54 FLYPAST November 2018
WARBIRDS HANGAR 11 COLLECTION
P-40. Peter remembers that “very
few good examples were available at
that time but there was a nice one
owned by The Fighter Collection at
Duxford. Having seen Stephen Grey
bring G-KITT into an airshow at
Sandown on the Isle of Wight, I was
captivated by it.
“Conversations began between
Stephen and I, and in August
2005 I headed to Duxford in
my Staggerwing and jumped in
the back of the P-40 for a trial
flight. Negotiations continued
and in December 2005, I’d done
a deal that included the trade
of my Staggerwing. The Fighter
Collection’s chief pilot Pete Kynseyflew her to North Weald that
same month, and then flew the
Staggerwing the other way.”
The Hangar 11 Collection was
rapidly growing – and Peter wasn’t
ready to stop. “I’d always wanted to
own what I viewed as the four most
important Allied fighters. With the
two American fighters already in
the mix, it had to be a partner for
the Spitfire that came next. It’s not
difficult to work out that a Hawker
Hurricane was the next on my list,
but rather than sourcing an already
restored example, I decided to buy
a project that was under rebuild by
Hawker Restorations, based
in Suffolk.”
“It was no normal Hurricane, but a
Mk.IIb fighter-bomber,” he enthuses.
“The ‘Hurribomber’ was a unique
restoration, featuring wing racks
for replica 250lb bombs. This was
a beast of a Hawker with upgraded
armament – 12 Browning machine
guns instead of the original eight.”
Once completed, the airframe
and wings were transported to
Peter’s hangar. He had the aircraft
painted as BE505, a Manston-based
Mk.IIb operated by the RAF’s 174
(Mauritius) Squadron in 1942. Its
first post-restoration flight took
place from North Weald on January
27, 2009, with Stu Goldspink at
the controls.Once the test-flying programme
concluded, Peter was able to
experience the machine for himself:
“I’d describe the Hurricane as akin
to a vintage Rolls-Royce, while the
Spitfire is more like a classic Ferrari.”Displays
and film work
With his perfect fleet now
assembled, Peter enthusiastically
displayed his aircraft around the UKand Europe at numerous airshows
and other public events. One of
the highlights was working for
celebrated director George Lucas on
the film Red Tails.
“We flew the P-40 down to Prague
and the special effects team gave
her a temporary look for the film
using a water-based removable
paint,” he recalls. “There are so
many memories I have of a 20-year
career displaying these wonderful“I’d describe the Hurricane as akin to a
vintage Rolls-Royce, while the Spitfi re is
more a like a classic Ferrari”Right
Peter’s P-40 manoeuvres
over Cambridgeshire
shortly after he
purchased the aircraft in- It has worn several
schemes over the years,
including this 343rd
Fighter Group garb.
Above
Peter pictured with
‘Tuskegee Airman’ George
Hardy in 2016, alongside
the P-51 painted as ‘Tall
In The Saddle’, which was
George’s aircraft in 1945
while based in Italy.Right
The restoration of Spitfi re
PT879 has benefi ted from
a profusion of original
parts, and many of the
recovered items reveal
original colours and
markings, such as this
panel showing part of the
Russian Star.