Salvation of a Spitfire: For 40 years it lay decaying. Now it’s soaring againTaking to the skies again over the green fields of England for the first time since it was downed during World War II, this Spitfire in its British standard camouflage colours epitomises the heroic defiance of our island nation against the might of the Nazi onslaught.
The stunning sight above Biggin Hill airfield in South-East London is the result of an eight-year restoration project which cost £3 million.
The Mk1 Supermarine Spitfire – one of just three in existence which are still airworthy – has been completely rebuilt using original Spitfire parts salvaged from aircraft which flew in the Battle of Britain. Its reconstruction was made possible only after a team of some 30 dedicated restorers gathered the parts from more than 20 aircraft enthusiasts from all over the UK.
The plane had lain submerged in a North Yorkshire river for decades after 20-year-old fighter pilot Howard Squire bailed out during a training exercise in 1940. It came to light only when water levels fell during the 1976 drought, exposing the wreckage embedded in a clay riverbank.
The wrecked plane ended up in the hands of a North Yorkshire collector, and some years later it came to the attention of former commercial pilot Peter Monk, 48, who supervised the restoration. Howard Squire first flew the Spitfire aged 20 during the Battle of Britain
The Cockpit fuselage underwent restoration in Biggin Hill, and was returned to the glorious condition of 71 years ago Mr Monk, who runs The Spitfire Company at Biggin Hill – which reconstructs old planes – and is considered to be the world’s leading expert on early Spitfire restoration, took ownership of the legendary fighter in 2004, in exchange for a truckload of Avro Lancaster bomber parts.
‘I was on the search for Spitfire parts, so I went to see this chap in Yorkshire,’ explains Mr Monk. ‘He mentioned he had some wreckage in store and I was taken aback by how much there was of it. There was the fuselage, engine, propeller and a third of each wing. There was more than enough to start a restoration.’
The project was given a huge boost when the Spitfire was bought – for an amount Mr Monk says he found ‘very difficult to refuse’ – by Texan businessman Dan Friedkin. Dan, 46, and his billionaire father, Tom, now have two airworthy Mk1s. The other is owned by the Queen.
Peter Monk was kept on to supervise the restoration. ‘The whole point was to use as many original parts as possible,’ he says. ‘It would have been easy to get these parts made new, but I would rather get in the car and drive 100 miles if an original part exists. It’s a testament to how…
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