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Writer's pictureDarren Lewington

Last of the Queens

Royalist or Republican, those of you following us here in the United Kingdom cannot help but have been moved by the response of the nation following the sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Our overseas followers too, watching the State funeral, will have witnessed tradition, heritage and pageantry only the British can do. The Queen's unprecedented reign and life of service are utterly inspirational. During these past two weeks, we truly have witnessed history being made. Long live the King!


Queen Elizabeth was, of course, a regular traveller during her long reign and flew long haul with British Airways and other carriers on many occasions, in types ranging from the Argonaut to Concorde and including aboard the 'Queen of the Skies', the Boeing 747. BA's G-BYGF wore special artwork to commemorate her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.



Following a series of delays, brought about principally by other airframes 'jumping the queue' to yield serviceable spare parts, the last of her BA sister ships, G-BYGD, is being scrapped as I type. We collected our fuselage sections from her this week, enabling us to fulfil some longstanding orders and requests. Her hulk will be crushed within a matter of weeks.



We have now processed fuselage sections and other components from 21 of these magnificent aeroplanes since Covid brought about their early demise. Our final BA fuselage 'stock' now consists of G-BYGA, GD, GE, GF, GG, G-CIVD, VH and VV. Most are single sections, with just a handful of double and triple sections remaining. By the New Year, they'll almost certainly all be gone. Now really is the time to place your order...



We also have a small number of window pane clocks and fuselage tags listed on the website - GA and GD will be the last BA examples to join that list. KLM, Cathay Pacific and Virgin Atlantic airframes complement the 747 range. We continue to work with Icarus Originals producing mini models, bracelets and cufflinks from melted down fuselage ribs.


We produced this video clip showing some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into what we do. The best part of the process has been hearing our clients' recollections of their time, flights and experience on the 747. Reuniting people with a previous part of their lives is very special.



As our 'Queen' work draws to a gradual close, our focus turns to other projects. We have a number of ongoing works in progress, including our Red Arrows wing tables, a Virgin Atlantic flying lady and some other unique commissioned pieces.


We've also been working with our neighbours at the Jet Age Museum to upcycle some of their surplus components to raise funds for their excellent, all-volunteer charity museum. We are proud to be able to support a number of aviation charities and, during the summer, debuted some of our new pieces as 'set dressing' at the Aerobility Archair Airshow and the Blades Summer Ball. These events raised over £200K.



The polished and mounted RB211 blades, 747 landing light tables, Airbus wing fences and the SNEB pod coffee tables have proven popular and you'll find them exclusively on the Members' Area section of the website for a few days until they go on general sale. We have recently introduced extended, interest free payment options with Klarna and have also launched an online Gift Card option, perfect for the Avgeek in your life!



As ever, we remain committed to making these little pieces of aviation history live on. Our aim is that nothing should go to landfill and the reuse and recycling of these materials is ever-growing in the public consciousness as, collectively, we do our bit to minimise environmental damage.


Please don't buy new, buy upcycled!

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