Ebay Has Made Some Strange Offerings

NX611 - is that Just Jane? Yes, I think £250 is pretty unbelievable, in fact I thought the whole thing was. The only reason I think it was a Lanc is that my boyfriend's father flew them, and it stuck in my mind. In fact, he was the pilot scheduled to fly the Polish Prime Minister in exile out of Gibralta, but he was pulled at the last moment and someone else flew it and it crashed into the sea, killing all aboard. He always thought it odd.
 
Yes, that's the one. I went to East Kirby many years ago and saw it there. That was before it did some taxying up and down the runway. Thinking about it I am not entirely surprised to see that a Lanc was on offer for that price in the 1960s. The RAF had thousands of them after the war. Anyone with a decent amount of pocket money could buy one. Someone salvaged a complete Lancaster from lake Geneva in the 60s. He also raised three B17s but these weren't in as good condition as the Lancaster was. He tried to sell them to collecters but no one came forward so they were scrapped. All that survived of this Lancaster is the rear turret.
 
Hmm . . . looks like that aircraft carrier got posted again on E-Bay. This time at least the seller's got a name--SS Marine, Belfast, Maine, K. Skinner and J. Shaw. Let's see what happens . . .

item=2454839870
 
Well, from what they said about their last attempt, they've now warned off / dealt with all those giggling teenagers pretending to be Osama bin Laden etc. Bit mystified why US citizens only. I see the owner is an 'honourable man from the UK" ....
 
Unfortunately, the article doesn't go so far as to identify this man as the current owner of the ship. Makes me wonder who the real owners are. I have the impression it's an Amercan from the eBay listing.
 
I post this before I've read your link, Bob. It's not Mohammed Al Fayed, is it? That well-known UK honourable gent? Re US bids only, surely the largely land-locked US billionaires can't be interested in an ancient UK aircraft carrier? Where do you get the idea the owner is an American, Michael, I can't find that on EBay? My son looked suspiciously sheepish when I told him it had been withdrawn from auction two weeks ago - I'm not harbouring one of the giggling teenagers I hope ...
 
Your first link - Nicholas Van H! I wasn't so very far off with my first guess, some might say, though the scale of the operations is a bit different. I can't get your second link to work.
 
Just tried it again and the link seems to be working. It's a BBC news feature with today's date, and the present owner of the vessel is quoted as 'businessman Philip Best'.
 
Peter D-G,
re the B17's raised from Lake Geneva
Have you read Robert Radcliffe's novel "Under an English Heaven"? It's about US crews stationed in England in WW2 and the denouement is a B17 raised from a Swiss Lake. I wonder if your recollection is what inspired him?
 
Monica, I got the impression from seeing "S&S MARINE~BELFAST, MAINE~K. Skinner ~ J. Shaw" at the bottom of the list. They could however just as easily be the agents and not the owners however, and that BBC article seems to bear that out. FWIW, the ebay listing is showing that one bid has been put in on the ship.
 
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