38 FLYPAST January 2018
FROM THE WORKSHOP AIRFRAME ASSEMBLIES
A
longside the lush green
runway at Sandown
aerodrome on the Isle of
Wight the workshop of Airframe
Assemblies continues the traditions
of the region’s aviation heritage.
The company is undoubtedly one of
the most important in UK vintage
aircraft manufacturing.
The dedicated team of metal
fettling experts has faithfully
restored and produced a long list of
Spitfire parts, from full fuselages to
replacement rudder pedals. Work is
not restricted to Spitfires; over the
years the firm, which now employs
22 people, has created components
for more than 20 different types.
This includes Messerschmitt Bf 109
projects and the Battle of Britain
Memorial Flight (BBMF) Lancaster.
As specialist metal workers,
Airframe Assemblies does not bring
aircraft up to the stage of flight,
i.e. fitting out systems or installing
components, but supplies major
and minor metal parts for restorers
to progress their projects.
Restoration by
replacement
Steve Vizard, who set up the
company in the mid-1980s,
explained how it came into being.
“Back in the day I was recovering
parts from crash sites around my
local area, and then further afield
in other Battle of Britain counties.
“We were recovering Hurricanes,
Dorniers and Messerschmitts and,
of course, Spitfires from various
locations and that led to me
making contact with some of the
early Spitfire restorers. In those
days, that was the like of warbird
legend Steve Atkins, who together
with Guy Black had set up a facility
near Hastings [Aero Vintage – AV].
“Following a meeting with Steve
and Guy, I got talking to them
about Spitfires and the parts
they had and what my group had
recovered from the ground. There
was mutual interest and I ended up
working for Steve at AV.
“There I had an apprenticeship
of sorts and got to learn the ropes
and meet a wide range of people,
such as [airframe restoration
specialist] Craig Charleston. I also
met others who were considering
the remanufacturing of metal
aircraft parts.
“This opened the door for what I
call ‘restoration by replacement of
parts where necessary’ and that
had never been done before. In
time, this led me to set up AirframeAssemblies and about then, the
mid-1980s, the well-known Charles
Church appeared on the warbird
scene.
“We were lucky enough to get in
contact with engineer Dick Melton
who was running the workshop at
Roundwood Farm, Micheldever in
Hants, for Charles. We got orders
through Charles for four sets
of cowlings, four rudders, four
elevators, four of everything!
“I think he’s one of the unsung
heroes of the restoration world,
and we all owe him a great debt for
what he began. [Charles was killed
in a Spitfire crash on July 1, 1989
near Blackbushe.]
“Shortly after this, we became
one of the contractors for the
recently formed Historic Flying
at Audley End, who again were
restoring multiples of Spitfires.
We still undertake work for them
to this day, alongside the sister
company, the Duxford-based
Aircraft Restoration Company.Ideal location
“We started to branch out and
were making parts for some of
the aeroplanes being restored by
Retrotec at Hastings, culminating
in the initial work on the AeroVintage Hawker biplane fleet. From
Charles Church’s Spitfires, our next
project was to build the complete
back end of flight simulation
creator and warbird collector Rudy
Frasca’s Spitfire FR.XVIII [TP280]
and we’ve grown from there.
“At the beginning, we were
operating from a converted
cowshed on the Isle of Wight
with just two part-timers. We
chose to locate the business
here as the area is steeped in
aviation manufacturing history.
There was a pool of expertise
from companies like Westland
Aerostructures (formally
Saunders-Roe) and Pilatus
Britten-Norman. To this day, we
are surrounded by other specialist
machining and treatment
concerns that can fulfil tasks
beyond our in-house capabilities,
which makes the location ideal.
“From our ‘cowshed’ we
progressed into a larger unit on
the other side of Sandown, before
moving to yet bigger facilities
closer to the aerodrome where
we are now. About five years ago,
we moved into this brand-new
hangar, built for us, and it has
room around it for us to expand if
required.”A Kit
‘Much from little’ should be the motto of warbird specialists Airframe
Assemblies. Darren Harbar spoke to boss Steve Vizard about the
team’s metalwork triumphs.
Assemblies.
‘Much from little’ should be the motto of warbird specialists Airframe
Assemblies.
longside the lush green “Back in the day I was recovering‘Much from little’ should be the motto of warbird specialists Airframe
Assemblies.
“At the beginning, we were operating from a converted cowshed on the Isle of
Wight with just two part-timers. We chose to locate the business here as the
area is steeped in aviation manufacturing history”