I didn’t realise that the Mk XVIII had solid spars, I understood that they were strengthened but didn’t know that they were solid. Thanks for that.

Yes I believe that you are right NewQldSpitty, I seem to remember seeing pictures of them with an asymmetric pod on port wing for carrying a dinghy.

Perhaps if Allison Johnson is still around she may have followed it up some more since July 2006. So Allison if you read this it would be good to know how you progressed.                       Also Mothminor that’s a fair point regarding the survey, if the surveyors were not into aircraft then no mention of it is completely understandable.

I was looking at a magazine that I got while still at school “Scale Models”, issue 1, 1969, in which Peter had written a piece on preserved Spitfires and a list of the airworthy ones used in the Battle of Britain film. Interesting to note he made mention that if you wanted a Spitfire (there were two for sale at that time), fuel,maintenance and insurance could be as much as £50:00/hour. How things have changed

If memory serves me correctly, “Classic Wings” put some Frank Hurley photos on their Facebook page a few years ago. He certainly was an excellent photographer.