Buy a helicopter in Montrose for £20,000 – but it has no engine

By Lindsey Hamilton

October 4 2022, 6:18pm

Mark Stephen with the engine-less helicopter. Image: Gareth Jennings.

If you’ve ever dreamt of owning your own helicopter now could be your chance.

For a mere £20,000 you could be the proud owner of a Westland 30 chopper, worth around £500,000 new.

The only catch is the helicopter, currently grounded in Montrose, has no engine.

Montrose helicopter could be used as glamping pod

Owner Mark Stephen, of Montrose-based company Equipco, which buys and sells used industrial equipment, doesn’t think the lack of engine is a problem for the right buyer.

Mark said: “We thought someone might even be keen to buy the chopper for use as a glamping pod.

Mark thinks the helicopter could be converted into a glamping pod. Image: Gareth Jennings.

“It has loads of potential.

“I’ve seen this done and it works pretty well, or perhaps it could be used for training purposes.”

Helicopter was left on former training centre

The Westland 30 is a medium-sized civil helicopter designed and produced by the British aerospace company Westland Helicopters.

It was derived from the Westland Lynx series of military helicopters.

Mark bought the helicopter along with other equipment when he purchased the former Montrose Fire Ground – a deal he completed just last week.

The helicopter’s interior needs some work. Image: Gareth Jennings.

The land on the Forties Road Industrial Estate was the first training centre in Scotland for offshore fire safety when it opened in 1976.

The training centre has now re-located, leaving the site empty.

It is close to the site of a £500m innovation hub in the works by Crown Estates Scotland.

Mark said: “I decided to buy the site to create opportunities for business in Montrose.

“I am Montrose born and bred and wanted to invest back into the town.

“I am hoping to attract commercial businesses to Montrose from all over to create business development.

“The idea behind buying this site is to clean it up and lease parts of it out for commercial purposes.”

Lots of interest in helicopter

Mark said when he bought the land he had first dibs on a lot of the equipment left there, including the helicopter.

He said: “As I am in the business of buying and selling former industrial equipment I thought selling the helicopter would be a quirky way of highlighting what we are doing here.

“Already it has worked, I’ve had loads of queries and interest in the helicopter.”

The helicopter is available for sale via Facebook.