Blackbushe Heritage Trust

24/06/2026

There's been a lot of coverage on here over the last few days of "Loreley", our Vickers Valetta's arrival at Blackbushe Airport, and the tremendous work that has been done by our Teams and our friends RPM Aviation in the few days since she arrived last Thursday evening to get her reconstruction well on the path to completion.

We hope, in time, to be able to offer tours of the aircraft for the local community and public on open days, but there's plenty more work to do to spruce her up after the approximately 40 years that she was sat inside a dusty hangar at RAF Cosford.

To that end, we are looking for more volunteers! You don't need to have any aviation or aircraft experience, all we ask for is enthusiasm and a positive attitude, especially when engaging with colleagues and the public who will in time come to visit. Don't worry, all required training and guidance will be provided!

If you think you can help, we'd love to hear from you! You can message us here, or follow the "Get Involved" link on our website.
Thank you!

https://www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/volunteer

23/06/2026

Yesterday was another busy day for our tech team volunteers who have been very much continuing with the rebuild of our Vickers Valetta C.2 VX573 "Loreley" after her arrival on Thursday night, the progress since then has been incredible!

An update on yesterdays activities the landing gear was secured, both engines lifted and secured onto the nacelles, propellers attached as well as adding the tail plane and fin.

Did you know you can also donate via our website?
All donations are greatly appreciated and will help with restoring our Viking “Vagabond” and Valetta “Loreley” back to their former glory. Donate today at https://www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/donate
Thank you for your support.

21/06/2026

Our team of volunteers have been busy yesterday after Thursday's night arrival of VX573. We now have a clean machine! along with wing stubs, nacelles and landing gear reattached.

Here’s a before and after photo of our Vickers Valetta C2 "Loreley" before leaving Cosford and the amazing progress that has happened so far.

Did you know you can also donate via our website?
All donations are greatly appreciated and will help with restoring our Viking “Vagabond” and Valetta “Loreley” back to their former glory. Donate today at https://www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/donate
Thank you for your support.

19/06/2026

We have an exciting announcement to make!

We are delighted to announce Vickers Valetta C.2 VX573 has arrived at Blackbushe yesterday evening by road from RAF Cosford.

This aircraft was a visitor to Blackbushe in the 1950s while serving with the RAF’s 2nd Tactical Air Force, retiring from RAF service in 1968. “Loreley’s” last flight was to RAF Henlow where she was decommissioned. The aircraft was sent to RAF Cosford, initially for static display, however VX573 was eventually placed into a hangar (outside of public view) for long-term storage for over 40 years.

We would like to thank CCG Commercial Ltd for their assistance in safely transporting Loreley to it's new home at Blackbushe Airport and for working late into the early hours of the morning as the unloading process took place throughout the night with the team finishing at 2am in the morning!

A thank you also goes to our dedicated tech team who have worked extremely hard over the last few weeks and months with the dismantling up at Cosford right the way through to Loreley being delivered to it's new home at Blackbushe.
The team have already made a great start today rebuilding the aircraft keep an eye out for more updates as the rebuild continues!

16/06/2026

Just a brief note to say that this Thursday evening's fundraising talk at The Pathfinder Café, featuring Peter Coombs and his "Life at The AAIB" is now SOLD OUT for both online and "on the door on the night" sales.

Whilst we're sorry if this means you'll miss this one, it's great news for us that these talks are regularly full and we want to thank those of you who have planned to attend for your support.

We do have further monthly talks planned for the rest of the year, details of which can be found at the link below....

https://www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/events

Jun 18 "My life at The AAIB", with Peter Coombs Thursday 18 June 2026 19:00 20:30 Blackbushe Heritage Trust (map) Google Calendar ICS Thursday 18th June, 7pm, Pathfinder Cafe View Event → Jul 16 "The Silver City Story", with Paul Ross Thursday 16 July 2026 19:00 20:30 Blackbushe Heritage Trust (ma...

