Our restoration of Spitfire MkVb, BL688 continues in earnest. The last month has seen work progress on Frame 5 with the fabrication and initial fitting of the closure pieces for the outer side members. The side members came to us over sized from Airframe Assemblies on the Isle of Wight and have now been trimmed to fit in accordance with original part drawings prior to being fitted to Frame 5 with their respective closure pieces which we have fabricated ourselves.
We have also been progressing with the forward lower longeron assemblies for BL688. These are quite complicated shapes to hand form, with continuously changing profiles and angles which help to form the classic sweeping shape of the Spitfire fuselage. These have been expertly formed by our new sheet metal worker, Laurent – more about him in a future post!
