Given the fact that TB382 was the personal mount of Raymond Baxter perhaps the BBMF could raise a big chunk of money beyond the spare parts value by collecting up the frames and skins of TB382 and auctioning them with a provenance that will enable the buyer to restore it to fly at TB382?

Hi all, has anyone noticed the spooky looking image on the cockpit combing skin just in front of the cockpit door on TB382!!!! looks like image of spit or 109. !!!! obviously a reflection of something.

I am sure there are plenty of a/c that initially were used for spares and will eventually in turn become airworthy. Examples being TFCs Gladiator, or the ARCO Blenheim as well as many Spits used during the filming of BoB…

Do any of the MK16s have a war time combat record?

Hi SADSACK, i’m just looking through book entitled Spitfire-flying legend & there is a section on MK XV1’s. It refers to RW382 & TB 863 both flown by Raymond Baxter between july 1944 & may 1945 in combat. Seems that they were used for ground attack.
I’m wrong about RW382, it didnt see action. It came out of castle bromwich to late to see combat & was put in storage between 1945 &1947.

NDN firecracker

At least one of the Firecrackers lurked in an Atlantique hangar when I worked there.

D B-N was a consultant engineer then and used to drift in and out from time to time.

Moggy

Word has it that there is one or more firecrackers in a hanger at Thruxton airfield.

BAe prototype jet trainer

R&M, so was the flying turbo Firecrackers built by Norman or by Hunting? I know it was designed by Desmond Norman.

Hi all,
The First 3 NDN firecracker airframes were built on the Isle of Wight in about 1983. I was working at British hovercraft corporation then & a few of us were seconded to NDN to build them. I built the tailplanes & did a substancial amount of work on the fuselages. I remember we he to re-engineer the nose wheel stowage area to allow for larger diameter wheel to be fitted because on heavy landings on soft ground the prop touched the ground. NDN fitters did the wings & fitted the airframes out. Des Norman eventually took the company to Wales, something to do with funding from Welsh development agency.!!!!!!I think Slingsbys in yorkshire had something to do with the firecracker as well.
As for origional question about jet trainer , i’ve no idea !!!!

Can anyone tell me when the seats where changed from Metal seats to Bakelite please?

Hi ollie, not sure about bakelite seats, but when I was at Historic Flying earlier this year i noticed they had 1 made of carbon fibre. Also they were making a seat for P9374 the MK1 they are doing. This 1 is metal & P9374 is from feb 1940 so seat change must be after that.

Spitfire T9

Sorry to pose yet another Spit question, but I’ve been wondering why Vickers chose the examples they did for conversion to T.9 status. Airframes like PV202, ML407, MJ627 etc were very well used and bruised war veterans with lots of wear and tear, so why were they chosen over far less used examples that were seemingly abundant at the end of the war? Surely a virtually factory-fresh airframe would’ve made a better candidate for conversion??

H i Ant, The answer you are looking for maybe found in the book “Spitfire-The History” by Morgan & Shacklady. Page 378.

Kent spitfire

Hi, who was displaying TA805 on that day ? Was it Peter,John , Lee or Clive ?