W.S. Shackleton Ltd letter dated 27/4/1959 saying cargo was at the King George V Dock, London and will depart on the 12/5/1959. The aircraft arrived on the 10/06/1959 on the ship the S.S. Queensland Star, and a Mr Bob Ashley offered to assemble the Spitfire in Perth for the Association as his experience was on Spitfires in the R.A.F. from 1946 to 1951 covering Marks IV to IX, XIV and XXIV. The aircraft arrived in a big wooden box at the Royal Flying Club at Perth Airport. Due to it being mounted on a plinth/pole, the weight had to be reduced and the seat, instrument panel, controls, control cables, wiring, balance weights, etc, were removed. Four new bolts were manufactured by Vickers Hoskins for attaching the wings, also four 20mm cannon barrels were also manufactured by them. Repairs were made to the fuselage that had been damaged after it fell from trestles in England. A tubular structure had arrived with the aircraft and that was fitted so that the engine cowl rails, cowls, exhausts and the propeller and spinner assembly could be installed. The aircraft was fitted to the pole via the undercarriage mounts by a u shaped mount and two rear supports were installed from the drop tank support on the fuselage to the pole.
Why did they have the Spitfire mounted on a plinth/pole diving at an angle of 30 to 40 degrees down and starboard wing low, while in the late fifties most WW2 aircraft were placed on their undercarriages in a parked position ? Putting the Spitfire above ground, plus one wing low and with the look of flying not only removed the plane from being vandalised but to a photographer you can gain from all angles the photos that covered all aspects of the design and contours of the aircraft. This plinth/pole is in 2018 still being used on a fibreglass Spitfire replica and looks to be still holding this plane up for a long time yet. Compared to some aircraft today with a pole up the rear end of them and the front leaping into the air, it has a more dignified and not painful look that would make anything leap into the air.
Due to the location of the Association Villa in the centre of the City and with multi storey offices being built all around it, the association was now finding that their gamble of buying the Villa years earlier was going to pay off due to the value of the land going up. They sold these premises and bought land in Bullcreek, Perth. This allowed them to further their aims of not only having an Association Headquarters, but having a retirement village and care centre to further their welfare charter for ex service people. The Spitfire was removed from its plinth/pole and plane and plinth/pole transferred to Bullcreek and put back on display.
As the Spitfire arrived in Australia without a Rolls Royce Griffon engine, during 1991 a Mr Peter Wood of the company in Britain called Westwood Portway Group wanted Rolls Royce Kestrel Reduction Gear and would be happy to swap it for Griffon engine parts of crankcase (ex Griffon 58),Sump, 2 Banks( Skirts, similar to Griffon 66), 2 Cylinder heads Ex 58, 2 damaged Griffon 66 cam boxes , plus a box made up of various parts. A lucky encounter with a pilot from Cathay Pacific Airlines led to the Kestrel parts being sent to Britain free of charge. A long period of time from when the Kestrel parts arrived in Britain to the Griffon engine being dispatched to Australia, created an anxiety that was felt by the Association as they thought it was not going to happen and they may have written off the Kestrel Reduction Gear as a lost cause. A letter to a friend in the U.K. had him check out the position of the Griffon engine parts. It was found that the parts were going to be dispatched by June 1993, it had been hard making up the Griffon kit of parts. Mr Wood did honour his side of the agreement and we have a static Rolls Royce Griffon on display to this day in 2018.
Last edited by DADE on Sat Nov 17, 2018 2:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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