“Vagabond’s” restoration….the story so far in words and pictures, Part 1 (2022 and 2023)

We aim to create a historical record of the key events in the restoration so far, followed by a more detailed ongoing record of progress as it happens.

Below is a recent picture of how “Vagabond” looks at around the time of writing (October 2025). We’ll take you back around two and a half years in the story that follows, bring you up-to-date and then continue with the story as the restoration progresses. Part 1 covers 2022 and 2023.

In May 2022, we announced our intention to return the aircraft to Blackbushe, having secured “Vagabond’s” acquisition from the Austrian Aviation Museum in Bad Voslau.

In February 2023, a small team flew out to conduct an engineering inspection of the aircraft, to check it’s viability for disassembly and a road move to Blackbushe, a journey of around 800 miles.

The picture shows the team with “Vagabond” as she was found in Bad Voslau. This picture has since become known amongst those that were involved at the time as the “Boy Band” pic!

Bad Voslau, Austria, February 2023

At the same time, during the remainder of 2022 and early 2023 fundraising efforts were ramping-up and plans were being made, with our supporters at RPM Aviation, to use their expertise to enable “Vagabond” to be taken apart for transportation by road back to the UK.

Thanks to some great fundraising outcomes, this was all accomplished a good deal sooner than we anticipated when the Trust was formed, the recovery being made in April 2023. That part of the story is already told in words, pictures and video in the “The Journey Home” section of this website.

We pick up the story again once “Vagabond” was back at Blackbushe, for the first time in a couple of generations!

Here’s how she looked soon after her arrival, in her new home of temporary hangarage provided by the Airport.

“Vagabond” soon after her arrival in May 2023

Initial work focussed on clearing out the inside of the fuselage (the cabin and holds) and cleaning-up the outside. The holds, in particular, were still revealing some left-overs of the previous uses of the aircraft, including her time as a MacDonald’s kids dining and party area in Austria! This was preparatory work for much bigger tasks that lay ahead. The pictures below show how she looked on the inside and outside in June 2023…..

Over the next few months, the work that was ongoing and that which was expected in the near future was summarised at the time as follows….

- The cockpit and cabin floor has been removed. We hope to obtain honeycomb flooring from an airliner that's currently being scrapped to replace this.

- The baggage hold doors have been opened (some had been rivetted shut!) and rubbish removal from within the holds has continued. Numerous rivet heads on the fuselage have also been punched-out.

- The toilet and galley windows have been located (these had been covered over)

- All perspex passenger cabin windows have been removed.

- The nose cone was removed to be stripped of paint, and has now been placed back on the aircraft.

- Trestles have been manufactured and delivered. These will enable us to get the aircraft fuselage off the ground in the coming weeks. Once this happens, the aircraft will be scaffolded to improve safe access.

- Duckboards have been manufactured and placed around the aircraft to improve access during the recent wet conditions.

Plans were also being made to recover some remaining important parts of the aircraft from Austria which we had to leave behind when the rest of the aircraft was moved to Blackbushe in late April/early May (that will feature in the 2024 story).

Pictured below are the above-mentioned trestles that were soon to be placed under the aircraft….

In mid-October, the aircraft was lifted (with thanks to local Company and supporters Collard Ltd) and placed onto the trestles. Getting “Vagabond” off the ground was key to the next steps, starting with many weeks (if not many months!) of stripping the many layers of paint that had been applied over the years. Thanks are also due to Trustee Paul Nicholls whose business built and supplied the trestles.

Lift onto trestles in progress on 12th October 2023

With the fuselage now raised so that work all around it could proceed, it was also time to get scaffolding in place for working safely at height. Later in October, and with fantastic support from Vision Scaffolding Ltd, the scaffolding (and steps to the rear fuselage doors) were put in place. The pictures below show that work underway with the trestles now in position under the fuselage.

As 2023 drew to a close, work could now get underway on parts of the fuselage that we couldn’t safely reach before the erection of the scaffolding and trestles, summarised as follows….

- working on the holds and underneath and above the fuselage are now both possible, easier and safer.

- the scaffolding around the aircraft has walkways at window and belly level, enabling work such as that shown in the pictures below

- A grab handle (aka pole-dancing pole!) was re-added inside the fuselage to aid climbing over the spar

- A new structural tube was made to fit to the aft fuselage area to add stability

Read on to Part 2 of the story which covers the work undertaken and progress we made during 2024.