No denying that, but P51’s are a piece of cake (sorry) to work on compared to Spits.. or am I merely thinking that because I’ve worked on a lot more P51’s (about 20) than Spits (3) since I left Blighty?

No, the prime constituent of a ‘good breakfast’ is lots and lots of dead animal (IMHO) 😀

I’m fairly sure you could knock up a “German” breakfast by substituting bratwurst for either the black puddin or snorkers, but am at a loss what would need swapping out to make it Dutch?

Boy, you sure got that right LOL!!! Only the British would invent the slotted fastener hole so parts could be moved for/aft on one part with a left/right slot on the other part to provide a reasonable chance of the bolt dropping into the hole…

Which is probably what ultimately lead to the invention of the Irwin uni-bit 😉

ZRX61, re-read your post & you are talking about something completely different from the original posting !! What you are on about is assembly of all major components that have already been repaired/refubished/restored or remade & yes no doubt could be done in a year. I have worked on 10 spitfire restorations & have done parts for majority of those flying. Yep part of the AA team & have 40yrs in aviation with 16 of those on historic aircraft.

Steve

Like it says “ideal world” ;)…. Real world is more 😡 than 🙂 There’s no way a shop can stay busy on just one project.

Have to say I prefer the split upper cowls like the P51 over the Spit one piece, those are absolute ******s when they arrive from IOW & need *a bit* of fetting to fit. At least with a P51 one person can easily pull or install all the cowls 🙂

& the coolant/fuel/oil runs are a lot easier in a P51…

Anyway, to answer the original question: “Why does it take so long?”

Usually it’s what we refer to around here as “ass thumbage”. If you’re restoring aircraft for a living you better have a few projects going on at the same time to cut down on the time you stand around with your thumb up your butt waiting for something.

OOPS! I think you have just dug your hole:eek::D I think this is THE man at AA on IOW:D
So if everything is at hand it will take two people working 40 hrs. a week to assemble a Spit from components? Lets look at the maths. 2X40 is 80, so that is the total number of hours worked in a week. I hope everyone can agree that there are 52 weeks in a year, so 80 x 52 is 4160! By your reasoning it only takes 4160 hours to restore/build a Spitfire:eek: with all the parts readily available off the shelf!

ok, one more time. I’m not digging ANY hole, I dealing with a lack of reading comprehension of other peoples part…pay attention to the highlighted part:

That won’t be 8 years at 40hrs/week.

If *everything* is already at hand, you don’t have to hunt or wait for any parts (or money) & you work at least 40hour weeks then 2 people can knock out a Spitfire in a year without too much bother.

Are we on the same page now?:rolleyes:

2 people can easily attach a wing in a day, I know, I’ve done it.
2 people can install an engine, prop & fluids etc & have in running inside of two days, I know, I’ve done it. At Reno, with more people they can do it in mere hours. Hell, 2 people could do it in *one day*… but it would be a long ass day.

Most labour intensive part of doing a Spit/P51 etc would be the instruments, hoses & cables etc. Tin knocking & bashing rivets is gravy.

& “everything at hand” means just that: Fresh Merlin sat in a stand, fresh prop hanging on the wall, spiffy wings with new spars sat on eggcrates & various flappy bits with Mr Dennys finest covering etc.

Like I said: 2 guys, one year…. & like bruce said: ideal world scenario.

Does it happen? doubtful. Could it happen? yes, it could…. Probably need at least a 3 month paid vaction after tho…. preferably the Carib, not Skegness Butlins.. 😉

Edit:
Just thought of something else: I forget you guys are dealing with the CAA.. not the FAA & Experimental/Restricted category aircraft, so that whole “engineering report” stuff wouldn’t be an issue in the US… But that wouldn’t really alter the “perfect world scenario”.. apart from the fact that it could be possible in the US & 100% impossible in the UK..

With Spitfires it usually takes/costs 2.4 times the first estimate.

The above looks like a ‘first estimate’. 🙂

Mark

We always go with one of two scenarios:

Twice as long & three times the cost

Or three times as long & *only* twice the cost. :cool::D

& not forgetting that the last 10% of the work takes 90% of the time…

One guy I know once said “godammit, every time I walk in this hangar it costs me 10 grand! :eek:You should change the name of the company to Ten Grand Aviation”

2 or 3 weeks later he walks in the hangar & before he’s had a chance to say one word he hears “Ten grand!”:D:p