We found 77111 price guide item(s) matching your search
There are 77111 lots that match your search criteria. Subscribe now to get instant access to the full price guide service.
Click here to subscribe- List
- Grid
-
77111 item(s)/page
Lot 488
Brass model of a Harrier jump jet 7" high, model of vintage air plane 6" high , a model of a Concord 5" high and two others PROVENANCE ONE MAN`S LIFETIME PASSION FOR PLANES The Geoff Stanton Collection of aeronautical memorabilia Geoff Stanton lived and breathed aeroplanes. You could say they were in his blood, a passion inherited from his father, who at 14 was an apprentice with the famous Fairey Aviation Company. But Geoff never piloted a plane. Instead, he spent a lifetime - sadly cut short by a heart attack - building a private aviation museum, which filled his one-bedroomed flat to bursting point. In the hallway, visitors were greeted by two mannequins - one a tall U,S. Air Force pilot, the other a Women`s Royal Air Force officer, each complete with flying jackets and boots. On the wall above them was a wooden propeller from a 1917 Sopwith, and below that, a huge enamel sign - too heavy to mount - advertising Shell and BP aviation fuel. The kitchen and dining area was more of a workshop but there were two big leather armchairs of 1930s vintage - Geoff would use one but the other was occupied by another mannequin ("Henry") dressed in full flying kit and complete with Air Ministry map - ready to scramble. Geoff bequeathed some of these objects but the rest (over 100 lots) of his huge collection of aeronautical memorabilia is included in this sale. The flat was crammed with display cases containing all of the items for auction. In addition, USAAF and RAF uniforms, sheepskin flying jackets, boots, helmets, goggles and gloves sit alongside Second World War cockpit instruments, gun sights, gauges, a silk Observer parachute, miniature propellers and propeller sections and even a framed piece of fabric from a Messerschmitt 109, shot down over Balcombe Down during the Battle of Britain in 1940. There are countless models of aircraft of all periods, medals, mascots, log books, badges and pins, books and postcards including a charming collection of RAF "sweetheart badges"; aircraft manuals parts and tools, brochures and hundreds of period photographs. Geoff Stanton was born in Guildford, Surrey, in 1957, the younger son of Kenneth and Kathleen. The family moved to the Isle of Wight in 1975 after Geoff`s father joined the staff of Westland Aerospace at East Cowes. Geoff suffered a heart attack and died in 2007, four months after his mother`s death. His father died last year. Geoff leaves a brother, Chris. Geoff`s interest in aviation came from his father, whose love of aircraft began in 1929 at the age of six, when Sir Alan Cobham`s Air Circus came to his home town of Banbury. Ken joined the Fairey Aviation Company as an apprentice at Hayes and Heston, working on the Swordfish biplane before the Second World War accelerated the production of more modern fighter aircraft. In the post-war jet age, Ken joined the Aircraft Inspection Directorate (AID) moving to Dunsfold Aerodrome where he spent the next 20 years working on some of the most famous and iconic Hawker jets, including the Hunter, the Harrier and the Hawk. Ken cleared both the prototype vertical take-off P.1127 and the Hawk for their maiden flights. The Hawk is still in RAF service as a fighter-trainer 35 years on, but is best known for its role in the Red Arrows display team. Geoff`s interest in aviation began when his father took him around a disused USAAF airbase at Thorpe Abbots in Suffolk, once home to the legendary Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and the U.S. 8th Air Force - the "Mighty Eighth". From then on, Geoff`s admiration for the airmen who flew these planes continued to grow and he began to build what became an awesome collection of aeronautica. However, Geoff was fascinated most in tracing the real people behind the objects and the personal stories and photographs of the airmen. In 2004, Geoff tracked down an American survivor of the B-17 plane "My Day", which was shot down over the Channel in 1943 and ditched just off the Isle of Wight. The airman, former Flight Sergeant John Mont, visited the island for the 60th Anniversary D-Day celebrations and was reunited with "My Day"s propeller. Mont wrote the following tribute for Geoff`s funeral in 2007: "I recall how very proud Geoff was to take us to the IoW Military Museum to show us the propeller and exhibit, all the while realising the hours of hard work that went into restoring it. I have always believed that propeller gave its all to save my life. There were many highlights on that trip: the flyover of "Sally B" (a B-17 Flying Fortress that is part of the UK`s WW2 Memorial Flight) at the 60th anniversary air show, meeting Mr Beken, who was part of the British Sea Rescue that was instrumental in pulling the few survivors from "My Day" out of the sea, to Mr Worsley who painted a beautiful recreation of "My Day" right before the watery crash, every detail depicting that cold December night in 1943." The painting, showing "My Day" flying over choppy water by John Howard Worsley is included in the sale. Geoff was a Life Member of the B-17 Preservation Society, which flies the "Sally B" at all the major airshows. The plane is preserved at the American Air Forces Museum at Duxford in Cambridgeshire, part of the Imperial War Museum, and Geoff spent a great deal of time and effort to raise funds to keep her flying, notably the £3,000 in sponsorship for having his pony tail cut off and his head shaved. He was also well known for his spectacular charity fund-raising feats on the Isle of Wight. For Children in Need, he walked the ramparts of Carisbrooke Castle for 24 hours dressed as Charles I and for Comic Relief, he stalked the corridors of St Mary`s Hospital dressed as a character from Star Wars, which he jokily termed "Cosmic Relief". In latter years, Geoff was deeply absorbed in researching the stories of USAAF aircrew, particularly those who had served in Britain. His collection of uniforms enabled him to dress the part for WW2 airshows and themed events. He had started compiling a book from the U.S. airmen`s own personal archives and had amassed a large collection of photos and correspondence through his regular online communications with America. His painstaking approach using a variety of data and his own encyclopaedic knowledge enabled him to identify a plane, its location and thus its mission from a simple small black and white photograph, but sadly the book cannot now be completed. His brother Chris describes his late brother as enigmatic: "At times happiest with his own company but on other occasions the life and soul of the party, and he knew how to party!" He had been an extra in the 1980 film "Wildcats of St. Trinian`s", which was filmed on the Isle of Wight, while in the mid 1980s, he pursued his other great passion of motorcycles - also inherited from his father - and was a leading biker in the Isle of Wight clubs. The last 10 years of Geoff`s life were spent first as a porter at St Mary`s Hospital, then as an ambulance technician. But not only did he help save human lives. He achieved lasting local prominence on the Isle of Wight as "Duck Man" through his care for the flightless ducklings he rescued from the hospital quadrangles after the parent birds had flown away to a nearby pond. Today a fine memorial bench and a purpose-built duck-house beside the pond provide good opportunities to reflect on all things airborne.
Loading...-
77111 item(s)/page