Progress slowed a little during the summer largely due to the arrival of G-HAWK at Brooklands Museum. Our team of volunteers was needed to assist with the re-assembly and preparation of the aeroplane for public display.
    We have almost finished restoring the rear fuselage, tail cone, fin and rudder and will soon re-paint them in chromate primer. We will delay applying the top coat until more of the airframe is ready for painting. The tailplane has not yet received much attention but is basically in good condition so it is mainly a rubbing down exercise for repainting.

There are several layers of paint on 623, so when the team embarks on stripping down a component it is hard work needing a lot of elbow grease. We cannot use many of the chemical paint strippers because they would seep into the joints from where they cannot be cleaned out leading to new paint damage.
    The major task for the winter is to make cradles and trestles to support the nose and centre fuselage so they can be separated. We are planning to do more work at Dunsfold than the original plan called for; space is at a premium at Brooklands and we can avoid the costs associated with moving a large section like the centre fuselage.