Shuttleworth Collection

The collection was founded in 1928 by aviator Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth. While flying a Fairey Battle at night on 2 August 1940, Shuttleworth fatally crashed. His mother, in 1944, formed the Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth Remembrance Trust "for the teaching of the science and practice of aviation and of afforestation and agriculture."^[1]

Restoration and maintenance work is carried out by a staff of 12 full-time and many volunteer engineers. These volunteers are all members of the 3,000-strong Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society (SVAS).^[2] These dedicated enthusiasts are crucial to the preservation and restoration of the collection.

In addition to the aircraft, the collection houses a number of vintage and veteran cars. Events include model-flying days, flying proms and events dedicated to British engineering.

The Shuttleworth Collection puts an emphasis on restoring as many aircraft as possible to flying condition, in line with the founder's original intention.^[3] There are typically about seven air shows per year, including evening displays and an annual Flying Proms event.

Some of the most notable aircraft in the collection are the five Edwardian aeroplanes, of which one is the oldest British aeroplane still in flying condition. The oldest, with British civil registration G-AANG, is the Bleriot XI (still with original engine), which dates back to 1909; six years after the Wright brothers' aircraft and the world's oldest airworthy aeroplane, the next oldest being, at only three weeks newer by date of manufacture, the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome's own restored original Bleriot XI (Bleriot factory serial number 56, with civil registration N60094) in the United States.

• Data from ^[7]

Also resident, but privately owned:

• Miles M14a Hawk Trainer N3788 G-AKPF
• Westland Wallace replica fuselage
• De Havilland DH89A Rapide G-AGSH painted as British European Airways
• Sopwith Dove G-EAGA

Aircraft of the BAE Systems heritage collection were formerly resident at Old Warden, however the last three aircraft were donated to Shuttleworth in March 2022, becoming part of the collection proper.^[8]

There is also a collection of tractors.

• Shuttleworth College (Bedfordshire)

Other large collections of flying historic aircraft

• Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, at RAF Coningsby, United Kingdom
• Cole Palen's Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, directly inspired by the Shuttleworth collection, located in Red Hook and Rhinebeck, New York, United States
• Royal Navy Historic Flight, at RNAS Yeovilton, United Kingdom
• The Fighter Collection, at Duxford Aerodrome, United Kingdom
• Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum, in St Louis, Missouri, United States