January has been very busy for the restoration team, but everybody got over the Christmas holidays, and one or two snowstorms to boot. We're not used to snow on Vancouver Island and most of us hate the stuff.

The spine skins have now been riveted to the fuselage and the quality of the metal work has garnered much praise for our engineer Bonn Svenson. The English wheel got a real good workout with the final pieces, specifically the most aft piece that attached to frame 19.

Work has now started on the forward section of the cockpit. New structural pieces have been acquired from the UK and they are being fitted this week. We have gathered all our cockpit technical drawings for exact details and the team is studying photographs of Spitfire cockpits to serve as backup and sometimes clarification.

Tom Quibell successfully crafted the “insulated radio antenna base” that is located just behind the cockpit; it serves as the base mount for the aerial mast for the Spitfire. It should be completely installed by the next report and ready to receive the radio mast.

Tom Quibell pokes his head out of the radio hatch to get a breath. Somebody has to be on the other side of a rivet gun or the rivets don't work. Tom has spent many hours inside Y2K working with our engineer Bonn Svenson. Looks like he enjoys his work eh?!

A few of our engine rated volunteers took the annual look at our Merlin Engine, the inspection is done each year to make sure that our preservation treatment is working. The volunteers are now satisfied that all is well. When the restoration reaches a certain point our Merlin will be re-built. This can only happen when enough funds are raised to pay for the re-build... does your bank balance have a spare $100,000? Our project is wholly dependant on financial support from people like you. If you would like to help out, please visit our “Donating Info” page for information on how to make your donation; any amount is very much appreciated!

And speaking of donations, The Comox Air Force Museum would like to extend its appreciation to “The Fighter Control Association” for a very generous donation that we received recently. We would also like to thank the Air Force Invitational Golf Tournament for donating some of the proceeds from a recent golf tournament. Both groups will be recognized with a plaque on our Y2K Donor board at the hangar. The Y2-K team is very pleased with both these donations. As well, we would like to thank the many visitors to our hangar that purchase Y2K souvenirs at our restoration hangar each week. We have hats, T-Shirts, prints, lapel pins, greeting cards, bumper stickers and, from time to time, aviation videos that people donate to help our project. For most restoration projects, and ours is no exception, we are constantly on the lookout for “Spitfire Parts”. Parts acquisition is indeed a challenge and what we don’t have we have to purchase (at very high prices) or manufacture in our own workshop. We are appealing to our many followers to help us. Spitfire bits are very hard to find in Canada. We supplied thousands of Spitfire pilots during the second world war but few Spitfires were shipped to Canada, so parts do not exist here. Some vets returned home with Spitfire souvenirs, such as small bits that were pulled from cockpits as they were leaving for home from unserviceable Spitfires, and those parts may still be lying around in an old trunk or maybe even on a mantle somewhere -- we sure could use them as they would help our huge project immensely. We are in desperate need of a canopy frame, plus the 2 brass runners for the upper antenna, including support brackets, the external fuel tank release “D” ring handle located near frame 9. A complete list of the parts we need can be viewed on our Spitfire Parts Needed and Available page". Keep in mind we also have spare parts to trade... eventually... to other Spitfire restoration projects. We thank you for any help that anyone can provide in our quest for Spitfire parts. We have had requests from people over the years for pictures of the restoration, we post a few each month on our updates and we have many pictures in the Gallery section of this website. But as space is limited, we can only show a few. However, we are now pleased to announce that a Community Album has been created where we can show many more pictures of the project. These pictures will provide our many followers with much more details of our work now, and as we move forward to completion. We hope you enjoy the pictures!

Don’t forget, the hangar is open each Saturday for tours from 9:30-4:00. We invite you to bring your camera, your wallets and your enthusiasm and interest. We love to talk about our project and why were re-building a Spitfire. The year 2005 has been designated the “Year of the Vet”. It is a time when we offer special thanks to the brave men and women that fought for freedom under the flag of Canada.

Thanks again for your time and support,
Pat Murphy and the Y2K Spitfire volunteers

A good view of the fuselage with the cockpit coaming frames being test fitted. To start, all new pieces are firmly held in place by clamps. Tom and Pat are viewing drawings and trying to figure things out. As you can see our hangar/workshop is covered in Spitfire pictures. Some of these pictures have been painted and donated by local Spitfire fans and the posters near the window were sent from our friends at Duxford. Pictures of Spitfires "are a good thing"!
	The famous Rolls Royce Merlin engine gets its yearly checkout. Eric Falkenburg and Mike Stambois probe and pry the vents and openings on our Spitfire engine. Each year we inspect the preservation process to make certain our Merlin stays in good shape. We would not want to have to replace this valuble asset as Merlins don't grow on trees. This Merlin, once re-built, will produce 1640 HP and the sound of it will bring back many fond memories to the vets that flew or serviced them duing RCAF service.
Bonn Svenson, our engineer, is seen here fitting canopy rails. Bonn was born in Sweden and has been rebuilding aircrafts for most of his adult life. His skill and expertise is well displayed in each part that has gone into TE 294. The quality of his work and craftsmanship is exceptional.
	This is a close-up look at the cockpit area. The starboard canopy rail is clearly visible along with the new cockpit framing bits and a clamp holding it together. You can still see rubber foammatts on the fuselage floor, these are for the individual that has to lay on during the riveting process. It also shows a good view of the fresh paint in the cockpit compared to the basecoat inside the fuselage.
Pat is casting a critical look at the freshly made "insulating plate" for the antenna base. It will soon be riveted in place behind the cockpit.