I'm sitting at the café in the middle of a busy city street. The weather is fine outside, shoppers are passing by, a group of nice but alarmingly shallow young female characters are chattering at the neighbouring table. My latte feels just right, I'm writing this on battery power surfing through somebody else's WiFi connection and the life in general feels thoroughly enjoyable. It's a blogger's paradise - why can't one's real job look like this?

June has been a month of slow updates, but as job pressures (the real ones) hopefully decline during the summer I hope to find more time for this site. But before doing that I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who sent me email praising the site, offering suggestions or simply expressing their affection for the Spitfire. Here's an email which I have received recently from Mr Ken Gowans in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is interesting to see among different people in how many different ways this aircraft had inspired a lifetime interest. What's your Spitfire story?

Hi Martin,

Firstly love the site love the Spitfire.

I have attached picture of myself (smaller person) and another Air Cadet with a Sptfire MK XIV. My picture was taken circa 1971 at RAF Leuchars in Fife, Scotland, where TB252 was the gate guard for many years. This aircraft, TS252, is currently being restored in New Zealand.

http://www.warbirdrestoration.co.nz/current.html

Click to enlarge image

Labels: warbirds, webmaster