Bulldog spirit lives on at museum

ONE of the last surviving examples of Scotland's aviation manufacturing industry has been gifted to the nation by one of the country's most prominent noblemen.

Angus Douglas-Hamilton, the 15th Duke of Hamilton, who died last year, was a long-serving test pilot for "Bulldog" military training aircraft, some 320 of which were built near Prestwick Airport, in Ayrshire.

Now the late Duke's widow, Kay, has donated a prototype plane - which was bought by the Duke and flown regularly at the Museum of Flight airshow in his native East Lothian - to take pride of place at the new-look National Museum of Scotland, and will go on display when it reopens on Friday following a 46 million overhaul.

Staff dismantled the plane after it made its final flight earlier this year and it has now been carefully re-assembled and, hung above the Edinburgh attraction's restored south atrium.

The historic plane will join a string of other transport-related artefacts including a 1930s gyrocopter, a four-seater racing bicycle and the Potts Formula 3 Racing Car, built in Bellshill in 1950.The Duke's father Douglas, himself a pioneering aviator, and one of two men to make the first flight over Mount Everest, was one of the co-founders of the firm Scottish Aviation Limited, which went on to build over 300 Bulldogs.

He was the eldest of four brothers who made British military history when they all served at the rank of squadron leader or above at the outbreak of the Second World War.

Although originally a flying school operator when formed in 1935, the company later took on repair and maintenance work during the war, and designed its first aircraft, The Pioneer, in 1946.

The firm famously took over production of the Bulldog in 1971 after just one prototype was made by original manufacturer, Beagle, before it went into administration. The Hamilton dukedom is the oldest in Scotland, dating back to the mid-17th century.

Alastair Dodds, principal curator of transport at the museum, said: "The Bulldog was a hugely successful training aircraft, not just for the RAF, but elsewhere as it was sold to 10 countries around the world.

"The Duke took the chance to buy this prototype many years ago as he had been one of the test pilots for Scottish Aviation and he regularly flew it over East Lothian as part of the air show, even in his later years. It was obviously of great sentimental value."

Angus Douglas-Hamilton died in June of last year, aged 71, nine years after being diagnosed with dementia.

He had been the hereditary bearer of the Crown of Scotland to the Parliament of Scotland, so had the honour of carrying the Crown in front of the Queen at the opening ceremony of the Scottish Parliament.