Good day, my first post here. (1 Viewer)

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Ghost_71

Airman
16
15
May 2, 2021
Hi thank you for a very informative forum. I have just found this today & it has a ton of good info. I am an aircraft engineer based out of South Africa with the privilege of assisting/starting with the rebuild of the South African Air Forces only remaining Spitfire Mk9 Low back. Things are slow as its hard to find the right drawings (even though i have purchased some 3-4000 drawings) & tooling at an "affordable" cost. But your historic info here is stunning! Thank you!
 
Thank you all! Well, i have taken over(by default) the rebuild as it has been stagnant to dead for the last 20 years. I have only been on project for the last 6 months trying to find as much info as possible. I live in Cape Town, work in Mongolia & have to do the work in Pretoria at Zwartkops air force base. So its a bit of a jumble at the moment. We plan to start with all the smaller panels & bits we can afford to do without much money & then as we get working to start with the larger more time/cost consuming items. So planning planning planning! We also need to put up a hanger to do this project in as the museum has no real space for this project so that will take time & costs to. The guys at the friends of the museum are grate & keen but there is so much need there that one does not know were to start. Not much help from the SAAF or civvies sadly! But as we progress I will post some pictures!
Thanks again for an awesome forum! I hope to get lots of advise from the experienced here!!

Mainly28, we may need to draft you sir to find some Spitfire bits for us that side of the pond!! Glad your here!!
 
Great to know that you're getting to grips with this project. A low-back Mk.IX though - should that really be a Mk.XVI ?
Sad that there is little, if any, support from the SAAF and /or other sources - any chance of help / grants / loans from the Government or other relevant "authorities", as part of SA's heritage ?
Sharing information in the "warbird" community seems to be fairly good, so maybe if you contact the Aircraft Restoration Company, at Duxford airfield, Cambridgeshire, UK, they might be able to help with drawings, info, advice, or even just encouragement., or at least point you in the right direction for useful contacts.
Good luck with the project, and keep us up-dated.
 
Thank you all! Appreciate the welcome. Currently in Mongolia so no real pictures or progress to share sadly!

Airframes: Yes i had the same question about the MkIX vers MkXVI, The build plate says its a MkIX & looks like it was a limited batch run as a prelude to the MkXVI but with out the newer engine & smaller upgrades. But still researching that one so i stand to be corrected. Sadly in South Africa finances are very tight all around. The SAAF hardly has money for fuel to fly there current fleet so to help with money for this "historic aircraft" is not big. In all fairness there are many who are as helpful as possible from the SAAF. With all the lock downs its also been a killer on any marketing or shows to generate cash flow. But if it was easy i would have been very late for this party! Then is that there is a lot of money to be made with WW2 restoring & restored aircraft. So the big green monster also seems to be a factor in getting any help. Have sent Duxford & a number of other people in the restoration game but not much response. But i am a nobody as yet in this game! So i am patient!

Crimea_River Crimea_River : Yes the struggle is very real! To find all the drawings seems to be a real problem. The guys that have them also hang onto them! I will try see if we have any info in our archives for the Mozzi, we have one in one of our museums but dont think she will ever fly again.

Mainly28s Mainly28s : Nice to know i have a local on board! Will keep you posted for sure! Thank you.

Thank you all! Much appreciate the support & will do my best to keep you all updated. It is still early days & many hoops, hurdles & egos to work through.
 

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What is the goal of the rebuild? Given the budget issues, I'm assuming static. Does the engine run?
The end goal is to see her fly again. The engine has a cracked crank case but can be repaired The propeller took the brunt of the damage. We will try our best to get her flying again but if we can not manage that we will get her looking good enough to display.
 
If there was a prop strike there may be further internal damage to the engine. But I'm sure you'll be checking all that.
 

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