it it still there too ?

[nuuumannn]

Hi Dakman, I envy you having been there in the 70s; would have been neat. The Hurri went to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum and was destroyed in a hangar fire in 1991. The Lanc went to Kermit Weeks in Florida, but before then had a beam fall on its back at Woodford. Its in bits still; part of it is with Kermit Weeks and the fuselage is at Brooklands; further bits are with a Lincoln that's gone to Australia. Someone posted a photo of it recently on this forum at Brooklands.

The Comet was scrapped, along with the Shack, both of their nose sections survive though; the Shack at Midland Air Museum in Coventry and the Comet is at Gatwick. The Shack was named Zebedee after the cat from The Magic Roundabout TV series!

[dakman]

Thanks for the details .Recall reading at the auction time that the Hurricane had been withdrawn from sale ,I got to sit in it ?I understand his two seat Spitfire G AVAV is now the Grace aircraft .Didn,t see it at the Field during my visits think it may have been down at Shoreham then . You mentioned East fortune Airfield .are you still in that part of Scotland ?
Hope to visit that Collection next year

[steveh]

I wondered into Strathallen airfield in early 1982, there was still quite a bit of stuff in the hangar, as in artifacts & the Shackleton was still in one piece. Its a bit hazy now, I'd have to dig out my slides to refresh what I did see there. I've always been sorry I missed its heydays.
Steve.

[nuuumannn]

It'd be nice to see them if you can scan them and put them here, Steve. There was a lot of stuff still at Strathallan for some time, even into 1984 as owners took their time to recover their items. I think they were still running events there after the auction of what was left - there was a lot of stuff. Strathallan also had interesting things like the Flying Bedstead, which were/are a part of the Science Museum - Roberts was well connected. East Fortune was something of a staging post for ex-Strathallan aircraft as well; paying for moving of aircraft was/is an enormous expence and I guess with a number of aircraft heading to East Lothian, some hitched a ride.

I was discussing with a chap I used to know from EF about Roberts and the collection recently - he must have had a fair whack of money, even in the late 60s - early 70s to have assembled the number of aircraft he had - they came from around the world - as far afield as Australia, mind you, the prices of vintage aircraft were not what they are today - who could buy a flyable Mosquito for 100,000 pounds these days?

Yep, Carolyn Grace's two seat Spit ML407 was at Strathallan; her husband Nick purchased it prior to the auction (I think). The NZ connection with this Spit was it was flown by Johnny Houlton of 485 Sqn.

Hey Dakman, nope, I'm near Nelson now. I worked at East Fortune for six years, two years prior as a volunteer in the late 1990s. It's changed a lot since I left but the collection will surprise you because of its breadth. Most people - even in the UK have little idea what is there, although the feel of a little visited 'out-of-the-way' gem has gone since they got one of the BA Concordes and crammed it into a T2 hangar.

[nuuumannn]

Sir William Roberts' official title was Sir William James Denby Roberts, 3rd Baronet, who died 23 November, 2012, aged 76, was formerly of Combwell Priory, Kent, and Strathallan Castle, Perthshire. He was born in 1936, son of Sir James Denby Roberts, 2nd Bt, OBE, whom he succeeded in 1973. The baronetcy was created in 1909.

[baz62]

I remember that collection and at the time in the 70s and early 80's there were only three airworthy Hurricanes, two with the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Strathallan one.

[Dave Homewood]

I always assumed he'd died as an old guy in the 1980's, hence the reason his collection was sold off. He must have only been in his 40's then though I guess, so I was surprised when this tiopic came up last week on the Key forum.

I had heard of him many times but never about him - i.e. how did he come to amass such a large and important collection at such a young age? How and where did hie come across the likes of a Lancaster and several Spitfires and a Hurricane? What line of business was he in?

And why did he sell them all on in the 1980's? Did he lose all his money or something?

