Supermarine Spitfire Restorations Australia

More exciting news from Vintage Fighter Restorations (VFR) at Scone NSW with the arrival of 3 new Supermarine projects – two Supermarine Spitfires F.VC (Trop) and a Supermarine Seafire Mk XV. The 3 projects have been resident in South Australia for some time and were recently purchased by Ross Pay and Paul Bennet for restoration at Scone and arrived this week.

The two Spitfire Mk V aircraft are A58-232 F.VC (RAF Serial MA353) and A58-63 F.VC (RAF Serial`BS164) whilst the Seafire is F Mk.XV (Royal Navy serial SW800). Not being ones to sit on their hands, VFR has already commenced the restoration of Spitfire A58-63/ BS164 which will remain in Scone with Ross Pay/VFR post restoration. The fuselage has started taking shape in the jig within the workshop. This restoration will be completely in house as VFR has all the skills and experience required to complete the process being somewhat of a Spitfire production line at present with the two Mk IX Spitfires MH415 and MH603 nearing completion.

Spitfire BS164 will be restored exactly to its RAF/RAAF configuration and scheme when flown by Squadron Leader E. M. Gibbs, the Commanding Officer of No. 54 (Spitfire) Squadron RAF in which he scored 5 and a half Japanese aircraft shot down. The Spitfire was initially coded K and later DL-K and featured 54 Squadrons unique “Nip Glass” “Kill Markings” instead of Japanese rising Sun markings – unique to Australia.

Spitfire BS164 was arguably the most successful Mk Vc to serve in the Northern Territory Australia and is a unique and famous representative of the type. From an appearance point of view it was also different to the run of the mill Spitfires of the time in that being a “Trop” (or tropical version), it featured the “interesting” Vokes air filter under the “chin” which was designed to protect the Merlin engine from the ingress of sand and grit in arid conditions. RAF/RAAF Spitfires in the Northern Territory also carried the “Slipper” style drop tank when on long range missions and the combination of the Volkes filter resulted in a very different looking Spitfire to the standard Mk V. Later deliveries of Mk V aircraft from the UK were not fitted with the Volkes filter and some older aircraft had the filter removed while in service.

Given past experience with the Mk IX Spitfires, progress on BS164’s fuselage should progress fairly quickly and all the necessary components are readily available from companies in the UK as “Kit sets”. BS164 has been placed on the Australian register as VH-CIP.

Soon work will commence on the Mk V wings in the two sets of wing jigs available at Scone however a set of wings will also be necessary for Ross Pay’s two seat Spitfire MK IX BS548 the fuselage of which is under construction in the UK ( we reported on this aircraft previously) “Supermarine Scramble in Australia”.  So there will be a queue of activity taking place in the Spitfire wing construction area of the workshop. It is fortunate that the two sets of jigs are on hand to cater for the continuous work.

Next in the queue at Scone will be the fuselage of Spitfire Mk V aircraft A58-232 F.VC (RAF Serial  MA353) again a Tropical Filter equipped Mk VC Trop for noted aerobatic pilot Paul Bennet. This aircraft will follow along through in the queue and probably be finished in a 54 Squadron scheme as well from its time in that Squadron coded as DL-A. The rebuild of MA353 will follow exactly the same sequence as BS164, MA353 has been placed on the Australian register as VH-CIH.

It is anticipated that both Mk V Spitfires will remain in Australia post restoration and remain airworthy.

Now to the Maritime version of the Spitfire, Supermarine Seafire Mk XV SW800. This is a very exciting prospect and will be a long term restoration being the only Seafire likely to be available in Australia in the foreseeable future. The Seafire will provide somewhat of a challenge as it has a large number of modifications for its carrier based role including folding wings and arrestor hook etc.

The Seafire is currently available for purchase either as a project “as is” or for “on sale”, it can also be completed by VFR for an interested customer.  If you are interested in purchasing this aircraft contact Ross Pay at Vintage Fighter Restorations via their Website via this link.

Over the next few years we will follow the progress on these three Vickers Supermarine thoroughbreds with great interest and they will provide a lot of excitement for Aviation enthusiasts in Australia and worldwide. Vintage Fighter Restorations (VFR) at Scone NSW continues to go from strength to strength on the restoration of Warbirds.

