CWHM gains ownership of several long term loaned aircraft.

[Fleet16b]

Good news.
I was surprised that (according to the"number flying" thread here) there is only one airworthy Spitfire in Canada.

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 “ .

Last edited by Fleet16b on Thu Nov 03, 2022 8:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Fleet16b]

If this Spitfire is all original, doesn't that mean it will have magnesium rivets?
Those would likely all have to be replaced.
I think it would justify a complete rebuild.
It's history also says that it was retired after an accident, so that too would justify total rebuild.
Definitely worth it. I don't think they will have trouble finding donors to help pay. There are far too few Spitfires in Canada.

Andy

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 .

[Fleet16b]

I

[Noha307]

Yes the rivets will be magnesium so that will have to be dealt with but that’s all part of the game.

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.

[DH82EH]

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.