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Alastair Gunn's Spitfire found

S

stansdds

SOH-CM-2025
A very rare reconnaissance Spitfire has been found in Norway. This particular Spitfire was last piloted by Alastair Gunn. Who is Alastair Gunn? He was one of the participants in a POW escape that was later to be titled "The Great Escape". He was also one of the prisoners who was executed by the SS for the escape. His Spitfire has been recovered and the plan is to not only restore it, but to restore it to flying condition.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...pMlLJs4ZaDeTFcBeXLwEWh9JviuBFH8fldLaoggco9gM4
 
Found intact? This sure as heck doesn't look much like "intact" to me... :dizzy:
C6wZO.png
 
Here is the AA810 foundation's description that originally accompanied that image:

"We are proud to release this image of recovered wreckage of AA810. This layout was created in Norway shortly after the recovery and only comprises the parts which were immediately identifiable and able to be positioned on the stage. When AA810 impacted the mountainside, the crash site was largely covered in deep snow, which did a huge amount to cushion the impact. The wreckage slowly pushed through the snow and sunk into the soft peat ground below. Localised burning post impact is evident but the extent was mostly limited to the engine cowlings. As much original structure as possible will be incorporated into the rebuild. With around 70% of the aircraft recovered, the process of stripping and inspecting potential usable parts is a considerable undertaking and has been ongoing since August 2018. As is common with bog recoveries, steel parts have suffered considerably but the aluminium parts have been largely corrosion free. With modern heat treatment processes, as long as original material is not torn, it is perfectly possible to soften the material, reshape to original, and heat treat again to the required specification, thus ensuring as much original material can be reused. Concentrating on the fuselage initially, once the serviceable items have been identified, they will make their way to the sub-contractor to be utilized in the manufacture of new airframe parts where needed. Some identifiable, but un-serviceable and un-restorable, parts will be incorporated into various memorial projects for the men of the PRU. However, the project wishes to make it clear that not a single piece of original material, even if unserviceable, will ever be disposed of."

There were a couple of extra 1-ton bags of other recovered parts that weren't incorporated in that image. When completed, it will be the only flying Spitfire PR.IV variant.
 
Are there any other PR IVs around?
It will have more original parts in it than a few of the current "restorations", and, if you've followed the recovery and rebuild of Donald Campbell's "Bluebird", which has over 90% original material, (check it out - bloody amazing), you'll know how much material can be saved these days.
 
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