I photographed this in Norway about three years ago. Presumably it is an ex 46 Squadron Hurricane, but which one? And where did the wreck come from? I was a bit tied up with other things so forgot to ask any details.

Hi Tangmere 1940, looks like an early fabric covered wing from the construction.

Steve.

Used to see the odd mention of this man in respect of ME-109 restorations-including one for himself- anyone have any news of his current projects?

Hi Oxcart, Craig has a fuselage being built at airframe assemblies on the Isle of Wight, but apart from that im not sure

Steve

Any idea what the state of restoration/reconstruction of the Mk I is these days? I read the Haynes workshopmanual yesterday again and it’s a good read with more insight into why to buy a Spitfire (or any other high performance fighter) and not getting bankrupt.

Cheers

Cees

Hi Cees, the MK 1 is coming along nicely. Fuselage should be finished in a couple of months. !!

Steve.

WW2 Hurricane fighter will fly to Finland after restoration.

Hi all, i see from the photo that the Hurricane is the one at thruxton because the two seat spit next to it is SM520. Come on Bruce its about time you got that in the air!!!!

Steve

Hi guys,

At this moment I’m building a 1/5 scale MK9 Spitfire, as paint scheme I want to use the populair MH434.

MH434 has different rivets then most of the MK9 Spitfires, I was wondering is there someone who can help me with detailed pictures from MH434, incl. rivets?

Thanks
Tom

Hi Tom, you could try looking at a book titled “spitfire LF MK IX in detail”. Its basicly a modelers book but is full of info. I got my copy from motor books.co.uk , but you could try amazon. Good luck,

Steve

Dear Gentlemen,
Some years ago, I had in hands a magazine in English language related with warbirds restoration and history (Flypast, Aeroplane Monthly…?).
An article was speaking of the very rare two-seat Hispano HA-1112M.4L Buchon used during the Battle of Britain film and gives several good detail color pictures.
This aircraft was photographed after a very long time in storage. Many thought it was lost.
I remember to see the magazine in library after august of 1999 and before march of 2000, but I can’t recall the name of it.
Can any expert of the forum tell me the reference of that magazine ?
Thanks in advance to all
Robert

A 2 seat bouchon was mentioned in a thread on the 25 jan 08 by Mark 12.

Steve

That’ll be NAHSI…. its a BAPC run initiative, funded primarily by the Heritage Lottery fund (Please correct me if I’m wrong – I really aught to check the website), based at DX. As far as I am aware, it teaches basic metal skills – solid rivetting, filing, etc.

The course I was thinking of would run between NAHSI and the BTEC in aerospace engineering. We are in immediate danger of losing the old skills, and I feel that someone should make an effort to retain the knowledge that is slipping from our grasp…

Look at it this way – how many YOUNG volunteers would automatically know where to look for the correct type of rivet, or know which grade of file to use, let alone know how to fabricate aluminium panels with any degree of accuracy – how many of us under the age of 40 have ever used an English Wheel to make compound curved cowls?…. While a year long course in the basics would not make instantly employable engineers, it COULD make the aircraft maintenance industry as a whole a bit more appealing.

Mainenance managers, museum managers, and anyone involved in the hiring of staff (paid or not) – which would you prefer to take on?:
a) The experienced engineer with only modern aircraft experience
b) The experienced engineer who knows how to fit Dzus fastner bushes manually and at least knows about the niceties of preserving the original material?

Can we look to the future engineers (who are about to sit their GCSE’s) and who will enrole on a BTEC and finally EASA licence exam course, and foster their interest in old aeroplanes? If not, in the future (20+ years) how many people are going to be able to dope and fabric an airframe to an acceptable (if not airworthy) standard? We are going to have to rely on speciallist (expensive) companies more and more…… have a think about what will happen in years to come…

This has been an idea of mine for many years – when I was 17, I wrote to the Fighter Collection and asked how I would become one of their paid engineers. They replied very politely and helpfully by saying that I would need to be a volunteer at my local museum to gain experience, and then apply at a later date. I duly did as I was advised, then joined the RAF as an engineer, then became a qualified civvie engineer, and now teach the very subject I wanted to learn about 13 years ago, and then re-joined my local museum….. I have worked on modern (ish) aircraft since I was 17, but never lost the need to be around ‘real’ aeroplanes. If I was inspired from an early age, then why not others? People with a passion for old metal will return to the fold when they have served their time on the modern stuff….

We do think about what will happen in year to come, most of the people i work with are the wrong side of 50, some closer to 70 or older, i agree some thing needs to be done but you need the people to train, & they arnt beating the door down !!!

Steve

what i think LL was getting at, is not a course that will in two weeks enable anyone to rebuild a spitfire on their own, in their back garden, more of a course that will enable people to get their feet on the bottom rung of restoration work and give them basic experience in the area, or at least that was the impression i was under:)
Nashi0

You are probably right, but you know what they say,”a little knowledge is dangerous”. I’m all for people wanting to learn because this industry will die if younger people dont learn the skills we have. Seems that the younger generation are not intrested in getting their hands dirty, there are exceptions i know, but the money isnt there like it might be in IT.

Steve.