It's been an interesting week. Earlier in the week I heard from David Griffin who has contributed research and info to a number of other Hunter restorations. Based on his input and some feedback from former pilots and ground crew I'm now pretty certain that XL609 was always a T.Mk.7 and never received the IFIS/T.Mk.7A mods. This confirmation means I can move ahead collecting parts. David also provided some photos, most of which I'd already seen but I've added this new picture to the 4 FTS gallery
On Wednesday I spent a few hours working on the cockpit doing yet more paint prep and cleaning. I treated a couple of bits of corrosion and started straightening some bent metal with big hammers. This is a completely new skill for me so it'll be a slow process but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to improve the worst of the dents and buckles, which will need taking care of before we think about paint.
Another issue that I need to address is the angle grinder damage where someone previously tried to remove the 12 Squadron Fox logo on the port side skin, I'm contemplating various options for this, suggestions as always are welcome.
I've had a few new parts arrive this week including this gunsight mount which I'd held off picking up as I was unsure if '609 had sights fitted, however following confirmation that XL609 wasn't an IFIS aircraft I've decided to go for a standard Tmk7 instrument fit. The T7 pilots notes shows variants (with or without TACAN) with either one or two Gyro Gunsights (Mk8) fitted.
