We reported in the last set of news pages, the engine for the Hellcat had been returned to the States after it had been damaged in transit on its first return trip to Duxford. Work fitting the engine back on the front end of the airframe has begun following the Spitfire Show at Duxford in the first week of May.

The entire front end of the aeroplane was removed eventually in the investigation process, so the job is a bit bigger than just plugging the engine back in. A full set of ground tests will have to be completed before anyone will take it out on to the business end of the airfield, and then there will be some serious flight testing to finish off the job.