WD74W2

1
1 After the Collings Foundation obtained BR601, the fuselage
was sent to Airframe Assemblies for further work. It then returned to
Biggin Hill. Duirng the war, when Vickers was building Spitfires, they
were painted prior to final assembly. A practice still carried out by
The Spitfire Company. Photo: John Sanderson.
2 Photographed on June 25, 2016, fourteen months in to
the restoration, BR601 is nearing completion at Biggin Hill.
Photo: John Sanderson.
Sandown, IoW, who subsequently sub-contracted their rebuild to
Airframe Assemblies Ltd., before they were returned to Thruxton.
Aerofab stripped the fuselage, and re-skinned it, but upon the
death of Doug Arnold in 1992, work was halted, and the aircraft
was shipped to the U.S., and placed in storage.
Jet Cap Aviation acquired BR601 from the Doug Arnold
estate in 1994, and it was moved to Harry Stenger’s facility at
Bartow, Florida, where it joined several other Spitfires: PT462,
SL542, TE392, and the fuselage of an anonymous, unfinished
two-seater that had been started at Dick Melton’s shop in
Micheldever, Wiltshire.
Florida based Englishman Peter Godfrey was interested
in acquiring a two-seater, so BR601’s airworthy wings and tail
section were used by Harry Stenger to complete the rebuild of
the unfinished two-seater, which adopted the identity MH367.
What remained of BR601, the fuselage, was transported to the
Lone Star Flight Museum at Galveston, Texas, in November
2002. There it kept company with its airworthy stablemate,
Mk. XVI TE392, for several years. It was eventually acquired
by California-based Jeff Thomas in January 2008, who had it
shipped to Avspecs Ltd. in Ardmore, New Zealand, for restoration
to flying condition. It may have been Jeff Thomas who reserved
the U.S. civil registration N601FF, but that is not confirmed, and
that registration was cancelled on August 29, 2013.
Thomas sold the project to Peter Monk in July 2009, but
the fuselage remained in storage at Ardmore until it was finally
shipped to Biggin Hill, arriving in April 2014. The Spitfire was
almost immediately sold to the Collings Foundation of Stow,
Massachusetts, and a restoration program was begun. Rob
Collings picks up the story of the acquisition, “We had a history
of the Spitfire that was pretty complete on the missions it had
flown, and that was one reason we decided to buy this particular
aircraft. We knew it was historic; we knew it was the sixth Mk. IX
built. We knew it flew a lot of combat missions, and was flown by
some aces, and had a probable, but that was about it. Most of the
history we had revolved around Tony Gaze and his story.”
BR601 was delivered to Airframe Assemblies Ltd., Sandown,
Isle of Wight, during September 2014, where the fuselage
underwent a complete restoration to modern standards. A new
pair of wings and tail section were constructed for the project,
because the originals had been used in the rebuild of MH367,
which, coincidentally, now flies in New Zealand in No. 81 Sqn.
markings as FL-A, the mount of none other than Colin Gray, one
of BR601’s pilots while with No. 64 Sqn., and possibly the very
pilot who suffered the landing accident at Bolt Head!
The rebuilt fuselage was transported to Clive Denney’s
company, Vintage Fabrics, at in Audley End, Essex, to have
camouflage and roundels applied, before being delivered to
Peter Monk’s Spitfire Company at Biggin Hill, in April 2015, to
commence systems work and assembly. Progress on the rebuild
then really gathered pace. The tail section was attached by mid-
May, with both wings following in quick succession by mid-July
2016. The fabric work on the rudder and elevator was expertly
completed by Vintage Fabrics. To provide BR601 with her
propulsion, a newly-restored Rolls-Royce Merlin 66, which had
been rebuilt by Retro Track and Air at Dursley, Gloustershire,
was fitted. A Rotol propeller, which was overhauled by Skycraft
Services Ltd. of Litlington, Hertfordshire, was installed.
28 • warbird digest • sept/oct 2017