Visit to the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar

hi Mark 12,
sorry for not replying earlier the mrs thought I needed some shopping therapy , yes that’s how I remember it I was wondering about the other data but my main query was the c/n…thank you for passing this on.
regards,
jack…

this post may contain grammatical errors…

hi Mark 12,
thank you as I stated in my posts the “4” was suspect, so could very well be 1 is the cockpit plate the main one? I would have thought so…but the CAA site have it as 6S 381758 the same as Graham Trant.

anyway thanks again for taking the trouble to reply, regards,
jack…

this post may contain grammatical errors…

Jack,

I am indebted to Trevor Stone for sending me an image of the plate.

What we have here is the over size wing bolt data for the fuselage that would normally be riveted to the web between the carry through spars.

It has been fitted by the Belgians, SG-25 etc.

Yes I can see why you thought it was a ‘4’.

It is in fact a continental ‘1’ with the tag on the top.

You can see examples of the continental open top ‘4’ also on the plate in several locations.

Mark

Cub 31145 G-BBLH what a lovely little L4 was a nice day for flying 🙂

This Wiki link is reasonably up to date for us mere mortals. 🙂

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_Supermarine_Spitfires

Andy

Blimey, that depends on how much of the Spitfire you actually mean at times 🙂

Reminds me of the quote used for the Ferrari 250 GTO: “39 built, of which 43 still survive” 😉

There’s well over 200+ that exist in some form or other.

How many spitfire survivors are there?

Blimey, that depends on how much of the Spitfire you actually mean at times 🙂

How many spitfire survivors are there?

hi Mark 12,
thank you as I stated in my posts the “4” was suspect, so could very well be 1 is the cockpit plate the main one? I would have thought so…but the CAA site have it as 6S 381758 the same as Graham Trant.

anyway thanks again for taking the trouble to reply, regards,
jack…

this post may contain grammatical errors…

Jack,

If you go back to the late 1960’s, before RM927 was sold to the USA, co-author Graham Trant published the cockpit construction number as 6S-381758. To be fair to the party that made the actual inspection, with the state and location of the fuselage this was not an easy task. With subsequent knowledge of adjacent survivors I considered this construction number suspect.

I fully inspected the fuselage in December 1998, back in the UK, in comfortable surroundings and the right equipment. The cockpit plate read 6S-581750 and the firewall plate read 6S-512313.

The plate attached to the outside of the fuselage will be post production and I confess I have not studied it but I note its close similarity to my cockpit plate reading. That it has the prefix SG25 means that it acquired the plate on or after transfer to the Belgian Air Force where its aircraft serial number was SG-25.

Mark

hi,
ok that’s the serial for that one except for the 6S number being different, 6s 584(?)750, and G-INFO giving 6S 381758. Also can anyone help with ” CPTCBAF 2999S ” number on BS410?

regards,
jack…

this post may contain grammatical errors…

The fuselage is RM927.

There were no two-seater Griffon Spitfires.

hi woodbridge 10,
yes that looks like it with the plate just behind the support leg…

regards,
jack….

this post may contain grammatical errors…

Was this the fuselage ?

Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar

A quick search found this history for BAF SG-25 on a Belgian forum:

That suggests that this was a Mk.XIV and as such perhaps not the best candidate for a two-seat conversion. Also the c/n appears to be different from the one you saw. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this of course.

hi Archer,
I did see this frame on a visit to Airframe Assemblies last year and also BS410…

Thanks for your input, regards,
jack…

this post may contain grammatical errors…

A quick search found this history for BAF SG-25 on a Belgian forum:

Spitfire FR.14e RM927 c/n 6S.381758
Supermarine Aviation (Vickers) Ltd. – Contract B980385/39 (tenth order for 406 Spitfire Mk.VIII dated 231043, but built as Spitfire Mk.XIV in november 44 with a Griffon 65 engine)
211144 RAF N° 30 MU Sealand
021244 RAF N° 39 MU Colerne
060145 RAF N° 83 Group Support Unit of 2nd TAF, Westhampnett, Suxxes
250145 RAF N° 403 (RCAF) Sqn
090345 Cat.B damage during operations
150345 RAF N° 409 R&SU (repairs, but damage was beyond their capabilities)
040545 Air Service Training Ltd, Hamble for repairs
180945 repairs completed
011145 RAF N° 29 MU, High Ercall for storage
141147 selected for BAF and flown to ARS/Wevelgem still wearing RAF c/s OI-C of n° 2 Squadron.
141147 Taken on Charge
1147 Delivered to 161W-351Sqn
010248 To 2W-1Sqn, Florennes (3R-D)
0248 To Ecole de Chasse, Koksijde (IQ-)
280749 Major inspection
210450 To 2W-3Sqn (YL-)
170550 Minor inspection
110550 Cat.1 at Florennes (16h45): Taxi collision with parked SG-60. Sgt. Victor Depauw unhurt.
160650 To 2W-1Sqn (3R-A)
200650 Cat.3 at Koksijde (3R-A) (15h45): Blown tire on landing. Aircraft got off runway. Left wing
and u/c leg to be replaced. Maj. Léon Vandercruyssen (CO 3Sqn/2 Wing) unhurt.
(411:10 hrs)
240851 Cat.2 at …
290851 Transferred from 2 Wing to ARS/Wevelgem. (529:50 hrs)
170652 Transferred from ARS/Wevelgem to Fairey (530:15 hrs)
110554 Transferred from ARS/Wevelgem to JVS/ECh (IQ-W) (532:45 hrs)
210954 Struck of Charge (629:05 hrs.) with engine Griffon 65 n° 4750.
181054 written-off
57 To scrapdealer Dewachter at Oostende, it was placed on the roof of his premises (together
with SG108) with its wings sawn off.
030367 shipped to J.Denis Kay/Manchester Tankers Ltd, Charnock Richard, Lancashire,
England (UK) (transported by road via Zeebrugge-Dover) where it arrived the next day.
(stored)
220369 sold to A.W.Francis, Southend Airport (transported by road and placed in open storage)
9-78 John Lowe&Larry Matt, Riverside, Illinois, USA, stored in Victory Air Museum,
Mundelein, Illinois.
Early80s The museum closed and John Lowe took ownership of another Spitfire and full
ownership of SG25 passed on to Larry Matt.
82-85 Larry Matt, Chicago, Illinois, started with the restauration
(wings of Mk.XVIII HS649 Indian Air Force were used)
87 sold to Don L.Knapp/DK Precision, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
91 To Lone Star Museum, Galvestone, Texas
000300 stored High Wycombe (or Walter’s Ash, north-west of Naphill (Buckinghamshire)
000102 noted stored High Wycombe
000304 l/n stored High Wycombe
000405 departed High Wycombe for Airframe Assemblies, Sandown, Isle of Wight, stored pending restoration to flying condition
000306 l/n stored Sandown
300309 registered G-JNMA, Paul Marcus Andrews, 17 Queen Street, Londonw W1J5PH

That suggests that this was a Mk.XIV and as such perhaps not the best candidate for a two-seat conversion. Also the c/n appears to be different from the one you saw. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this of course.