History of A58-63 Supermarine F.VC RAF Serial BS164

Built as construction number 3074 by Supermarine against contract No B19713/39 Order 5 of the 24th of October 1940 at the Chattis Hill satellite factory of Vickers Supermarine fitted with a Rolls Royce Merlin 46 engine, BS164 first flew on the 21st of June 1942.  She was taken on charge by the RAF at No 8 Maintenance Unit on the 22nd of June 1942 before moving on to 215 Maintenance Unit on 19th of July then on the 23rd of October 1942 it was dispatched to Australia aboard cargo ship SS Hoperidge and was received by the RAAF at No 1 Air Depot on the 4th of November 1942. After assembly and testing the Spitfire was allocated to 54 Sqn RAF (a unit of No 1 wing RAAF) operating at Darwin, Northern Territory on the 30th of November 1942 coded as K and later as DL-K. During its service with 54 Squadron it was flown as the personal aircraft of Squadron Commanding Officer, Squadron Leader E M “Bill” Gibbs and was the aircraft in which he scored 5 and half Japanese victories. Interestingly, 54 Squadron recorded their victories in the form of a “Nip glass” instead of the Japanese rising sun flag and BS164 carried its 5 and a half glasses on the cockpit side. Later in the war (30th November 1943) the Spitfire was transferred to RAAF 352 Squadron and on the 30th of January 1944, BS164 (then coded as A58-63) was lost in a collision with another Spitfire, A58-214 in flight above Humpty Doo NT, 10 miles East North East of Strauss Strip at 1530hrs whilst flown by F/Sgt James Basil Gibbs RAF who died in the crash along with F/Sgt John Hoyle Whalley RAF, the pilot of A58-214.  Both aircraft were partially salvaged at the time however post war the remaining substantial wreckage of BS164 was recovered by members of the Aviation Society of NT, Darwin in 1975 and remained with them until acquired by Peter Croser & Michael Aitchison, Melbourne VIC in 1982 who planned to utilize some of the components of BS164 on their restoration of another Spitfire BL628 but it was instead stored. BS164 was then transferred solely to Michael G. Aitchison, Adelaide SA in 2008 and placed on the civil register as VH-CIP it remained with him until acquired this year by Ross Pay and Paul Bennet.

History of Supermarine Spitfire F.VC RAF Serial MA353 RAAF A58-232

MA353 was produced at Vickers Supermarine Castle Bromwich factory as Construction Number 5406, fitted with a Rolls Royce Merlin 50 engine.  She was accepted by the RAF at 9 Maintenance Unit on 30th of May 1943 and was sent to Australia on ship LS627 on the 2nd of August 1943 and was received by RAAF 1 Air Depot on 4th September 1943.  Then sent to 54 Sqn RAF (a unit of No 1 wing RAAF) operating at Darwin, Northern Territory coded as DL-A and operated there until on 9th of March 1944 it was transferred to 452 Sqn RAAF and coded QY-Z and wore its RAAF Serial A58-232. MA353 was lost on operations on 24th April 1944, however the remains of pilot Sergeant Colin William Dunning and the aircraft were not discovered until on what would have been Colin Dunning’s 22nd birthday on 26th December 1946. The aircraft remains were left where it crashed until 1969 when John Haslett, Darwin recovered the fuselage and other parts while Darwin Air Museum NT displayed the Spitfires Merlin & wing parts. Peter Croser & Michael Aitchison, Melbourne VIC in 1982 acquired the hulk of fuselage and tail fin and held the parts until 2006 when it transferred solely to Michael G. Aitchison, Adelaide SA and was placed on the civil register as VH-CIQ. The aircraft was acquired by Ross Pay and Paul Bennet this year.

 History of Vickers Supermarine Seafire Royal Navy Serial No SW800

This Seafire was a Rolls Royce Griffon VI powered Seafire F Mk XV built by Westland’s at Yeovil UK as construction number 4417 in June 1945. The aircraft was accepted by the Royal Navy at No 33 maintenance Unit on the 7th of July 1945 and then transferred to No 52 maintenance Unit on 25th of July 1945.  Interestingly enough she was shipped to Australia where it was issued to HMS Nabsford, Archerfield QLD assembled in February 1946 and then issued to Schofields NSW, HMS Nabthorpe in March 1946 for carrier operational pilot training. In January 1949 the Seafire made its way back to the UK RNAS Anthorn, Cumbria where it was converted to a ground instructional airframe and in 1956 the Seafire is reported to have been burnt as a fire training exercise at RNAS Worthy, Hampshire with the remains passing to a scrapyard, Brownhills, Staffordshire UK.  They remained there until discovered by Peter Croser & Michael Aitchison, Melbourne VIC in 1991and shipped back to Australia. In 2008 the aircraft remains (cockpit section ex scrapyard Brownhills, plus a Seafire wing and parts) now registered as VH-CIH passed solely to Michael G. Aitchison, Adelaide SA and remained with him until purchased by Ross Pay and Paul Bennet this year.

© John Parker 2019

Warbirds Online acknowledges and is grateful for the use of some material in this story from the Australian War Memorial website