Here is the July 07 report on the rebuild of BL628 the Spitfire V.

Once again the paint job is the dominant job this month. The wings were the first to receive the top coat followed by the fuselage. Most of the national markings have been applied as have the warning and limitation markings and stencils on the upper and lower wing surfaces. The squadron codes have been made in template form ready to apply.

Further progress has also been made this month on the engine cowls The forward lower cowl is now complete.

With the paintwork mostly complete, it has been possible to get the main assembly underway also. The wings have been permanently fitted as have the oil coolers and radiator. The engine has been installed and the majority of the plumbing in the engine bay has been completed. The throttle lay shaft has been made to match the carb layout. The landing gear has been fitted and the brakes plumbed and leak tested.

We have continued with the canopy assembly with all the components completed and the new bubble rebated to fit the frame. The forward screen fairing has been fabricated also.

We have fabricated the carb inlet scoop flange and drawn plans for the inlet elbow and this is currently under construction.

The flaps have been installed as have the ailerons and the control cables fitted for the ailerons. The pipework for the flaps has been connected also.

The pitot head and plumbing has also been installed permanently.

The engine was delivered without CSU oil delivery lines, so we have manufactured new banjo fitting ends and formed the pipes as per samples we had off the XVI.

We have fabricated and installed the ballast weight bar that is installed in the cavity below the fin.

The seat armour has been fabricated from new stock and is now fitted to the seat with the harness and is ready to install.

The gun sight mount is now all finished as is the GPS mount which shares the same bracket. It should be possible to fly with the GPS installed and in a matter of moments swap the GPS for the original gun sight when the aircraft is on display. The comm. and transponder have been mounted within the map case, so when the aircraft is on display, there will be no sign of any modern radio equipment.