Mystery explained

Gordon Methven has emailed some information about a photo that recently appeared in our Traces Through Time feature on Scone.

“I refer to the mystery surrounding a photograph taken in 1966 at Scone Aerodrome of a several damaged Hawker Siddeley Trident plane.

“To help find why I emailed a friend Robin Landells who, when younger, had lived in St Andrews.

“Robin has always been an enthusiastic plane spotter. Indeed his visit to St Andrews last year was his second attempt to locate the nose cone of a Valiant plane he believed was somewhere in Dura Den near Pitscottie. He successfully found it with the assistance of twin brother Derek.

“This is Robin’s story of the reason why the wrecked Hawker Siddeley Trident was at Scone Aerodrome.

“By the early 1980s the Air Services Training engineering school (AST) at Perth had seen student numbers peak at 435 and an instructional staff of over 40.

“The increased student numbers obviously required additional resources and on November 29 1982, AST took ownership of a Trident aircraft (G-ARPX) , retired from service by British Airways, which flew into Perth. This aircraft in addition to a Viscount, would be used for many years to provide realistic training for students in all aspects or aircraft engineering, including aircraft systems and engine ground running.

“However, being parked outside, rather than being kept in a hangar, accelerated degradation of the structure and in 1997 after 15 years of service in the training of engineers and pilots, when the aircraft had reached the end of its useful life, the question of how to dispose of it came about.

“Eventually it was decided that the quickest method of disposal was to use a local explosive demolition expert to ‘separate’ the structure into manageable pieces, so that scrap merchants could then remove them from the airfield with relative ease.

“I do hope readers find Robin’s research of interest.”