Terrence Coakley Takes Aviation Restorers to Court in £300,000 Aircraft Dispute

A dispute over a planned Second World War aircraft restoration has landed aviation historian and collector Terrence Coakley in court. Coakley is suing specialist restorers Spitfire AA810 Restoration, claiming he helped finance the purchase of a rare collection of aircraft and historical items for a project he had agreed to curate. According to the report, Coakley says he provided roughly £300,000 towards a plan to rebuild a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 and display it in the colours of Luftwaffe pilot Gunther Rall. The proposed restoration was to use parts from a Spanish Buchon fighter, a design based on the Messerschmitt, along with spare components and wreckage. At Central London County Court, Coakley’s barrister, Tom Beasley, said Coakley and the restoration company’s boss, Tony Hoskins, travelled to Germany in February to acquire the collection. Beasley said Coakley contributed about £190,000 as a loan, with the remaining sum supplied as a donation by the Friends of British Aviation Heritage, a charity of which Coakley is president. Coakley is now seeking an urgent court order requiring the restorers to hand over the historical material. The report says he is concerned that some of the items may have been put up for sale. His claim is that the money was intended to support the agreed restoration and display, rather than the collection being sold off. The aircraft was intended to be painted in the “Black 13” livery associated with Rall. The report describes Rall as a German fighter pilot who died in 2009 and says he recorded 275 aerial victories during the Second World War. The court dispute concerns the funds and the fate of the aircraft parts; the claims remain part of the legal proceedings.