Did we Break the Spitfire?

[Charl]

See, Junior & I ambled off to Ardmore around midday to have a gander at the old stuff.
Stopped off and gawped at the beautiful 2-seater Spit.
The restoration is very very good - it diesn't look "Re-done" but rather like a well-cared for prize.
So one of the dudes in orange says: "Oi, give us a hand to get this over there!"
Huh? Oh, you mean that Spitfire?
Um sure, all in a day's outing, mate.
So we grabbed a wing and shoved it out where it could be sensibly started, it rolls amazingly easily.
Would we ever wash our hands again? Probably not, any event not where we'd touched that hallowed wing trailing edge.
The reward:



And then...that puddle of fuel when it was primed...right under where we'd grabbed hold.
Jeepers!
After the firetruck arrived and contained the pond, we drooped off and called it a day.
On the way out, some Boys' Toys caught my eye.



Other photos have or will be posted by others along the flightline - I spent more time looking than shooting.
Hope to see the Spit in the sky one day; still it was a memorable outing for the two of us!

[Adamski]

QUOTE (Charl @ Dec 7 2008, 09:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So we grabbed a wing and shoved it out where it could be sensibly started, it rolls amazingly easily.
Would we ever wash our hands again? Probably not, any event not where we'd touched that hallowed wing training edge.

And then...that puddle of fuel when it was primed...right under where we'd grabbed hold.
Jeepers!

You SWINE!!! You broke our Spit!!!!! Was your dad in the Luftwaffe?

I was wondering whether having the Spit out there, fuelled up in the baking sun could've been a problem. Pressure build-up of some sort? Do aircraft have vents for this sort of eventuality?

I couldn't believe it ... he was all strapped in ... ready to go. Mind you, glad it happened when it did

[Charl]

Tell you what, if that fuel puddle had lit up before the fire truck had arrived, I'd have been over the tape and beaten out the fire with my bare hands...

[Adamski]

QUOTE (Charl @ Dec 7 2008, 10:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tell you what, if that fuel puddle had lit up before the fire truck had arrived, I'd have been over the tape and beaten out the fire with my bare hands...

LOL! I'd have done what any Boy Scout would have done ... and probably have been arrested on the spot!

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (Charl @ Dec 7 2008, 09:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Would we ever wash our hands again?

Charl - Nov 4 2007 ............. Egads a rare priviledge, kicking those vintage tyres...
I hope y'all made the right sound effects,

I guess they'd be the most polished leading edges of any two seat spitty in the world ............ psssss make em fly faster to

sneaky photo edit

[ardypilot]

We were up by the cafe, listening to my scanner, when we heard the guy in the tower say 'No spitfire display then?', heard the 'Negative' response, then my batteries died (bloody typical thing to happen at an airshow)- was wondering what the story was, but know now it was all because you were gripping that wing so tight that you obviously punctured the wing!

Oh well, I guess it was fate though, bearing in mind that she failed to fly at three other advertised shows this year (Whitianga, Wanaka and Ohakea). Maybe next time?