The Collections remaining Bearcat, N700HL, has spent its winter in Switzerland, in a snow plough shed to be precise having displaced the snow plough first, whilst its engine problems are being rectified.

A new engine for the aircraft is expected to be with us in late February. The engine mounts and some ancillary gear will be fitted to it before the whole assembly, plus the propellor assembly, will be thumped on to the back of a a truck and driven to Switzerland to be reunited with the remainder of the machine.

Once engine tests have been completed on the ground, the aircraft will be extensively air tested before being flown across the North Sea back to Duxford. It will be good to get the machine back under the wing of the engineers here so that system checks and the preparations necessary for the coming season can be completed.