The last true bastion of propliners in the UK, or even in Europe for that matter, can be found at Coventry. Radial-engined skytrucks have long lingered here in commercial operations, much longer than expected. Now it does seem that a new future for these classic aircraft have been safeguarded at Air Atlantique's Airbase museum at Baginton Airport, Coventry.
Some of the aircraft are airworthy and on certain days a flightseeing trip can be booked; other aircraft are ground-bound, but have their engines in working order or are in stages of restoration.

DC-6A G-SIXC has been converted to a restaurant and bar, adding a new dimension to a visit to this splendid museum.
The former freighter has again been outfitted with windows and the Six still has all four R-2800 engines in place. Reservations can be made on 024 7688 2604.

Cold War jet fighters are also part of the Airbase collection, but these are not represented on below pictorial report; however, a link is provided at bottom page for the Airbase website and photos of most of the jet aircraft can be found on my Flickr.com website (also link on bottom page).
For opening times of the Airbase museum check their website.

Hopefully below report will provide a modest contribution in honoring this mecca of propliners and aid in convincing enthusiasts to plan a visit and support aviation history here. Enjoy!

Roger Syratt wrote the following update sep.2012:
"The doors of this museum will be closed as of 01Oct12, prior to the move to Newquay (EGDG), the former RAF St. Mawgan, and I managed to glean some news about the resident propliners.

Possibly the most surprising news is that DC-6A G-APSA will be removed from the Airbase/Classic Flight compound on 2nd October and towed to another part of the airfield. It was said that the aircraft will be in the care of Julian Firth and John Instone who are planning a fund-raising campaign to enable it to be overhauled and restored "to a level like the Red Bull DC-6."

DC-6B G-SIXC, 'The DC-6 Diner', will remain at Coventry but there was a rumour that it has been purchased by the new owner of the airport and may be moved to an alternative site. Found it open and active on their website april 2017.

Dakotas G-AMPY/KK116 and G-ANAF will remain in Air Atlantique ownership, but will be leased to Reconnaissance Ventures Ltd. (RVL) who will operate them on an oil dispersant contract out of either Coventry or East Midlands.
The former, which has been fitted with the black rudder from G-ANAF, will be the first to be operational as it is a role that it has performed previously, but work has also commenced on the latter which has already had the belly radome, a relic of its past employment as an electronics test bed for Racal, removed, along with the engines which have gone for overhaul.

Dakota G-AMRA is currently on overhaul and will be going to Newquay with the rest of the Classic Flight aircraft, apparently there is the possibility that it will be used for passenger carrying again but only "A to A" traffic, i.e. it would have to always return to the place of departure and not land away."

UPDATE:
This was been posted on the Classic Air Force Facebook page 17Jul2013.
"It is with much sadness that we report the sale of Douglas DC-3 G-AMRA. She will be leaving us late in July (maybe early August) for a new home in Germany where she will be used for pleasure flying over Berlin.
G-AMRA joined the Air Atlantique Group on October 21, 1981 G-AMRA and remained with the organisation for the next three decades. It will be sad day when she flies away for the final time…
Her imminent departure makes us all the more steadfast in our efforts to raise money to keep the rest of the fleet secure in British skies. The Classic Aircraft Trust charity needs more support, to raise more income, to keep these aeroplanes safe. We remain indebted to the support given by members of the Classic Air Force and if you are not yet a member we hope you will take this opportunity to join via www.classicairforce.com/membership
Sponsorship is being actively sought, but as you'll no doubt appreciate there is no glut of money washing around at the moment to support these aircraft.
As such we need to take any opportunity we can to ensure the longevity of the fleet as a whole, and sometimes that involves making difficult decisions. And this is what we had to do recently when we received an offer to buy one of the stalwarts of the Air Atlantique / Classic Flight / Classic Air Force fleet."
./end quote
(G-AMRA was indeed sold to Air Service Berlin to replace their crashed D-CXXX 'Rosinen Bomber', but a full restoration failed and G-AMRA was offered for sale in 2019 - see more further down).

