Page 66 - The Old Ratcliffian 2013

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The Old Ratclifan 2013 | Introductionhe Old Ratclifan 2013 | Nostalgia
The Ratcliffe Spitfire Project
A Spitfre in fight
The past year has seen huge
developments with The Ratcliffe
Spitfire Project. We have begun
to make strides in the build,
with the tail section and frames
coming along well, and we have
been contacted by (as well as
made and maintained close links
with) a number of individuals and
businesses who have provided
us with a tremendous amount of
support.
Chris Mitchell is the workshop
manager at Airframe Assemblies
on the Isle of Wight. One of
the world’s leading restorers of
Spitfires, Chris has been very
generous with his time and advice,
both over the phone, as well as on
the number of occasions I bug him
by visiting!
Paul McVittie owns CAD Works
Engineering Ltd, based in Carlisle.
He has visited the project and has
begun the very lengthy process of
producing full-sized CAD drawings
of the frames for us. The first of
these have arrived and have saved
us over two man-hours per frame!
Charles Barrie builds replica
Spitfires and has come to the
College on a number of occasions
with parts, photographs and
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drawings. He is always very
inspiring and has helped
tremendously. Interestingly, Charles
also flies Spitfires, so he has first- in Iraq and Afghanistan - what an
hand knowledge of the aircraft in
the air.
Roland Dorman (parent of current
pupil, Nathaniel) runs Dorman
Engineering Services Ltd, who
manufacture custom machined
parts. Roland has been very helpful
and is currently working with us on
some interesting ideas as we have
no machining capabilities here.
In April, we welcomed two very
distinguished guests to the College;
Dilip Sarkar MBE FRHistS, an
authority on the Spitfire and
author of over thirty books on the
subject, and Mark Postlethwaite
GAvA, one of the world’s leading
aviation artists. Both guests
gave wonderfully engaging and
illustrated talks to the assembled
audience. It was a great privilege to
listen to such respected experts.
Ben Jackson (88) from BBC Radio
Leicester (father of Kit, a current
pupil) has a keen interest in the
project and has interviewed me a
number of times about its progress.
In April, Ben came to the College
and recorded an interview with
Ollie Foulds (Year 7), Sasha Farzin-
Nia (Year 11) and me. Ben is very
enthusiastic about the project and
very supportive of what we are
doing; it has been lovely to have
the opportunity to promote the
project to a wider audience.
Richard Osgood is the Senior
Archaeologist from the Defence
Archaeology Group. He had been
working to locate and recover
the remains of a Battle of Britain
Spitfire on Salisbury Plain. By
pure coincidence, the pilot of the
Spitfire was Paul A Baillon (32), Old
Ratcliffian and the pilot our project
is based around! Richard’s team
comprises ex-servicemen who have
been injured in conflicts, with a
remit to assist their rehabilitation.
The dig was in the first week in
September. The experience is one I
shall never forget. I met Rosemary
Baillon (Paul’s daughter) at last,
and spent the day excavating
the remains of his aircraft with
servicemen who had been injured
honour. Richard was kind enough
to mention our project on national
television, following the extensive
media interest. Richard and the
team will be giving a talk and
bringing the finds to the College in
June.
For the full story, or for further
information about ‘The Ratcliffe
Spitfire’, please contact me through
the College.
Dominic Berry
Head of Art
A Spitfre cockpit