Spitfire K9817 Build

Forever, Britain's most cherished Crown Jewel
User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Killratio »

Yeah Lewis, Dom did a fantastic job.

I'm impatient now to get some of the more structural jobs done.
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Killratio »

A little bit of research, some lathe time, some brass, a little bit of drawing, a little bit of laser time...and a 1958 clock becomes a 1938 Smiths Mk III

Image

Image


Image
Last edited by Killratio on 07 Dec 2020, 17:46, edited 1 time in total.
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
Lewis - A2A
A2A Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 33284
Joined: 06 Nov 2004, 23:22
Location: Norfolk UK
Contact:

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Lewis - A2A »

WOW, bloody beautiful :shock: :shock: :shock:

Love seeing this come together as always KR. And seeing your little physical real world hacks turn the clock back a few decades 8) 8) (Lewis pun maker) :mrgreen:

cheers,
A2A Facebook for news live to your social media newsfeed
A2A Youtube because a video can say a thousand screenshots,..
A2A Simulations Twitter for news live to your social media newsfeed
A2A Simulations Community Discord for voice/text chat

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Killratio »

Cheers Lewis. I confess to enjoying the instruments a little too much and overcapitalising (time wise) on them!!!

It has just occurred to me that I never got around to putting up the completed seat photos here...so to remedy that:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image


Very early black painted seat, no hand hold in rear, full length backrest (no cutout for hand hold)
Seat lift gate fitted. Leather rubbing patch to protect the parachute ripchord fitted. The mountings
for armour are also there, even though the armour itself is removed for for PRU service. All part of
constructing the seat (and the whole cockpit) as being manufactured in original spec and then
modified in service. I build and THEN make these changes, so the "look" is right and the thing
does not look to have been built WITH the mods originally.
Last edited by Killratio on 08 Dec 2020, 03:02, edited 1 time in total.
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
DHenriques_
A2A Chief Pilot
Posts: 5711
Joined: 27 Mar 2009, 08:31
Location: East Coast United States

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by DHenriques_ »

Killratio wrote: 07 Dec 2020, 21:44 Cheers Lewis. I confess to enjoying the instruments a little too much and overcapitalising (time wise) on them!!!

It has just occurred to me that I never got around to putting up the completed seat photos here...so to remedy that:
Seeing that seat brought back some memories. The seat in the Mustang had that same forward lip and bucket to accomodate a 3 pin 28 ft canopy military seat chute which I never used. I used a back pack. The crew designed a seat cushion that filled the bucket for me but left that forward lip intact.
After I landed the 51, a "trick" I learned from Hoover was to avoid S taxiing on the long taxiways back to the various ramps at the shows where we took the Mustang. To avoid the S I would undue the harness and belt and semi-stand up in the pit so my head was just above the windshield top bow. This put that lip hard against the back of my legs.
On the days when I did this I'd get back to the hotel to find two red welts across the back of my legs. Usually took several days to get rid of those. LOL
Dudley

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Killratio »

Glad to bring back memories for you Dudley!

I don't blame you for junking the seat parachute. I used mine exactly ONCE in the simulator, for 20 minutes and suffered for days.
Designed for younger backs, obviously. My own silk ended up stowed in a cupboard and was replaced by a comparatively "luxurious" cushion, inside the 'chute pack :) :) :)

I've never had (nor wished) to wear a parachute in a real aircraft as out here they are not compulsory for aerobatics and we never used them, even in the Extra. The thinking goes, I guess,
that if you need to use the parachute, as an untrained mug, your chances of getting out in one piece are negligible, let alone the chance of "sticking" a landing.

Merry Christmas to you and your good lady, Mate!

(And to you and yours, Lewis )
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
Dreamsofwings
A2A Mechanic
Posts: 615
Joined: 16 Aug 2015, 08:00
Location: EGLK
Contact:

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Dreamsofwings »

Love seeing this coming along! Fascinating stuff. 8)
Image

Dreamsofwings youtube channel https://m.youtube.com/c/Dreamsofwings
@dreamsofwings1 page on Facebook. Dreamsofwings1 on Instagram & Twitter

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Killratio »

Thanks Rob!

Another little morsel, this time, the Smiths Horn used for undercarriage warning. These were, literally, grabbed from Motorbike suppliers and pressed into
service.

Here it is fitted in a very early Spitfire... centre of frame.

Image



And this is an original.

Image


The chrome top is a 3d print from Ross, the body is made from light steel tube (4") with a rim cut from an old tin. The body is painted with some sand mixed in to replicate a rough cast unit.
I made two of these at once, one for Ross and one for me.

Image

Image

Image

Image


At the moment it has a motorbike mount but one of my small jobs is to recreate THIS mounting, pics courtesy of a mate who works on Spitfires.

Image
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
Jacques
Senior Master Sergeant
Posts: 2376
Joined: 26 Jun 2011, 17:54
Location: West Coast, USA

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Jacques »

I can’t emphasize enough how much respect I have for your innovations and imagination! I look forward to every single post you make on the K9817 build!

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Killratio »

Thank you Sir!!!

