THE RESTORATION DEPARTMENT

Our restoration department has steadily grown over the years and is now housed within the purpose built Hangar 425, a part of our industry leading facility at the Eastern end of IWM Duxford Airfield.  Operating as a major department of the wider Aircraft Restoration Company, this team is really the result of the successful merger of two organisations, these being Historic Flying Ltd and Propshop Ltd.

Historic Flying Limited was formed in the late 1980’s to initially restore five Spitfires from the Royal Air Force’s stock of Gate Guardians.  The first of these projects, Spitfire XVI RW382, was finished and took off on it’s first post restoration flight in 1991.  Since that first milestone, the team have restored approximately a third of the world’s flying Spitfires, and have become synonymous with this most famous of British Aircraft.

Propshop Ltd was founded by John Romain, initially as a way of building a team to restore the second Bristol Blenheim IV project G-BPIV.  It was based within a small workshop on Duxford Airfield called ‘Building 66’, which soon picked up the nickname ‘Blenheim Palace’ among those on site.  It wasn’t only the Blenheim project which Propshop Ltd found themselves working on in those early years as the development of Duxford Airfield began to flourish into an oasis for the warbird scene.  Soon Propshop Ltd had a selection of restorations on build, as well as providing maintenance services to the collectors of many of the vintage flying machines which had made Duxford their home.  A few years after forming, Propshop Ltd began trading as ‘Aircraft Restoration Company’ the name which would eventually become the umbrella for everything we are today.

In 2001, under the ownership of Karel Boss, Historic Flying Ltd moved from Audley End to Duxford Airfield, and into the newly completed ‘Hangar 425’ which it would share with Propshop Ltd (by this time more commonly known as Aircraft Restoration Company, or ‘ARCo’ for short).  The two companies were now both under the management of John Romain, and began working closely together, transferring skills, knowledge, and experience in order to grow the collaborative abilities on offer to clients.  In time it was Karel Bos’ desire to step away from Historic Flying Ltd, and allow John to take over the business fully, which he did in December 2007.

Over the following decade, both companies continued to develop and grow, side by side.  The teams were now fully integrated with one another and as a result were able to provide a wide array of specialist skills on site, elevating our overall in-house capabilities to industry leading levels.  By this stage the official marrying of the two companies into one organisation was largely complete.  In 2016 we opened the doors to the Stephenson Hangar, which now houses our maintenance department, whilst Hangar 425 is dedicated entirely to restoration.  The Restoration Department is headed by the experienced hand of accomplished engineer and pilot Martin ‘Mo’ Overall.

Below is a list of Spitfires that have been put back into the skies by our restoration team over the years.

• 1991 - Spitfire XVI RW382 - Full Rebuild

• 1992 - Spitfire IX TE566 - Full Rebuild

• 1992 - Spitfire XVIII TP280 - Full Rebuild

• 1992 - Spitfire TD248 - Full Rebuild

• 1994 - Spitfire XIV NH799 - Full Rebuild

• 1995 - Spitfire XIV SM832 - Full Rebuild

• 1995 - Spitfire Vb EP120 - Full Rebuild

• 1995 - Spitfire IX MH434 - Major Overhaul

• 1996 - Spitfire Vc AR614 - Full Rebuild

• 1997 - Spitfire Vb AB910 - Major Overhaul

• 1997 - Spitfire XIX PM631 - Major Overhaul

• 1997 - Spitfire Vb BM597 - Full Rebuild

• 2000 - Spitfire XVIII SM845 - Full Rebuild

• 2000 - Spitfire IX MK912 - Full Rebuild

• 2002 - Spitfire XIV RN201 - Full Rebuild

• 2004 - Spitfire XIX PS915 - Major Overhaul ~ BBMF Maintenance Schedule

• 2005 - Spitfire T9 IAC-161 - PV202 - Full Rebuild

• 2005 - Spitfire IX TA805 - Full Rebuild

• 2006 - Spitfire XVI RW386 - Full Rebuild

• 2006 - Spitfire Vc JG891 - Full Rebuild

• 2007 - Spitfire IX PL344 - Major Overhaul

Following on from above, here is a list of aircraft other than Spitfires that we have put back into the skies over the years.

THE Ia SPITFIRES
P9374 & N3200

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Ia
P9374

Spitfire P9374, model F Mk 1a, operational with 92 Squadron was shot down/force landed on the beach at Calais, France, on 24th May 1940. Recovered from the beach in September 1980, it was stored at the Musee del’Air, Vannes, France, until 1996. Purchased by Simon Marsh and Tom Kaplan it was registered as G-MKIA and stored pending restoration to airworthy status. The aircraft arrived at Historic Flying Ltd. in 2006 from its storage place on the Isle of Wight, and has been the subject of a long and meticulous restoration. The intention was to return the aircraft to flying status in as authentic a condition as possible. While other projects were completed and moved on, P9374 was hiding at the back of the hangar, slowly coming together like a very complicated Airfix kit. 

Now looking resplendent in original markings, the first engine runs took place on Friday 17th June 2011, a proud moment for all involved. P9374 took to the air on August 30, 2011 and it is the earliest mark of Spitfire flying anywhere in the world. That’s definitely one for the record books!

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Ia
N3200

With it’s Rolls-Royce Merlin III engine, full outfit of armament, manually pumped undercarriage, hidden modern radio equipment and two-stage metal prop, Spitfire Ia N3200 is perhaps the most authentic airworthy Spitfire seen anywhere in the world today.  Since its first post restoration flight in 2014 the Spitfire has lived at Duxford, operated by our maintenance department on behalf of the Imperial War Museum.  If you’d like to read more about this one-of-a-kind time capsule, you can find further information on N3200’s dedicated page within our Aircraft Stable.

During the painstaking restoration of Spitfire N3200, we were approached by Guy Martin and his team to see if there would be scope to produce a documentary on the build.  Needless to say we were very happy to accommodate Guy within the hangars, and what a charming chap he is too.  A man after our own heart in his pursuit of excellence and love of mechanical engineering.  If you have a spare hour or so, and you haven’t seen it before, this documentary is now available on Guy’s YouTube channel, which we have added below.