INSIDE THE SPITFIRE FACTORY - Replacing a Restored Wing

[@climbjt]

My grandfather owned a sheet metal company that fabricated Spitfire wingtips. Although distant, I feel some connection every time I see a Spitfire. My mother was 6 years old when she was evacuated to the countryside during the Battle of Britain. It could be said that I am alive today due to the success of this aircraft

[@lg_believe333]

When you see specialist sheet metal fabricators like this putting back together a Spitfire you realise Britain is still a manufacturing nation at its heart, and not a country that sells only services to the world. We have some smart people in this country but not so smart people running this country. I just hope that changes and our government gives recognition to our craftsmen, scientists, inventors and other, so we can put GT. Britain back on the map again. Making things is what makes a country wealthy, and it’s state of the art factories builds communities in this country. 🇬🇧

[@VincentComet-l8e]

It’s amazing how simple and elegant the wing attachment system is - 8 bolts each side with just those two transverse beams at the front connecting the wings into a single unit. It’s hard to credit that could produce such a strong, rigid connection. Unfortunately, the Hawker Co. were nowhere near as advanced and/or sophisticated and instead used a very heavy structure of metal tubing round the cockpit and wing roots of the Hurricane. They’d used a virtually identical system on earlier biplanes. They even carried this forward to later aircraft and it makes you wonder how much excess weight they could have eliminated from the Typhoon and Tempest if they’d been more up to date with build technology.

[@tyvernoverlord5363]

Its like the Iowa Class Battleships with the hybrid use of rivets and welding, much more could've been done with them if they'd been welded together 100%

[@Slaktrax]

Yes agree, but that formed a safety cage around them and made the planes much tougher too (a confirmed person in believing over-engineering is better)!

[@bobsakamanos4469]

@@Slaktrax the Hurricane had the same vital points as the Spit, maybe more so. Oil, fuel, glycol systems, and a lack of armour on the header tank. The heavy structure (hence poor performance) made it more vulnerable to german fighters, so the Hurricane was a losing proposition. Obsolete by end of 1940.

[@bobsakamanos4469]

Nicely done !

[@retromaniac8bit403]

The Greek MJ755 - Arrived in Athens about a month ago, thank you for the incredible restoration works guys, really and highly appreciated!

[@gregoryjohnson6753]

I have seen photographs of spitfire factories and wonder how much time it took to build an aircraft during the war. Is there any approximate time to build/rebuild a Spitfire at this point in time? I am in awe of the people who are so skilled and dedicated to returning these airplanes to the sky.

[@bobsakamanos4469]

roughly 13,000 man-hours. Three times more than it took to build a Me109.

[@RC-Heli835]

Awesome work! DId you guys get this Spitfire back up and running? I was just wondering if it had been all shot up or maybe crashed? What damaged the wing?

[@ashleyladbrook6823]

Good boy Franco he's a genius

[@simonellerton1412]

Are parts of the v12 used on the resto // or does one aquire a new v12 ?

[@DavidHuber63]

The angry man barking commands is causing agitation

[@simonbaxter8001]

I would have thought those rear spar pins would have been a tighter (more interference) fit than that! Any 'loose' tolerance on spar pins ends up in elongation of the hole in the spar and fuselage brackets when loading and unloading flight loads and torsional loads of the wing in flight.

[@453421abcdefg12345]

Simon Baxter: There are accounts of Spitfires being flow without problems and later found to be without the rear wing attachment bolts being inserted.

[@simonbaxter8001]

@@453421abcdefg12345 Having built aircraft myself, I find that very hard to believe. The torsional twist on the wing would tear the wing of in no time without the rear spar pin to prevent that! Like to know where you heard that bit of folk law!

[@453421abcdefg12345]

@@simonbaxter8001 Folk Law! You are a cheeky bugger, it was directly from Airframe Assemblies IoW, I think it safe to say they have more knowledge on the subject than you do.

[@simonbaxter8001]

@@453421abcdefg12345 Your assuming that I haven't worked in the aerospace business myself ... which I have, for over 20 years! So, not as cheeky as you might think! Plus I can site many GA aircraft accidents that have occurred because of rear spar pin failures, including the aircraft type that I built.

[@MrVolvobloke]

@@simonbaxter8001 this the piece of footage where they describe the missing pin , kzbin.info/www/bejne/n36Zc6x5jrydrs0 skip to 9:50. I can't comment on the validity of the statement though. I just go by what the people who build spitfires every day say.

[@conceptalfa]

There's so many Spitfire builds on the net nowadays, does everyone builds a Spitfire??? Do they sell as kits nowadays???

[@echohunter4199]

Who else is cringing as they fit the warm bolt to the mounting holes? Freeze the bolts then immediately install.

[@EzraMerr]

You don't want that kind of stress in aerodynamic frames that must withstand immense G force

[@gerilynntarvin9402]

you never ever drive a precise fit shoulder bolt in with a hammer- at most you can use a non metallic mallet but not when the fit is that tight.

[@sblack48]

It can only do 5g turns? I doubt that. Should be able to do quite a bit more

[@grahamlamond3179]

I understood that the pins were such a precise fit that they had to be cooled in liquid nitrogen before insertion. Guy Martin was involved in a Spitfire restoration documentary and they spent some time talking on this point, to the extent that even the warmth from Guy’s hand holding the bolt was sufficient to stop it fitting properly.

[@gregtaylor6146]

........ and when you want to remove said pins for servicing/wing removal etc?

[@EzraMerr]

Those were for later models after the war for shows nit actual dogfights , you don't want to have cracks in your metal when you're making a sharp bank and turn

[@vrosi1963]

What happened with the rumors of the Castel Bromwich Merlin motors being buried on the property and possibly one spitfire in a crate