Press Release from Blackbushe Heritage Trust - for release on 2nd May 2024

Blackbushe Airport has a rich and varied 80 year history, serving first as a wartime RAF Station, then London’s second Airport and today as a General Aviation facility, with exciting plans for its future.

We welcome interest from businesses and individuals who are interested in getting involved to support and help Blackbushe Heritage Trust to achieve our aims of establishing a venue that tells the story of the history of the Airport, with our Vickers Viking “Vagabond” as its centre-piece. To tell the story so far….

The Trust was formed in the Spring of 2022. A big part of that history are the aircraft that operated from the airfield, and none was more numerous (especially during the Airport’s “heyday” in the 1950’s) than the Vickers Viking.

In the Spring of 2023, the Trust embarked on a project to recover one of the few remaining examples of the type, named “Vagabond” (so named during its service with British European Airways) from a field in the corner of an Austrian airfield, back to Blackbushe.

“Vagabond” sits at Bad Voslau awaiting our attention

The aircraft fuselage being loaded at Bad Voslau in late April 2023

Today, we are celebrating one year since that return took place, after an overland journey of approximately 1,000 miles, which was organised and managed by our partners at RPM Aviation. Thanks to a dedicated group of Trustees, Volunteers and a range of corporate sponsors large and small we have made tremendous progress with what was always going to be a 5-10 year project to restore the aircraft to static exhibit condition at the Airport.

The return of the aircraft itself required our biggest expenditure to-date, and we are indebted to the British Airways Better World Community Fund for their generous support with this and other elements of the project.

“Vagabond” arrives at Blackbushe on 2nd May 2023

Since the aircraft returned, the fuselage has been stripped of several coats of paint and re-primed, the interior has been stripped and prepared for refurbishment, the nose cone has been refurbished, and the undercarriage has been sent for overhaul by Safran Landing Systems, a world leader in aircraft landing and braking systems.

“Vagabond as photographed on 1st May 2024

At the same time as work continues on the aircraft, our Trustee and Volunteer teams have been engaged in fundraising, organising and attending events, and other publicity via regional TV, local radio, press and social media. We are grateful to the many individuals and organisations who have generously donated aviation memorabilia that we can resell as part of our fundraising efforts, and also to those who’ve donated prizes for our Summer Raffle, the draw for which will take place at the Blackbushe Air Day on 15th June (raffle tickets can be purchased from our website https://www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/raffle).

We also wish to acknowledge the tremendous support we receive from the management and investors of Blackbushe Airport itself, at a time when they are busy working hard on their own plans for the Airport’s proposed redevelopment.