Remembering Ray

A year has passed already. 🙁
Always in our thoughts and sorely missed.

Rest in peace Ray, My Hero.

She is absolutely gorgeous!
Wow-weeee!
Marvellous to see a real airworthy volks (sp?) tropical filter on a Spitfire.
Can’t wait to see her in the air – Does anyone know where she’ll be based when completed?

MH434 headrest

The headrests were associated with the early marks. I would say the majority of flyable Spitfires today do not have one.

I was fortunate enough to be upclose and personal with 434 in the evening of the Sunday Legends display and noticed that the headrest was suffering a bit. The leather sides were a bit tatty exposing the innards. My guess is OFMC have either removed it completely or they are refurbing it.

Excellent photos by the way Gareth, i really must get up there too!

Hi airspeed,

I was talking to a TFC engineer and he told me the whole story. Apparently on leaving La Ferte the pilot noticed a huge drop in oil pressure, so he decided to return to La Ferte. While on finals the engine cut, but he made a safe landing without power. Once on the ground the aircraft was checked over only to find the whole thing covered in oil. Oil also ran throughout the engine completely seizing it. Steve Hinton was scheduled to fly over to france with a new engine and once installed the hawk will be flown back to duxford, hopefully all in time for legends!

hope thats enough info for you!

regards,
Kenneth.

Wow! TFC don’t seem to have had much luck lately then! Glad to hear everyone involved in the incidents are ok and the aircraft are also on their way to repair.

Does anyone know what caused the canopy to come off of the Mk.14? Lucky it did not strike the tail, that could have been unpleasent to say the least.

Good luck to all at TFC, you do a splendid job and it must be typical that these things happen only a week before your big weekend! I shall be there, and i’m looking forward to it. Counting the days… 🙂

Excellent news!!!
I’ve been eagerly awaiting her return to the air for years!

Well done to all involved, just can’t wait till i see her in the flesh

Nearly there

I believe that from mid May onwards the focus will be on getting the machine airborne. We’d love to display her at our show at Breighton on the 15th/16th July…

Will it be at….? :diablo:

Seriously though, it’s been a long time coming and i’m sure no-one is looking forward to seeing it airborne more than the guys at RACo who have worked many hours restoring this lovely machine. I personally cannot wait! How does the saying go? ‘Real Messerschmitts have Merlins!’ 😀 😀 😀

Due to work commitments, i am unfortunately unable to attend the service today. 🙁 I cannot believe it has been 3 months already since he passed.
I am certain however that he will be in our hearts and memories forever. Rest in Peace Ray.