Half a Spitfire Sells for £18,000 After Enthusiast's Death

An incomplete Supermarine Spitfire F Mk 22, the lifelong project of the late Peter Arnold, has sold for £18,000. Arnold, known as 'Mr Spitfire,' spent over 20 years working on the aircraft's fuselage, which he rescued in 1948 after it was used as a ground target on the Salisbury Plain Ranges.

The aircraft, designated PK519, was kept at Arnold's home in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, until his death in 2025. The auction, conducted by Dominic Winter Auctioneers on October 8, saw the Spitfire fuselage sell for £18,000, falling short of its estimated £20,000 to £30,000 price range.

Arnold's fascination with Spitfires began in his youth, cycling to crash sites to find and repair parts. He meticulously restored the PK519's body using replacement panels from other Spitfires, building on original wooden formers. He also added a cockpit window assembly and a Perspex canopy. He was known to display the aircraft outside his garage for neighbors to admire.

Over his lifetime, Arnold documented some 365 surviving Spitfire and Seafire airframes. His collection, including the Spitfire fuselage and an RAF sector clock from 1941, was offered at auction.

Auctioneer Henry Meadows described the aircraft as one of the "more unusual lots" and stated that the collection was "incredibly well received." He added that Arnold was a "very popular man in the Spitfire world" and that his collection would "go to other fellow collectors and be appreciated for many more years to come."

John Sanderson, who collaborated with Arnold on a book about two-seat Spitfires, noted that Arnold had preserved "numerous projects which would otherwise have been lost to time" and was instrumental in identifying many previously unknown or misidentified Spitfire airframes.

The Spitfire PK519 was ordered in June 1943 and delivered to Brize Norton in September 1948. It was subsequently used as a ground target on Salisbury Plain.