Page 18 - Old Ratcliffian Magazine 2019

COLLEGE NEWS THE RATCLIFFE SPITFIRE

This year, we have continued to focus on the detailing of the cockpit frames.
This has included adding more rivets, but, most importantly, making the
metal brackets that affi x each of the frames together with the longerons
and intercostals (technical jargon for the ‘skeleton’ on the fuselage).
Following the kind purchase by the Parents’ Association of a large 3-in-1
sheet metal brake, we have been exploring its use, and we have begun to
make some of the brackets that, prior to its purchase, were taking quite a
long time for us to manufacture. The group of students currently involved
in the project are truly outstanding; each one of them brings enthusiasm
as well as some technical skills, but most importantly, a true desire to learn,
and the ambition to see the project through.

The biggest news for this year has been my decision to change the build
from a wooden mock-up into an all-metal ‘proper’ Spitfi re. This does mean
that some parts will need to be remade, but all of the learning that we have
done to date will inform this progress, rather than being lost or wasted. The
resultant construction, together with a number of original parts included
in it from OR fi ghter pilot Paul Baillon’s (32) Spitfi re, will mean that we at
Ratcliffe College will have the world’s only Spitfi re built by school students,
and it will be, to all intents and purposes, a real one.
This year, we also hosted a very special event, when our guest of honour,
‘Rusty’ Waughman DFC, AFC, Legion d’Honneur , came to the College
to give a talk about his experiences as a Lancaster pilot during the
Second World War. Rusty completed a full tour of 30 missions with the
101 Squadron, who had the sad honour of being that with the highest
casualty rate in Bomber Command, due to their role as a special operations
squadron.

The evening was a wonderful occasion. Held up in the new Fitness Suite
studio, the bi-fold doors opened up an entire wall to the glorious warm
sunshine, allowing an uninterrupted view over our immaculate cricket pitch
and the rolling Leicestershire landscape beyond. Rusty is an amazing man,
and more people should hear his story. He represents so much, and so many
other young men. Over 55,000 of his comrades (many aged around 18 and
19) can never tell their stories. They never had the opportunity to live a
full life. Rusty is of a generation whose attitudes, sacrifi ce and bravery we
should all learn from, and never forget.
Dominic Berry
Head of Art & Design

18 The Old Ratcliffi an 2019