11/06/2026

Yesterday saw another milestone in the restoration of "Vagabond" as the newly-constructed rear tailplane spar was trial-fitted into the rear fuselage of the aircraft.

For those of you who have been following the story on our "Tech" Blog (see link below), this spar was completely missing when we recovered the aircraft from Austria and has been built from scratch by the Team. Thanks to volunteer Mike for taking the great pictures and video we are sharing here.

One of the great ways to support the Team's ongoing work is by attending our monthly evening fundraising talks in The Pathfinder Café, which are running throughout the rest of the year. The next one takes place a week from today (Thurs 18th at 7pm) and will feature Pete Coombs who'll be telling us about his "Life at the AAIB" (Air Accidents Investigation Branch), based at nearby Farnborough. There are still a few places left and you can secure yours online at the link below.

https://www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/blog
https://www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/events/my-life-at-aaib-with-peter-coombs

06/06/2026

The latest release of our "Tech" Blog has just been added to our website, and can be found at the link below.

The blog highlights the key activities and significant milestones of the restoration of "Vagabond" as they occur, and over time builds a chronological record as the restoration progresses. Over the last month, work has continued on the cockpit, the wings, the fin and tailplanes, and the rear of the fuselage. We hope that the words and the pictures convey the great progress we are making.

The Team will be on-site this morning, as they are every Saturday and Wednesday morning if you're in the area and want to pay them a visit!

If that, or this coverage inspires you to get involved, you can also find links on our website to apply to join us as a volunteer. As well as the "Tech" Team, we're always on the lookout for people to help in other areas such as fundraising in our shop and at events. Or drop us a message here, and we'll be in touch....thank you!

https://www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/blog/vagabonds-restoration-into-2026

5th May update There’s been a lot going on over the period of just under a month since the last update, the key elements of which we again hope to convey to our growing readership in the words and pictures below. Several areas of the aircraft have seen attention, including some where a lot of wor

30/05/2026

It's Saturday, and that means that our weather resilient (come cold, heat, rain or shine!) "Tech Team" will be at work again this morning on "Vagabond's" restoration. They're always willing to stop for a chat "over the fence" at Blackbushe Airport if you're in the area!

If not today, then tomorrow our neighbouring Shop will be open between 10am and 2pm, offering a another chance for you to support us by purchasing some merch, aviation memorabilia or by just letting the young ones have a go at our ever-popular "spin the wheel"!

In either case our volunteers will be delighted to see you. Have a great weekend!

18/05/2026

This is the "last call" for our next monthly fundraising evening talk, which takes place this Thursday at 7pm (doors open 6.30) at The Pathfinder Café.

We're grateful to Jim Davies from BA's Heritage Centre for coming to tell "The British Airways Story".

Further details and a link to secure your place/s online are available at the link below. Otherwise, there are also some spaces available for any of you who want to pay on the door, on the night.

Thanks to those of you who are coming for your support!

https://www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/events

11/05/2026

It's just 10 days now until the next in our series of monthly evening talks comes to The Pathfinder Café. Thurs 21st at 7pm (doors open 6.30) is the date and time to put in your diary if you haven't already done so!

This months talk will see Jim Davies from BA's Heritage Centre coming to tell "The British Airways Story".

BA was formed over 50 years ago in March 1974, with the merger of two nationalised airlines, BEA and BOAC, and was privatised in 1987. During those years, it’s flown to nearly all corners of the world, and operated a huge variety of different aircraft types, including (until 2003) Concorde.

This is a must-attend event if you’re interested in the history of Britain’s “flag carrier”. You can secure your place/s for £10pp at the link below, where you will also find details of the further talks we have scheduled over the next 6 months.

All proceeds, as always, are in aid of the continuing restoration of our Vickers Viking G-AGRW “Vagabond”, which flew for BEA at the very beginning of her in-service life.

Thanks in advance for your support and we hope to see you there!

https://www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/events
https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/about-ba/history-and-heritage