N6086 LS-F

Short Stirling N6086 was ‘MacRobert’s Reply’, paid for by a £25,000 gift from Lady MacRobert of Douneside in memory of her three sons, all of whom died flying. Bearing the family arms on its nose, it was handed over to No. 15 Squadron at RAF Wyton in October 1941 and flew a dozen operations before being wrecked in a take-off collision at RAF Peterhead in February 1942. The name was passed to a second Stirling, and the tradition of a ‘MacRobert’s Reply’ aircraft has been revived by the RAF in the decades since.