March 2014:
When CAF moved its exhibition to Newquay - Cornwall Airport this time last year Coventry Airport took over the Diner.  Time moves on and with CAF now opening its engineering facility at Coventry for public viewing every weekend this summer the Diner has reverted to its original operator.  Visitors to the Diner can also view two great patrol aircraft of the last century Shackleton and Nimrod of the Shackleton Preservation Trust.
CAF President Mike Collett said: "We are also basing a Dragon Rapide at Coventry for the summer for pleasure flights and it just seemed logical put the ‘plane, aircraft maintenance and diner under a single management team. We are finding that visitors want to take a flight over the Warwickshire countryside, view the aircraft we are restoring in the hangar, and then of course refresh themselves".

May 2016:
Both the activities at Newquay as well as the re-opening of the Airbase at Coventry have been terminated.
More info at the bottom of this page. Enjoy the images first, as a tribute to wonderful years!

May 2019:
G-APSA is expected to move to St.Athan, in Wales, for a new home at the South Wales Air Museum (SWAM), which opened on 20Apr2019..

The Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer was a British STOL transport aircraft built by Scottish Aviation Limited at Prestwick Airport, Scotland, during the 1950s. It was designed with both civil and military operators in mind. It was conceived as a twin-engined version of the Pioneer light transport.
Powered by two Alvis Leonides 531 radial engines, the Twin Pioneer was a high-wing cabin monoplane with a triple fin and rudder assembly and fixed tailwheel undercarriage. The prototype Twin Pioneer, registered G-ANTP, first flew at Prestwick Airport on 25 June 1955.
In 1958, the 33rd aircraft was used as a prototype for the Series 2 with Pratt & Whitney Wasp R-1340 radial engines which had been ordered by Philippine Air Lines. A Series 3 aircraft was also developed to use the improved Alvis Leonides 531 radial engine.
One Twin Pioneer served as a STOL training aircraft with the Empire Test Pilot School (ETPS) at RAE Farnborough for many years. In 2009, Air Atlantique of Coventry currently operates it on public flights in civil markings, retaining its ETPS colour scheme.
Wikipedia, more...

UPDATE 11Aug2018:
This Twin Pioneer G-APRS is about to return to duty almost 60 years after it was built - but this time it is to become an unusual holiday home...
The 1960s aircraft had been used by a pilot training centre, but Stirling farmer Martyn Steedman (airplaneglamping.com near Thornhill, Stirling FK8 3QA in Scotland) bought it and plans to convert it into 'glamping' accommodation to sit alongside a former Royal Navy Sea King that he transformed two years ago.
The Pioneer was disassembled and carefully transported to its new home by Wullie Boyle (WM Boyle & Sons).
twin-pioneer-plane-to-be-converted-into-holiday-home

Mike Collett on the move by the museum to Newquay (Cornwall), as represented by Chris Wagstaff on Classic-Propliner (Yahoo) forum (july 2013).

Chris: "I contacted Mike Collett regarding the sale of G-AMRA and this is what he told me.  Looks much more promising for the future of at least one of the remaining Daks and also the rest of the civil aircraft in the fleet."

Mike: "Yes, G-AMRA is going to Air Service Berlin to replace G-AMPZ. They will keep RA flying and our motto is "keep them flying!" The reason we let ASB have her was because we have two other DC3, G-AMPY and G=ANAF which will be coming off lease within a year, and probably G-ANAF within 6 months, and with the best will in the world we cannot really keep THREE DC-3s going.

The CAA still hadn't made their minds up about how we could continue to operate the type on our AOC - due to EASA complications - and it was clear that we would not be able to do any pleasure flying this summer in G-AMRA, so why not let G-AMRA go to a good home and let G-ANAF - the very first Dakota we bought - be the prime passenger aircraft instead.

That is our plan, and the article written in the Classic Air Force newsletter misrepresented the position.

There is no doubt that the move to NQY will provide a better future for all the aircraft in the fleet, simply because there are a lot of visitors to Cornwall every summer and their admission fees will allow a lot of money to
be spent on the Classic Air Force aircraft. The Twin Pioneer, Dove and one Rapide (RP) still need a LOT of work to get them flying again, and they will be flying by next year. We are all working flat out to do our bit for
classic aviation, and naturally your response, and presumably others, because you mention that others are upset, is a great disappointment to all of us. We actually went to Australia to buy two more Twin Pioneers to enable
our example to continue flying."

