FlyPast 01.2018

January 2018 FLYPAST 41

30-plus years, the company has
created parts for almost 50 of the
world’s airworthy 60-odd airworthy
Spitfires.

Two-seaters
There are two Spitfire fuselage
jigs, both occupied with on-going
projects. Each jig has a list showing
the host of airframes that have
passed through them over the
years. I counted 21 serial numbers!
Slightly more advanced of
the two projects is Spitfire IX
EN570 (LN-AOA) a two-seater
for Norwegian Flying Aces. This
will sport the Grace-style canopy
arrangement with a low-level sliding
Perspex.
This machine rolled off the Castle
Bromwich production line in the
Midlands during 1943 and served
with 611 Squadron at Biggin Hill,
coded ‘FY-J’. In the hands of Flt Lt
Vernon A Lancaster, EN570 was
credited with shooting down a Bf
109 on May 17, 1943 and a Focke-
Wulf Fw 190 on the 30th.
The Spitfire was shot down over
the Pas-de-Calais region, France,

on June 11 with Fg Off G R Lindsay

at the controls. The circumstances

are unclear, but it is reported that

he was shot down by a Fw 190 of

Jagdgeschwader 26, flown by ‘ace’

Adolf ‘Addi’ Glunz – his 33rd of 71

victories.

Recovered from woodland near

Lucheux, the Spitfire’s remains

passed to Airframe Assemblies

and were UK registered as G-CISP.

The current owners registered the

project in Norway in April 2016. The

fuselage was looking substantially

complete during my visit.

Alongside the Norwegian Mk.

IX sits another two-seater, which

is owned by Peter Monk. This will

have the Vickers standard bubble

rear canopy once it’s finished. The

airframe was in a part-skinned

condition, giving a great view of the

Spitfire construction techniques.

Pablo’s Seafi re

A very exciting restoration

was almost ready to leave the

workshop. Seafire XV SR462

(G-TGVP) is owned by Tim Percy

whose father – Lt Cdr Terence

Gerard Vaughan ‘Pablo’ Percy DSC –

flew this aircraft during his time in

the Fleet Air Arm. Lt Cdr Percy died

in January 2015 and ‘his’ Seafire

will be a poignant tribute to him; its

registration letters reflecting his

initials.

Airframe Assemblies has

produced Seafire parts in the past,

but G-TGVP is the first complete

Seafire to have passed through

its fuselage jigs. It has presented

some challenges as it had been

de-navalised when it was sold to

Burma. This involved the removal

of such parts as the arrester hook

and other associated fittings.

Thankfully, some of the hook’s

internal structure had been

retained during the conversion,

so Airframe Assemblies had

something to work with when

reverting to its original Seafire

status.

Steve explained: “There were

thankfully all the fixings that were

attached to the frames, so using

photographs and a few drawings,

we were able to rebuild the internal

structure where the [arrester] hook

shaft would be attached to.

“There were no drawings for the

hook shaft itself, so we had to use

photos to piece that together and

then we had to find the drawings.

That was fun as the hook was a

navy part, and not a Supermarine

standard item. We had to source

the part number and drawings in

order to faithfully remanufacture

the hook.”

Inside the fuselage, the

strengthened frames and floor

are testament to the engineering

required in response to the

extreme forces produced by the

Seafire engaging a wire. Victor-

Papa was built by Westland at

Yeovil in 1944 and delivered to

the Fleet Air Arm in March the

following year. It was one of 20

surplus examples bought back by

Vickers in 1951 and modified for

sale to the Burmese Air Force as

UB414.

It was shipped in late 1952 to

Mingaladon, Rangoon. After being

retired the Seafire was mounted on

a plinth and remained in the open

until 1994 when it was taken

“Out of the world population of around 60 airworthy Spitfi res, Airframe

Assemblies over the past 30-plus years created parts for almost 50 of them”