I have received great help, encouragement and advice from some really top people, which makes life easier. In particular, Steve Phillips has been fantastic. He has been building Spitfires for 50 odd years and built a lot of P9374. Without people like him, Ross Ebzery and a few others (I won't name them for fear of missing someone) K9817 would not be half of what she will be.

I had the chance to buy a real, pristine, Smiths Horn recently but I have been helping with some advice, research and procurement for a project that is restoring an early Photo Recon bird to flying condition and she deserved that a lot more than a static reproduction does!!!

So my little replica will have to do.


More soon.

Thanks

Darryl
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
MkIV Hvd
A2A Mechanic
Posts: 1214
Joined: 11 Mar 2019, 21:36
Location: CYYC

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by MkIV Hvd »

DHenriquesA2A wrote: 07 Dec 2020, 22:43 After I landed the 51, a "trick" I learned from Hoover was to avoid S taxiing on the long taxiways back to the various ramps at the shows where we took the Mustang. To avoid the S I would undue the harness and belt and semi-stand up in the pit so my head was just above the windshield top bow. This put that lip hard against the back of my legs.
On the days when I did this I'd get back to the hotel to find two red welts across the back of my legs. Usually took several days to get rid of those. LOL
Dudley
Hahaha, that brings back good memories for me too as I learned the Harvard version of that trick from Bud Granley. The angle must have been different however, as I don't remember welts :mrgreen:

Cheers,
Rob
Rob Wilkinson
A2A: Civilian Mustang, T-6, Bonanza, Comanche, Cub, C182, Spitfire, P-40, Cherokee, P-51 - VATSIM P4 and some other stuff...

User avatar
DHenriques_
A2A Chief Pilot
Posts: 5711
Joined: 27 Mar 2009, 08:31
Location: East Coast United States

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by DHenriques_ »

MkIV Hvd wrote: 10 Dec 2020, 10:12
DHenriquesA2A wrote: 07 Dec 2020, 22:43 After I landed the 51, a "trick" I learned from Hoover was to avoid S taxiing on the long taxiways back to the various ramps at the shows where we took the Mustang. To avoid the S I would undue the harness and belt and semi-stand up in the pit so my head was just above the windshield top bow. This put that lip hard against the back of my legs.
On the days when I did this I'd get back to the hotel to find two red welts across the back of my legs. Usually took several days to get rid of those. LOL
Dudley
Hahaha, that brings back good memories for me too as I learned the Harvard version of that trick from Bud Granley. The angle must have been different however, as I don't remember welts :mrgreen:

Cheers,
Rob
In the 51 you hit the harness release freeing yourself from that. Then you sort of half stand up with your weight on your heels and your feet half way up the pedals. You are leaning against the forward lip of the seat that at my height ran across the back of both thighs. If you needed some rudder you switched weight to one foot using the other on the pedal.
Naturally this worked fine for those long straight taxiway runs and not quite so well on the short runs with turns. I'd sort of pick the times when I did this. An added benefit was that standing like this put your face just above the top of the windshield bow and on those hot days with that 11'2" fan up front even at idle you got quite a breeze. I lost a good pair of Raybans to that breeze one hot afternoon at Dulles. LOL
Dudley

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Killratio »

A fun little side project using two original light sockets and machined covers.
The covers are machine plumbing fittings, the long bracket is fabricated from ali
and the fixed bracket is machined from ali bar stock. The red light covers are laser cut by Chris
in coloured, transparent acrylic.


Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

User avatar
Lewis - A2A
A2A Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 33284
Joined: 06 Nov 2004, 23:22
Location: Norfolk UK
Contact:

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Lewis - A2A »

Very cool indeed, and some great regular posting, thanks so much KR for the recent photo heavy updates 8) 8) Bloody awesome, its like a Blue Peter heres one I made earlier coming together :mrgreen:

cheers,
Lewis
A2A Facebook for news live to your social media newsfeed
A2A Youtube because a video can say a thousand screenshots,..
A2A Simulations Twitter for news live to your social media newsfeed
A2A Simulations Community Discord for voice/text chat

User avatar
Killratio
A2A Spitfire Crew Chief
Posts: 5785
Joined: 29 Jul 2008, 23:41
Location: The South West of the large island off the north coast of Tasmania
Contact:

Re: Spitfire K9817 Build

Post by Killratio »

Thanks Lewis! Happy to entertain...


Some more fruits of detailed research and contact with people holding very early pieces from crashed/broken up aircraft.
It is slightly ironic that the most well preserved and best looked after Spitfires are often the most "inaccurate" as references
for "Factory" aircraft. They were all so heavily modified in service, in the normal course of things, that they are all but useless
to prove/disprove any theory on the very early production of any marque.

This time the fuel system. From looking at Battle of Britain crash wreckage and other early stuff, it became obvious that the
fuel system labeling was originally in RED rather than black. P9374 and N3200 missed this. The Automatic Boost Cut-Out Override
was later red but early on it was natural finish but with red lettering.

Image

Image

Image
<Sent from my 1988 Sony Walkman with Dolby Noise Reduction and 24" earphone cord extension>


Image

new reply

Return to “Spitfire MkI/II”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests