The Spitfire MJ444 Restoration | Parky visits Aircraft Restoration Company
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- Join Flt Lt Antony 'Parky' Parkinson as he visits the aircraft restoration experts at Duxford Airfield to see the progress of the Aero Legends Spitfire MJ444 Restoration. Aircraft Restoration Co. (ARCo), nestled within the historic grounds of former RAF and USAAF Duxford Airfield, is renowned for its meticulous restoration, maintenance, and operation of vintage aircraft.
We are so lucky to have people like Parky and the very talented engineers. Thank you gentlemen.
Top video! Parky was my pilot for my flight in a Spit for my 50th - absolute class chap!
Likewise...apart from the 50th bit.👍
I remember Parky at 63 when I made toasted sandwiches as the desk clerk, very nice chap
R J Mitchell was a genius.
Nothing more need be said.
There is nothing quite as beautiful as the Spitfire...she was a work of art..
I’m can’t wait to see MJ444 back in the air this year.
What a wonderful video.
Thank you Parky for sharing your visit to this amazing restoration and providing such a respectful commentary.
What a wonderfull documentary, this how its done, two people who know what they are talking about, nice background music and super camera work, all the years I have been doing this, my favorite.
In 4 years I'll be 50 and Im saving up for 30 min in a Spitfire. Been my dream since I saw a " dogfight" between a Spitfire and a Bf 109 at an airshow in Norway 6 years old
MJ is my initials 😊
My lads paid for me to go in a Spitfire it was everything I dreamed it would be for 30 mins I was a small boy again BLOODY MAGIC!
@@terrym3837 good lads. Great present!
Quality of the build is impressive. My former neighbour flew Spitfires from 1941 onwards and always said today’s aircraft were infinitely better built!
Simply amazing work. Thank you for keeping these icons alive.
Great to see her coming together. Saving hard for a flight in her, having been in Elizabeth last year.
Well done
What an accomplishment.
Magnificent!
I fly model aircraft and whenever I get to fly a "Spit" I can only marvel at the grace and beauty.... it is like an E type jaguar, Timeless perfection , best wishes Rachael P
Ha I find the E types garish especially in a modern context.
Not so the spitfire though I find I appreciate the later version more so the early.
Spot on
Smashing Stuff. Great video here. Always love seeing Parky and salute to all those working on MJ444!!
Holy Smokes! Is that Old Blue-ey right there?! She's alive?! And flying again?!
Superb workmanship. The guys should be proud.
If I had the skills this is exactly what I would love to be involved in! Such beautiful machines.
THIS is why l adore you tube .......even 10 years past you would never had the priledge to have been a witness to this epic rebuild. I loved the typical humour of the incorrect "rivet " ......thankyou "gentlemen" ....expressed with the same British humour .......😂
Absolutely love this... top of my bucket list before I check out!! 👍🇬🇧
Parky flew me in Elizabeth a few years ago. Nicest guy. Luckiest guy in the world, but still very pleasant with it.
Having watched this update video, I wonder why the restorers chose to finish the aircraft in 403 Squadron colours (10:00) and markings instead of 443 Squadron? MJ444 flew with 411 Sqn starting 21 Sep 44, was transferred to 403 Sqn 14 Oct 44, and then to 443 Sqn on 14 Dec 44. Flt Lt Fairfield of 443 Sqn bailed out 13 Jan 45 after being hit by flak near St. Vith. It seems to me that it would have made more sense to finish the Spit in 443 colours. JJ McManus ex-CO 443 Sqn
Brilliant stuff, Chaps 👍
Spending several years & thousands of hours restoring this product , when originally they were made in hours . It being like spending millions and decades on a Ford model T that were produced every 30 seconds !
Yep, they were mass produced, albeit to very high standards, for war. Production lines set up with a large skilled workforce, as opposed to a small bespoke company. They were designed to last a short service life. Now of course, they must comply with incredible and rigorous regulation and need to last forever. The standard of craftsmanship and skill is breathtaking and makes them living works of art. All aircraft have a heart and soul, but perhaps few as overwhelmingly powerful and beautiful as a Spitfire. You can sense the individual personality of this aircraft growing as she nears completion. Truly wonderful.😊
Correction- models T’s left the factory every 30’s at peak production. Actual man hours going into each car were magnitudes higher. Many, many men involved from toolmakers to production line engineers to the foundries and the mechanic themselves not to mention the sub trades such as upholstery and electrics.
The genius of production line manufacturing is to compress all these different time and energy inputs.
Thank you for posting this.
Great work by the team there. Will look forward to seeing her at Compton Abbas and "Parky" you can now say you helped build a Spitfire.
Flew in MJ 444 yesterday with Charlie Brown at the controls.....It was all a bit overwhelming when he said....Graham, you have control.
Brilliant!. Great job!. Nuff said. 🙂
Stunning.
Glad they worked a lot quicker at Castle Bromwich.
Many hands building different components in various workshops culminating in an efficient manufacturing assembly line.
Amazing job!
If Martin smiled, would his face crack?
Awesome 👍
Superb high quality construction...no fan of the back cockpit have to be honest!...great to see this vid none the less!
Agree about the rear cockpit….doesn’t sit well with me either
Is the extra cockpit for fare paying passengers? The funds are very necessary to keep a machine like that in the air otherwise it probably wouldn't exist at all!
Wow, I remember parky from the sainsburys bakery in hastings
You made the drill easy for him by prestarting it for him
Being an ex RAF TG3 techy, I have always felt like we were 2nd best in the service. Speak to any sooty, sumpy, fairy etc and they will tell you so. I take my beret off to the TG1 and 2 boys and girls … but so,e times wish that we had something iconic to celebrate. Ok we had some good old fashioned heavy duty high power radars (even then the 3 former elements of the trade, the ADs can claim those). Most of what I did apart from some RADAR a at the end of my career, no one new about hardly as we spent our time underground in secret locations or at remote places that even the locals had hardly heard of.
Nice replica Spitfire!
What’s the point of making a childish comment like that?
@@noseyparker6622 Childish? It was an honest factual comment. The work is of a high standard, therefore it's nice (if you ignore the ugly 2nd cockpit). And it's a brand new aircraft - not the aircraft shot down in WW2 - therefore a replica which has been built to carry passengers and make money. Go and look at MH434 if you want to see a genuine spitfire, or most of the BBMF aircraft. Sorry if that upsets you.
Did you manage to do an episode with Retro Track and Air about rebuilding the Merlin?
any of you guys know what the music is ... quality ...
cool but why would you modify a original spit into a two-seater??????
Gents, Where was the Merlin obtained from? Private seller? Brand new or second hand with a new m.o.t./ refurbished option?
No rush to get the job done making sure every thing is done right and yet in WW2 they had to be quick to make them to stop Nazi aggression and about 23000 where built.
The Merlin engine had 11000 parts and in Trafford park, Manchester, Ford motors during the war built 34000 Merlin's.
I'm sure the bearded riveter chap knows how privileged he is to have that job....I'd have given anything to be in his shoes at his age
👍
Hope you have the structural analysis done on the non standard engine pipework
🤪 Promo-SM
Cupcake bumchums