An M14 Magister plane used by the RAF to train its second world war pilots has been consigned to Bonhams' November 30 Bond Street Sale in London.
 The M14 Magister is capable of high performance flying, making it an ideal introduction to the Spitfire |
The plane was used to prepare trainee pilots for flight in the famous Spitfires and Hurricanes that helped Britain keep the German forces at bay.
It is now expected to sell for between £60,000 ($94,130) and £90,000 ($141,194).
The M14 Magister is a low-wing monoplane, making it ideal for high performance flying before pilots moved on to the more advanced Spitfires and Hurricanes.
Introduced in 1937, the M14 has an open cockpit with a plywood covered spruce airframe, and is powered by a de Havilland Gypsy Major I four-cylinder inline engine. That makes it capable of 130 BHP and top speeds of up to 142mph at 1,000 feet.
Many were used in the war effort and later reconditioned for civilian use. This example was part of the celebrated Strathallan Aircraft Collection, and was the only aircraft kept following the sale of the collection in 1981.
Owned by Sir Willie Roberts (d. 2012), the collection was on display in a public museum in Scotland. During its heyday in the 1970s, its contents rivalled that of the UK's largest aviation museum, IWM Duxford.
Paul Fraser Collectibles has a great range of militaria for sale.
