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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2295.PDF
300 FLIGHT International, 20 August I9i Spitfire Props HOW DOWTY ROTOL HELPED IN A RESTORATIOl Hearing completion at the Dowty Rotol fac- tory: the Spitfire 9 propeller (foreground) and the five-bladed unit for the Mk 19. Mr D. F. Ancdl, assistant repair manager, is in the foreground on the lefi THE Battle of Britain, in which the Spitfire featured so promi-nently, is now almost 25 years away. But for Dowty RotolLtd, the Gloucester firm that made the historic aircraft's propeller, time stands still. At least, that was the way it seemed recently when the firm was called on to rebuild three Spitfire propellers, each from a different source. There is only the most superficial similarity between the Spitfire props and those Dowty Rotol builds today for the Hawker Siddeley 748, Fokker Friendship and NAMCO YS-11. But a considerable number of highly skilled technicians in the firm's propeller department worked upon Spit units years ago and retain their know-how. In addition, some spares were already available. A few years ago the firm converted all the Spanish Air Force Messerschmitt 109 fighters to Spitfire propellers. In an odd twist of fate, the two great rivals employed virtually identical props—hence the odd "mar- riage." Spitfire spares had been retained in the Dowty Rotol stores ever since, and the company used these parts, along with others acquired from Belgium, to rebuild the propellers and keep the three Spitfires flying. The aircraft involved are two Merlin-powered Mk 9s with four-bladed propellers and a PR. 19 using a five-blader to absorb the increased power of its two-stage Griffon engine. The five-blade propeller, specially designed to deliver maximum thrust over 30,000ft, helped make the 19, and the earlier Mk 14 (then styled XIV), very effective high-altitude aircraft, and it was a Mk XIV that claimed the first Me262 jet fighter to be shot down by the Allies, on October 5, 1944. The two Spitfire 9s are now privately owned and flown by Mr J. Fairey of Stockbridge, Hants, and Mr T. A. Davies of London. However, it is the Mk 19 that we deal with particularly here. It belongs to the air museum at Ontario International Airport, California. This museum—a non-profit-making, but intensely active, organization dedicated to preserving aeronautical heritage— owns 75 historic aircraft, 18 of which are capable of flight. Others, including the Spitfire, are being rebuilt. The museum obtained its Spit as a gift from the King of Thailand, and it was brought back to California by a CL-44 freighter of the Flying Tiger Line. When restoration work got under way the badge of No 8 Squadron, RAF, was discovered under five coats of paint. It; interesting to note that a PR. 19 aircraft of 81 Sqn had the distinctio of making the RAF's last operational sortie with a first-line Spitfin in Malaya on April 1,1954. One of the big snags encountered in th restoration was the propeller. Its plastic coating had eroded, t expose the laminated wood of which it is constructed. Then Walter M. "Bud" Mahurin entered the picture. Mahurir a World War 2 Thunderbolt ace who holds the DFC and a recor of 21 aircraft shot down, is now Deputy Director of Advance Programs Development for North American Aviation's Space an Information Systems Division. His acquaintance with the Spitfire during the war was only; fleeting one and, keen to know the famous British fighter better, b was anxious that it should be restored to flying status. So he con tacted a World War 2 friend, top-scoring British fighter ac "Johnny" Johnson—now AVM J. E. Johnson, Air Officer Com manding Air Forces Middle East—to ask for his help. Th renowned Spitfire exponent suggested that Mahurin should get i touch with the original makers; so Mahurin wrote to Dowty Roto whom he described as "a court of last appeal." However, the appeal was granted, for Dowty Rotol agreed ti rebuild the propeller, which was then dispatched from Califomi aboard a Boeing C-97 of the California Air National Guard Everything seemed to be running smoothly, when disaster struck While the C-97 was refuelling at Lajes in the Azores a B-47 witl fuel trouble was forced to make an emergency landing. In doing si it collided with the parked C-97, extensively damaging both aircraft But the uncrated propeller was recovered from amongst th wreckage (its appearance cause some bewilderment), and eventu ally arrived at Gloucester, where Dowty Rotol started on the job Although wooden blades have long been a thing of the past, repai proceeded smoothly. A great help was the availability of a suitabl hydraulic governor unit and spinner. A hold-up occurred, however while a search ensued for certain smaller—but nevertheless vital- assemblies, such as oil tubes. In this connection the great knowledge of propeller lore retaine< by D. F. "Jock" Ancell, Dowty Rotol's assistant repair manager was of great value. Ancell, a former Rotol service engineer, di( great work with the RAF in France in 1940, patching up Spitfiri and Hurricane props so that the badly-needed aircraft could h thrown back into battle. He was already in France when war brok' out, as Rotol props were finding favour there at the time. After the war many Continental air forces used British aircraft and Dowty Rotol props, and Jock Ancell renewed his acquaintance ship with these countries. Thus, when it came to finding parts foi the American Spitfire, he was able to trace a considerable numba in the warehouse of a Brussels surplus-supplies firm. With tin components available, the "old hands" at Gloucester rebuilt the unit and eventually the five-blader emerged looking very much as it did when it left the factory more than 20 years before. It was then flown back to California. The Mk 19 Spitfire owned by the Air Museum at Ontario, Calif, in partially assembled state shortly after arrival by ait from Thailand
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