FLIGHTPATH|37instructional purposes at Loughboroug
other types included a Grumman Mart
and two Hawker Hurricanes, includi
what was to become the Spitfire’s lon
term Shuttleworth stablemate Z701
During its time at Loughboroug
AR501 lost the military markings an
was painted overall silver.
As the years passed, AR501's tech
nical relevance to the engineering stu
dents was rapidly diminishing, a
wartime technology was of little use
to graduates looking to find employ-
ment in an industry that had moved
on to gas turbine technology. In 1961
AR501 was transferred to the Shut-
tleworth Collection at Old Warden in
Bedfordshire in exchange for the
sixth prototype Jet Provost, G-ABOU
(which still exists with Kennet Avia-
tion and is currently at North Weald
in Essex).
After joining the collection, AR5
held in store pending restoration. At the
time the Shuttleworth Collection was not
fully open throughout the year, although
there were a number of flying days held. It
was not until the end of the decade that the
collection became more accessible to the
public as a result of the appointment of the
former Mosquito pilot, David Ogilvy, as its
new manager. During this period AR501
was repainted in a representation of its CGS
markings wearing the DK codes and was
displayed in partly dismantled condition.
In 1967, pre-production began on the
film Battle of Britain. Former Pathfinder
pilot Hamish Mahaddie had been tasked
with finding the aircraft for the film's pro-
duction company, appropriately named
‘Spitfire Productions’. Having heard that
the Shuttleworth collection had both a
Spitfire and a Hurricane that could be used
for the filming, Mahaddie quickly arranged
inspections of them. The Spitfire was
found to be in excellent condition, so the
airframe was roaded to RAF Henlow where
Simpsons Aeroservices Ltd led by John
'Tubby' Simpson undertook a comprehen-
gh,
let
ng
ng-
15.
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ndh-
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1 was
Atthe sive overhaul. This work was completed by
18 May 1968, when it was approved by the
Air Registration Board and AR501 was al-
located the civil registration of G-AWII.
During the summer of 1968, AR501
clocked up over 45 hours in the air in front
of the cameras, flown by the experienced
instructors of the Central Flying School
(CFS) and, on at least one occasion, the re-
nowned pilot, aircraft builder and engineer
Viv Bellamy. During the filming AR501 wore
the codes DO-H, AI-J, BO-B, among many
others. At the end of filming in October
1968, AR501 was flown to RAF Bovingdon
with the rest of the film’s active aircraft for
a public open day to be held on 26 October.
Following the open day, Test pilot Dickie
Millward ferried the aircraft to RAE
Thurleigh, Bedford via a quick low level fly-
past at Old Warden where he was one of
Shuttleworth Collection’s cadre of regular
pilots. AR501 was stored at Thurleigh until
early May 1973, when it was flown (within
the capacious fuselage of an RCAF Hercu-
les) to Baden-Baden in West Germany for
the presentation of a Queen’s colour stand-TOP MIDDLE: The refurbished etch primed fuselage
awaits the engine cowlings in 2009.TOP: 2016 saw the wings finally reunited with the fuselage.ABOVE: Landing back past Old Warden’s resident sheep,
formerly used to keep the grass down on the runway on
non-flying days.ard by HRH Duke of Edinburgh. The Hercu-
les then returned AR501 back to Duxford on
7 May still wearing the film codes DO-H.
The trustees of the Shuttleworth Collec-
tion took the decision that AR501 should be
again restored to airworthy condition, and a
combined volunteer crew was assembled at
the Imperial War Museum's storage outsta-
tion at Duxford, comprising of Shuttleworth
Veteran Aeroplane Society (SVAS) and An-
glian Aviation Society (AAS) members. The
restoration was completed within just two
years, a testimony to the generally good
condition of the airframe and engine, as well
as the team’s work. The airframe was paint-