UPDATE ON G-AMRA - MARCH 2019
G-AMRA landed 30Jul2013 in Berlin and was welcomed by the new owner, Friends of the Candy Bomber Association, a.k.a. Air Service Berlin. Or: Förderverein Rosinenbomber e.V.
But in march 2019 I was notified, with some urgency, that G-AMRA (D-CXXX) was to be sold or scrapped!
"The aircraft is at Schönefeld airport in Berlin and has to be removed within 2-3 weeks!
Whilst the asking price was 150,000€ he now thinks he will accept 50-60,000€ for it or it will go for scrap. It flew into Berlin with the idea of passenger flights but after the Tante Ju ('D-AQUI') crash in Switzerland the German authorities are requiring major modifications.
It is still on the UK register and he thinks a transit flight would be possible." EMAIL

MY INDEX PAGE TO PRESERVED AIRCRAFT

MORE PHOTOS OF MINE TAKEN AT THIS MUSEUM ON -FLICKR.COM- WEBSITE

On 30th September 2012 AIRBASE @Coventry was closed.

In 2013 it made a fresh start as 'Classic Air Force' museum at former RAF base St Mawgan, near Newquay in Cornwall.
SEE MY 2013 REPORT. Pity it did not last... Hence final curtains came in 2015.

Airbase at Coventry closed its doors on the last weekend of October 2015. An era of propliners flying at Coventry came to an end.

The year 2015 brought the end to the Classic Airforce. The rent of the hangar at Newquay in Cornwall put a stop to that enterprise and the 2015 re-opening of the Airbase at Coventry lasted only a few months. It was not to be.

Press Release, august 2015:
Historic Aircraft Collection to be Sold
International Buyers Looking to Acquire Classic British Machines

Europe's largest collection of post-war classic aircraft is to be sold. The Classic Air Force, which operates over thirty planes, including the world's oldest flyable jet, is actively inviting offers from interested organisations and individuals. The move follows the announcement by CAF's founder, Mike Collett, that he intends to retire.

Now 72, Collett co-founded the Air Atlantique group in 1977, a freight and pollution control company that at one time owned the world's largest fleet of WW2 Dakota freighters.

The Classic Air Force stable is unusual in that it focuses mainly on the Cold War years, an era ignored by most other historic collections. Most of its aircraft are either flyable or in the final stages of restoration to flight. They are a frequent and popular sight at air shows, and are regularly to be seen in the skies above the Flight's headquarters at Coventry Airport. Highlights include two Gloster Meteors – the T7, which is now the world's oldest flyable jet, and the NF-11 night-fighter, which is the world's only example still flying. The collection also boasts the actual Canberra that achieved a world altitude record of 70,310 feet (21,469 metres) in 1957."

"The CAF operation at Newquay ceased earlier this year and the 'flyables' went back to Coventry. The majority (if not all) of the static aircraft were then taken over by some of the Cornish CAF volunteers who have set up their own organisation based at Newquay Airport called Cornish Heritage Aviation Centre.
See: www.cornwallaviationhc.co.uk"

Things looked hopeful when the Classic Air Force reopened its Air Base facility at Coventry again on 02May2015, but the adverse weather conditions that day held a dark promise…

But..
"...our Shackleton is not part of the fleet, we are just housed there with our long time friends at CAF.
Our activities to return her to flight will continue."
Avro Shackleton WR963
www.facebook.com/avro.shackleton

Aircraft were auctioned by Bonhams at Goodwood on 12th September 2015.
The first five aircraft on offer at the auction were the Chipmunk, Proctor, Rapide (Delta Lima - the RAF schemed a/c), Vampire T.55 and the Anson.
Not all aircraft reached their reserve price and thus a sale was not made. But the Dragon Rapide found bidding stopped at UKL 110.000,- sold to Cirrus Aviation of Clacton (reg'd 26Nov2015).
The other aircraft were offered for sale through the Classic Air Force website and some have found a new owner by the time I write this update (May 2016).
However DC-3's G-AMPY and G-ANAF remain at Coventry.