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

A fair amount of effort this month has centred on the wing fairings. These consist of 3 upper an two lower sections and a wrap around leading edge piece. We have completed the fabrication of the upper 6 sections including the support structure and doublers as well as mounting most of the anchor nuts. The underside fairings are well under way and only need the inspection access doors finishing before they two are completed. The leading edge wrap around section will be completed when the lower cowl is fitted. The blanks for these sections are finished. The door for the ground power receptacle has also been finished.

The left wing was removed for a short period and the fuselage painted in the wing root area to allow the final installation of the wiring in that area. The firewall was also prepared and painted at the same time. A number of previously overhauled components from off the firewall were also painted at this time.

The final tapes were fitted to the rudder and this job is now complete. Work has now begun on the elevator covering and at this point the main fabric is all attached and we are into the rib stitching.

Hydraulic and pneumatic plumbing is underway on the firewall and thru the cockpit and pipework has been completed for a number of services. Numerous pipe support blocks have been fabricated and fitted to the frames in readiness for the new pipework. Modern AN filler valves have been sourced and adapters made to incorporate these in the blow down and pneumatic services. A new zero leakage gas valve has been modified to attach to the blow down bottle and the original handle has been modified to fit the new valve. Special 1/8" pipe adaptors have been fabricated for the pipework in the blow down circuit.

We raised the aircraft onto trestles and fitted the man gear to facilitate rigging of the main pintles and lock assemblies. The wheel alignment has been checked and reset and the retract cylinders installed and the gear operated hydraulically to confirm the operation and to set the up and down lock rigging. The wheels are now in for painting and the brake units also.

The 20mm canon barrel fairings have been fabricated and replica muzzle ends machined to fit to the dummy barrels. Both sides are complete and we are now ready to blue the muzzle ends.

The wiring has continued well and we are approx 80% complete in the fuselage at this stage. The main power distribution circuits are complete up to the engine bay and the cabling is installed for the rest of the circuits with only a few terminations yet to be finalised. The ignition circuit is installed to thru the firewall and most of the instrument terminations are complete. The generator circuit is finished up to the firewall. The cables have arrived for the battery hold down clamp.

The clear view section behind the canopy has been completed and installed as has the radio rack in the rear access door along with the installation of the shoulder harness extension cables.

The welding on the exhausts has been mostly completed and the sections can now be removed from the jig and the final welds terminated and the stubs polished.

The engine mount has been prepared and finish painted and has now be mounted permanently to the firewall in readiness for the engine when it arrives.

The windscreen assembly has been completed in England and this along with the sliding canopy is on the way down to us this week. The aileron cables, oil tank and spinner are all also on the way down from the UK.