38 |FLIGHTPATH
edinthecoloursandmarkingsNN-Dof
SquadronLeaderDolezalof310(Czech)
Squadron.Itwasnotablyalsofinishedina
mattpaintfinish,whichwasquiteunusual
as most warbirds operating in the seventies
sported gloss paint finishes.
After numerous checks, and several en-
gine ground runs, AR501 was declared
readyforatestflightonFriday27June.
Renowned Empire Test Pilots School
(ETPS) pilot Neil Williams took AR501
aloft for the first post-restoration flight,
whichwasfollowedlaterinthedaybya
second successful flight. Neil then dis-
playedAR501attheDuxfordAirdaythe
followingday!(Paperworkanddisplayau-
thorisation being somewhat more straight-
forwardin1975thanitisnow.)
Originally AR501 alternated its operating
base between Duxford and Old Warden be-
fore eventually taking up permanent resi-
dence at Old Warden. In 1990, AR501 re-
turned to Westland's at Yeovil for NDT tests
whereitwasfoundtobeinverygoodhealth- not that surprising considering AR501 had
beenkeptundercoversinceretirement,and
wasbeingflownbysomeoftheworld’smost
capable pilots and averaging less than five
hours of flight per season.
AR501 was regularly displayed for thirty
years,andalsoappearedinsomemajorfilm
and TV productions includingPearl Har-
bor,wearing 303 Polish Squadron codes of
RF-Y (and unlikely serial AR4474) and in
1995 appeared in the WWII mini-series
Over Heresporting WO-L codes, but this
time retaining its original serial number. In
1990,followingitsfilmrole,the310Squad-
ron codes of NN-D were changed to NN-A,
theresultofmoreinformationcomingto
light regarding its service life.
At the end of the 2005 season it was clear
that AR501's Merlin engine was needing to
be rebuilt or replaced, and so a decision
was taken to undertake a major inspection
oftheairframewhilsttheenginewasbeing
changed. The inspection results indicated
AR501neededtoundergoacompleteres-
toration,withatiredMerlinandairframe-
but little did anyone realise that the resto-
ration would keep AR501 on the ground for
twelve years!
At the time of writing, project leader Ian
LaramanandhisteamofOldWardenengi-
neers are currently undertaking ground run-
ning tests of the newly rebuilt Merlin before
the aircraft flies again this northern summer.
ThereisastrongpossibilitythatAR501may
well have taken to the skies over Old Warden
bythetimethisfeaturegoestopress.
InPartTwowewilltakealookatthe
nuts and bolts of the restoration pro-
cessandthedepthsthattheengineers
havegoneto,inaconcertedeffortto
preserve the originality of this remark-
a bl e W.W.I I s ur vivo r.TOP:AR501 banking around Old Warden’s
famous curved display line in July 2005.
RIGHT:AR501 wearing the Battle of Britain
film markings AI-J over Duxford in 1968.