Paul Coggan ventures into Constable country to witness for himself the progress on the latest two masterpieces from Tony Ditheridge's Hawker Restorations.
The last time we visited Hawker Restorations for the first of a two part feature article was in July 1996.
The Hawker Restorations site at Moat Farm, shared with fellow company AJD Aeronautical Engineering, is a veritable treasure trove with a dedicated workforce beavering away on a number of World War I and World War II projects. It is also a centre of knowledge, much of it documented, and lots of it being put in to practice to restore and rebuild warbirds and associated vintage types. The surroundings have an air of calm: this is an ideal environment in which to work.
Chief Engineer at HR, Paul Mercer has years of experience of vintage and warbird aircraft engineering which goes back to 1979 - one of the first warbirds Paul worked on was Spitfire MkVIII MT719 for Franco Actis in Italy ( now in the United States with the Cavanaugh Flight Museum ), quickly followed by his 'first' Hawker Hurricane, MKXII ex RCAF5711 for The Fighter Collection which was initially restored at R.A.F. Coningsby before being moved to its Duxford base in January 1988 and a first flight on 1 September 1989.
Today, Paul spends an increasing amount of time overseeing the work of the engineering team, documenting and signing off the various tasks as dictated by the Civil Aviation Authority. They tun a tight ship at HR, ensuring that the high quality workmanship is backed by certification - an important factor to ensure the sage operation of warbirds in the 1990's.
When I made that initial visit two years ago I well remember leaving with the feeling that my senses had been assaulted, almost battered, by the sheer depth of knowledge here. That might sound over the top, but it is true. Since then I've been lucky enough to make several more visits and on each occasion my interest has been grabbed by various projects - not always complete aeroplanes, though mainly by the Hawker Hurricanes being restored.
On my latest visit, as I waled over the bridge and peered into the hangar at the edge of the strip I could see the assembled fuselage and wings of Hurricane AE977 which is currently being advanced to completion. I have to say that the work is some of the best I have seen anywhere in the world. The attention to detail is staggering, and commendable in all respects and the early research into the original construction/build methods is now paying dividends. Interestingly, almost as a reminder of the current projects' humble beginnings the original tubular framework of another Hurricane centre sections sits in the hangar alongside the project aircraft, almost begging for attention. One day perhaps.
This particular story started back in 1995. Three years later ad a signification amount of research, engineering work and investment later, two Hurricane airframes are quickly taking shape. The fist, which was pushed outside onto the grass for a photographics session is coming together apace and has its engine installed and is well into systems fitting, The propeller will be fitted very shortly.
The second airframe, G-KAMM/BW881, known locally as 'the green Hurricane' is housed in the adjoining workshop and should be complete by early next spring. Tony told me "We have enough components to restore several more airframes to this standard. Now we've got this far down the road with AE977 and have all the parts 'in stock' on the selves it is much easier to do subsequent airframes because much of the work can flow without interruptions". This is truly a remarkable achievement. It's easy to wax lyrical about an well finished warbirds, but when you have seen AE977 outside in the Suffolk sunshine you start to realise it is, in my eyes at least, setting new standards in the U.K.
Let's step back a little and look at the history behind the projects. Hawker Restorations was established in 1995 primarily to rebuild Hawker Hurricanes and Hawker Biplanes. "The Hurricane is most certainly a hand built aircraft. It entails the use of every skill and every ounce of knowledge we have here..." Tony Ditheridge, a principal of HR told me on my first visit. It may not be common knowledge than the Hurricane differs dramatically from other World War II fighters and therefore entails a 'high content of unusual and unorthodox engineering', but this is an accurate description and anyone that doubts the Hurricane is truly hand built had better think again, because the evidence is here.
To enable them to rebuild the Hurricanes, HR had to attain Civil Aviation Authority A8/20 and M5 approval. Not only were these required; approvals E2 and E4 were also procured - which enables the company to recreate the complex task of roll forming, tube squaring and the associated metallurgy involve din recreating 1940 technology. This is a complicated story in itself.
Hawker Restorations holds the highest CAA approval for vintage aircraft in the UK. Under their approvals they have the propensity to cover stress, design and manufacture. Although concentrating on the Hawker Hurricane, HR have also undertaken work on several Hawker Biplane projects: Fury, Hind, Audax and Nimrod for a UK client.
In order to restore complex aircraft like the Hurricane it has been necessary for them to develop other capabilities to restore the aircraft to the required standard. Their in-house capability comprises a fully equipped C.N.C. machine shop which enables them to manufacture anything from small detailed items right the way up to complete undercarriage legs and other major assembles. They have detailed sheet metal workers including compound curve capability for cowlings etc. Now, a comparatively short time down the road from the commencement of the project, Hawker are well on their way to getting the first and second Hurricane restorations airborne and have a good supply of supporting spares and components which, as my grandfather used to say 'will see me out'. No doubt these aircraft will be flying for many decades to come.
