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 Spitfire welcomed back to club - Vernon, BC Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 50° 16.712 W 119° 15.909
11U E 338610 N 5572054
This is the second incarnation of this Spitfire replica, the first having been damaged by rock throwing vandals.
Waymark Code: WMN79Z
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 01/10/2015
Views: 1
First installed at the Army, Navy Airforce Veteran’s Club in October 1993, this full size replica of the airplane that won the Battle of Britain and turned the tide of World War II, was taken down in September of 2010 for much needed repairs after severe damage by vandals was discovered.
Nearly a year and countless hours of volunteer labour later, in August of 2011 the Spitfire was returned to its resting place atop the clubhouse.
The Vernon Morning Star reported the story of its triumphant return on August 19, 2011 which can be read below.
Spitfire welcomed back to club
by Cara Brady - Vernon Morning Star
posted Aug 19, 2011 at 1:00 AM
The Army, Navy Airforce Veteran’s club invites the community to help celebrate the return of the full-size replica Spitfire plane to the top of the club building.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony with a flag-bearing colour party and local dignitaries will take place Sunday at 11 a.m. at at 2500-26 Ave.
The ANAF tried to buy an actual Spitfire aircraft in the late 1980s but was discouraged by the $90,000 price tag. The members did not give up.
They approached Glen Fletcher to put his knowledge of designing and constructing boats to making a replica of the Spitfire.
He came through and the original Spitfire replica was put in place in October 1993 and was a local landmark until Sept. 2010 when it was discovered to be damaged by rock-throwing vandals. The damage was so extensive that repairs were impossible.
The Spitfire was completely rebuilt, even the pilot and propellers.
The process involved the dismantling of the original plane to duplicate the design, reconstruction and re-assembly of each section.
Fletcher, 74, contributed countless volunteer hours on the reconstruction during the past 11 months. He was one of the three co-ordinators of the original construction 19 years ago which involved 2,840 volunteer hours.
The replica is a full-size model of the Spitfire measuring 31 feet, 10 inches from nose to tail, with a wingspan of 37 feet.
The model pilot is named Jackson Glen to honour the contributions of Jack Brash and Glen Fletcher to the project. The mannequin pilot is so realistic that a utility worker spoke to him on the back porch of Fletcher’s home.
The letters and numbers on the plane were taken from the logbook of the Spitfire flown by the late Second World War pilot Phillip Bodnarchuk.
From Vernon Morning Star
Type of publication: Newspaper
When was the article reported?: 08/19/2011
Publication: The Vernon Morning Star
Article Url: [Web Link]
Is Registration Required?: no
How widespread was the article reported?: local
News Category: Arts/Culture
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