Hotwings' Hanger Pt II
Fairey Firefly Mk I, PP462
Restoration Project
"Elsabeth" Will feel the wind beneath her wings again!
This plane has a very colorful history. It was built in England in 1942, and went into service with the Royal Navy in 1943. It saw action in WWII flying of the decks of carriers for the British. A number of Canadian aircrews flew these planes while serving in the RAF. In 1946, this particular plane was one of many that came on the decks of HMS Warrior, when it was brought to Canada from Britain. It served on the HMCS Warrior until 1947, when it was posted onto land at Shearwater. It went through various stages of duty ranging from flight training to target drone towing. In 1950, according to the service log, PP462 was put into storage. This is where she sat until 1953 when it was sold to Ethiopia to be used in a Civil War with the province of Eritrea. This plane did see action as evidenced by some of the damage that you will see in some of the following pictures. It was found in a concrete bunker in the desert parked with another Firefly. A team of Canadians went over with 3 Hercules planes to bring the Firefly's home, they were given 14 days by the government, to get in and out. Whatever was left after 14 days would have to be left there. PP462 was returned to her home base in Shearwater Nova Scotia in 1994. This is when the work began. Some of the pictures are from the time before I started this project, so you'll be able to see something of what shape this plane was in when she returned home. We are restoring this plane with the intention to have it fly again. That is one of the reasons that it is taking so ,ong to restore. We don't just want a museum piece, we want to see her fly again!
I will continue to add pictures to this page as we proceed with the restoration.
As of this writing, the port wing is finally finished after 1 year of repair and rebuilding. The head has returned from San Antonio Texas, where the cracks were repaired. We now have the starboard wing down out of the cradle and we have started to do repair work on it.
Posted April 12th, 2000
Rudder hung, but not attached yet.
Tail section, port side Flap Selector Linkage (I installed this)
Starboard Gun Port: Damaged area, Repaired!
Aileron Shroud Damage:
Outer Panel (closer inspection determined Flak Shrapnel as cause of Damage)
Projectile Damage behind Shrouds
Posted March 4th, 1999
Wing in stands. Gunbox, closeup. Ammo box.
Starboard wing locks (this is what I just finished cleaning, and there was still the 1941 Navy paint on them)
Front shot of the bare firewall. Starboard side looking forward
Various pieces of body metal (the piece over the desk is the oil cooler cover, located under the prop)
Dash Panel less gauges Rear wheel and airframe exposed
Pilot's Seat assembly, with rudder controls and stick
Rudder, note the cannon holes in the leading edge outlined with a blue box
The Powerplant, Rolls Royce Griffon V-12 (insert Tim Allen Grunt Here)
The heads off the engine
POsted June 16th, 1999
(these are from before I started on this project)
All these pics where taken shortly (within 1 year) of the plane being brought into Shearwater for Restoration.
Engine shortly after removal from Plane. Propeller, 13 foot diameter. Observers Cockpit, this is what it used to look like.
Fuselage, soon after return from Ethiopia. Removing the Ethiopian Paint Scheme
Front Fuselage, center section just reattached
Hotwings Productions
April, 2000
