Spitfire PV270 was restored over a five year, three month period by a dedicated team from ITL Aviation. The restoration project was based in our own hangar at Feilding’s Taonui Aerodrome. Restoration on the hulk of PV270 commenced at the start of 2003 and culminated in its first post restoration flight at RNZAF Ohakea on March 18th, 2009. The restoration has resulted in a substantially original aircraft with most fuselage frames and wing ribs able to be refurbished or repaired back to airworthy condition. The restoration followed original wartime materials specifications and including all aluminium being sourced in the UK as well as original equipment and fittings coming from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, USA and Britain. The restoration consumed 35,000 man hours.
The entire ground up restoration was done with New Zealand resources and expertise wherever practicable. Major overseas suppliers included:
Vintage V12s, Tehachapi, USA – Merlin engine rebuild; Skycraft, Litlington, UK – Propeller rebuild; Supermarine Aero, Stoke on Trent, UK – wing spars; Anglia Radiators, Cambridge, UK – radiators rebuild
Project Team: Greg Johnson (Chief Engineer), Pete Burgess, Joe Deere, Gijs Schoutens, Pete Jesten, Daniel Frew, Nicole Waters (part time), Tony Paewai (oil and coolant pipework), Kelvin Yeates and Jim Garner (electrical/avionics)
Certifying engineers – Andrew Lynn, Brian Harris
We acknowledge the considerable input and experience of a number of individuals including Peter Monk (Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar in the UK), Ray Mulqueen, Bruce Gordon, Warren Denholm (AVSPECS), Keith Skilling (Test pilot), Peter Wood, John Lanham plus numerous others who provided help in many ways.