[nuuumannn]

Hi Dave, Roberts was a farmer and land owner, which meant he and his family were descendants of hereditary peers; landed gentry that had money for centuries from land ownership. Farming in the UK by such people was/is very different to how we preceive it here in NZ; think tweed riding jackets with leather elbow pads, a hunting rifle and hoards of beagles, Land Rovers and big stone mansions that have been in the family since the time of Henry the Eighth. I think this is how he got some of his money; to be frank I don't actually know.

Roberts sold the collection off because despite its popularity, Strathallan was a loss making venture in the end; the airfield is quite away from any major town except Perth, which isn't all that big, so didn't get so many visitors. That's not to say it wasn't popular, but, as you are aware, running airshows is a costly business and operating such a vast array of different types with others under restoration must have been quite a drain on finances. Marketing wasn't what it is now. Must have been heart breaking for him to break up the collection.

As for the aircraft, The Spits; he had a few, and the Hurri were bought after the making of the Battle of Britain movie when a lot of the airframes came up for sale; the Hurricane was his first acquisition - from what I've read he always had a fondness for the type. He was a pilot himself.

The Lizzie and Bolingbrokes came from Canada via a chap called Wes Agnew who had amassed a collection of ex-military aircraft in a field in Manitoba. Originally, Boli RCAF 9940 was on its way to be restored to flying condition at Strathallan, with 10201 waiting in the queue, but with the auction, the Royal Museum of Scotland got 9940 (which went to East Fortune) and 10201 went to Ormond Haydon-Baillie (I think) then to Graham Warner, who restored it to flying condition, with 9940's engines. The final flying Blenheim also incorporates bits of other Bolis from Canada; a bit of a bitser and difficult to trace exactly what bit came from where.

The Lanc was bought in 1974 from a company in Canada that wanted to convert it into a fire bomber and was flown from Canada in 75. Sold to Charles Church in 1987, it went to Woodford, where the hangar collapse broke its back.

Some aircraft came from Australia, including a DH.84 Dragon, an ex-RAAF example which had belonged to a flying evangelist spreading the Lord's word by air in the outback, a Puss Moth that had been part of Sid Marshall's collection at Bankstown and a Hudson that had been operated by Ad Astra Aerial Surveys. The Dragon and Puss Moth are now at East Fortune.

His light aircraft collection was quite diverse, including a Fokker S.11 Instructor, two Miles Monarchs, Tiger Moths, Miles M.18 - one of only thee built, GAL Cygnet - one of two survivors, Reid and Sigrist Desford, BA Swallow, Magister etc...

He also had a Vampire and Sea Hawk, Gannet, Anson, Firefly...

[nuuumannn]

there were only three airworthy Hurricanes...

All three of these were used in the Battle of Britain Movie, P3308 went to Roberts and PZ865 - the very very last Hurri built and LF363 went to the BBMF. For many years there was only three Hurricanes flying; I remember going to Legends in 1997 and seeing three in the air at the same time; a real BIG thing back then. The only one that was airworthy from that lot at that time was PZ865; LF363 had crashed and was under restoration and P3308 had been destroyed in 1993 (I said '91 earlier, but was 93).

[as72]

A quick note on the last year at Strathallan. I flew a microlight into Strathallan early in the year (86/87?) and was asked to take the collections chief mechanic for a flight. I did so and he kindly reciprocated by allowing me free roaming of all the collection, including inside the aircraft. Sadly Sir William was informed by the local council a few weeks later that they were imposing full local taxes on the site. Up to then he had paid a reduced rate because it was not a commercial venture. Sir William refused and said he would close the collection. They thought he was bluffing and took a risk even though the site was a huge tourist attraction that generated a lot of local revenue ..... and so we lost a wonderful tourist asset for Scotland. I often overfly the airstrip, usually at FL170 and look down with nostalgia. On a good day its possible to make out the details. I don't have a good opinion of the local authority or their staff who brought about its closure.