Spitfire Restoration Project - Friends of the SAAF Museum

About

Welcome to the Friends of The SAAF Museum's Spitfire Restoration, a page dedicated to the restoration of Spitfire MkIXe S/N 5518!

Description

Welcome to the Spitfire Restoration Project. Spitfire 5518 arrived in South Africa in 1947 and served in the Cape and at Waterkloof Air Force Base before being decommissioned. She then served as a gate guard at Waterkloof for a number of years. In the early 1990s the South African Air Force Museum motivated the restoration of an iconic Spitfire to flying condition to serve as the star attraction at Air Force Air Shows to promote the Air Force and aviation amongst the youth. 5518 took to the skies in 1994 as 5553 "The Spirit of Reutech". Unfortunately she crashed at an air show at Zwartkop in 2000 and was consigned to a container.

Ian Grace and Col Tony Smit (a former Officer Commanding and intimately involved with the first restoration), over the past few years, started lobbying for Spitfire 5518 to be rebuilt. After a number of presentations to the Museum Council, the go ahead was given to the Pretoria Branch of the Friends of the South African Air Force Museum to manage the project on behalf of the South African Air Force Museum in October 2014.

Trading as: South African Aviation Foundation Museum NPV: 016-007 NPO

"The Spitfire Restoration Project forms part of the Friends of the South African Air Force Museum and comprises civilian volunteers. We are a group of individuals with a passion for South African aviation history and the Supermarine Spitfire and are active members of the Friends of the South African Air Force Museum FSAAFM.In early 2015, it was decided that the SAAF Museum, in conjunction with the FSAAFM, would aim to restore Spitfire 5518. We are in need of funds and help to make this project a success."