OldNautiBits.com
Title
Nautical Antiques, Maritime Antiques, Aeronautical & Aviation Collectables
Description
Oldnautibits - who are we?
Oldnautibits, as a commercial venture, was born from a life long interest in, and the collecting of, nautical antiques and aviation collectables. We are a family business with Naval and Air Force connections. My father flew with the RAFVR; after training on Tiger Moths and Harvards in Canada, he joined 144 squadron piloting Handley Page Hampdens, sometimes referred to as "The Flying Suitcase". Fl. Lt. Ian Pringle was fortunate in many ways to have been shot down in 1941, he spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft III with the likes of Eric Williams and his Wooden Horse friends - he was one of the "lucky" 10,000 bomber command aircrew to survive in captivity. He told me the odds of surviving a tour of operations was less than 1 in 10 and as a result 55,000 British, Commonwealth and allied members of Bomber Command paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Ian Pringle's love of aviation, despite his war time experiences, rubbed off on me. From the late 1950's I made and flew model aircraft, was an air scout and avidly attended every air museum and air show available. This interest, combined with a love of classic sports cars, led me to purchase an original RAF Irvin Flying Jacket (my father having swapped his for a Rolleiflex Camera while in Stalag Luft III), the rest, as they say, is history! That one jacket led to three, and soon the collection grew to include other original flight clothing from both sides of the Atlantic. Current stocks are made up of a wide range of aeronautical items with the emphasis remaining on flight clothing of the 1939-45 period.
The other specialist interest of Oldnautibits is Marine and Maritime Collectables. Not one to be content with a single direction, ships and the sea have always been part of my life. Family holidays in Cornwall led to sailing; learning on one of the very first Mirror Dinghies, then GP 14's and, more recently, a very exciting Hobie 18 Catamaran. In addition to on-water activity the "silent world" beneath the waves also beckoned. In the early 1970's I was taught to scuba dive by members of the RAF Mountbatten Sub Aqua Club in Plymouth. This resulted in the whole new pursuit of wreck diving on both ships and aircraft. On long drift-dives over apparently virgin sand, while my buddies surfaced with nothing, Mr Oldnautibits honed his underwater non-ferrous metal detecting skills - and so began another collecting interest which has lasted over a quarter of a century. The family home soon became filled with marine flotsam and jetsam, some of which now resides on the office wall!
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