Plan a Fall Visit to the Y2-K Spitfire Project!

Visitors continue to stream into the restoration hangar on Saturdays. As fall approaches a large number of visitors are attending from Alberta some of them are searching for a retirement home on Vancouver Island others are just enjoying the many splendid scenic visions that Vancouver Island has to offer. This past summer we have set a record for visitors to the Spitfire project. On Saturday September 30 we had 2 different groups from Australia, one from Sri-Lanka, how cool is that. If you plan to attend the Spitfire hangar and view “Canada’s most significant restoration project” we are open every Saturday from 10-3; if you can’t make it on Saturday call the Comox Air Force Museum and we can arrange a tour to fit your schedule 250-339-8162

One of our most interesting visitors this month has a wartime history with the famous Spitfire; Ken Applesby served in the RCAF during the Second World War as a ground crewman and well remembers painting D-Day stripes on Spitfires, June 5th 1944. Ken was with 411 Squadron at Tangmere Sussex. Ken spent a few hours in the restoration hangar with his son explaining some of the interesting history of this famous aircraft and his connection with it. We hope to have Ken attend our 2007 Open House set for May 20, 2007, Victoria Day long weekend. As usual we will have several other Spitfire veterans in attendance, if you recall we had 10 Spitfire pilots at this year’s event. If ever we paint invasion stripes on the Y2-K Spitfire Ken will definitely be asked to help.

September 5,1944. The eve of the Normandy invasion and LAC Ken Applesby is painting invasion stripes on 411 Squadron RCAF Spitfires in Southern England	Ken is reunited with the Spitfire in the Y2-K hangar.

Another interesting visitor this month was the wife and son of S/L Hugh Charles Trainor of 402 and 411 Squadrons RCAF. Son, Jim Trainer and S/L Trainers wife Imelda paid us a visit to check on our progress and share some stories with our team. “Charlie” was a well respected member of the RCAF was shot down twice escaping from his captors on one occasion not so lucky the second time. Hugh Charles Trainor has a remarkable history with the Spitfire; sadly he passed away in 2004. We hope to have Jim attend next year’s open house.

Squadron Leader, Hugh Charles Trainor's family visits the Y2-K Spitfire hangar. Jim Trainor son of the famed Spitfire pilot and his widow Imelda "Mel" and Shannon DeMan paid a visit to the hangar to share stories of Charlie's history with the RCAF and the Spitfire. Imelda lives in Prince Edward Island, Jim and Shannon reside in Campbell River It was great to hear there stories.

Another interesting group of visitors attended the hangar in September who also has a strong connection to the historic Spitfire. The Rolls Royce Owners Club from B.C. dropped in and we had an opportunity to view these lovely cars and compare the V/12 engine in the 1937 Phantom III to our Merlin 63, the resemblance is uncanny.

	Beautiful lineage... A thing of beauty and very definitely " eye candy".   This 1937 Rolls Royce, Phantom III shows off it's fine lines in our parking lot, the comparison of the vintage 12 cylinder engine clearly shows the resemblance to it's larger cousin the Rolls Royce Merlin 63 that will power the Y2-K Spitfire when completed.

Bonn and Tom have almost finished the root-end fairings that connect the horizontal stabilizers to the tail fin; the fairing consists of 3 pieces, the leading edge, the top piece and the bottom. Bonn was able to craft the bits with considerable effort and many visits to the English wheel plus plenty of manipulation with a hammer, parts have been fabricated for both the port and starboard side. A magic touch is required to shape aluminum and get it. “Just right.” A shaping mold was created for all three pieces, the woodworking skills that are necessary to complete the molds are a story in itself. The fairings will be installed shortly and then work will begin on the elevator.

	Our root end fillets are very difficult to fabricate but are almost complete. The team has been busy this past month. (pictures 1-3) Lots of machining this past month, the tail wheel is nearing completion and work continues on the elevator hinges. (pictures 4-6)

Dave has continued working on machining the elevator hinges and was also “turning” the tail wheel axel on the metal lathe this week. We have “some” drawings for the tail wheel as well as some very fine close- up axel images for reference from Bob Jens, Mk XIV, Spitfire (TZ138) over in Vancouver, Bob was kind enough to allow access to his beautiful Spitfire a few months ago, we also got some technical help from a New Zealand project with our tail wheel parts. Machining work is also proceeding on other tail wheel parts; we have refurbished or machined all parts and should have it together in time for the next update.

As we approach the end of the year…remember- your donations” do” make a difference to our project. We will provide you with a tax receipt for any donation over $20. You may make your donation with cash or cheque or even your credit card. Drop into the hangar, call us, or access our donation link on our home page. To date we have invested slightly over $500,000 in this heritage project, we estimate that an additional one million dollars is required to get the Y2-K Spitfire back into the air, every cent donated goes straight into the restoration. Thanks for your time and for your continued support.

If you have any questions about the Spitfire restoration project or, how to make a donation or how to obtain one of our limited edition prints “Touche” drop me an email (pjmurphy@shaw.ca)

Thanks again for your time and support

Pat Murphy
And the Y2-K Spitfire restoration team.

“The Y2-K Spitfire will Fly Again"