Warbird Information Exchange

Technically Bob Jens is the only flying Spitfire in Canada
VWC has a nice representation of a Spitfire also but “technically “ this was built from scratch with no hulk to start from . It is a beautifully built “ replica/new build “ .

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

The CWH Spitfire has never been touched and is a very complete original Spitfire .
Yes the rivets will be magnesium so that will have to be dealt with but that’s all part of the game.
I’ll have to research the “accident” you mention but from outward appearances it looks drone and sits on it gear straight and true .

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

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...it was a plane adrift beneath the moon moving serenely thru beams like an angel of the night .....fair as a song ........aloof from mortal dreams

As someone who is not familiar with it, could someone explain the magnesium rivets issue? I presume that they are too weak or have corrosion due to the high reactivity of the material. I know that certain aircraft, such as the XC-99, used magnesium for skin/larger components and this caused long term restoration issues, but I didn't realize there were rivets made out of the stuff.

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Tri-State Warbird Museum Collections Manager & Museum Attendant

Warbird Philosophy Webmaster

Spitfires were built using magnesium rivets, to save weight.
Over time, the strength of the rivets have deteriorated.
Any currently airworthy Spitfire has had its structure repaired or rebuilt with aluminum rivets.
Another challenge to restoring Spitfires is their spars made of nested square tubes. They can be X-rayed to detect corrosion but the process has limitations. Due to the value of an airworthy Spitfire, most have their spars replaced.
No one planned for these things to be flying eighty years later.