By NOOR QURASHI, NEWS REPORTER
Released: 15:19 EDT, 21 October 2026 | Upgraded: 16:19 EDT, 21 October 2026
An insufficient Spitfire has actually cost ₤ 18,000 after a guy who invested 20 years dealing with it in his garage passed away aged 83.
Peter Arnold, who happened referred to as ‘Mr Spitfire’, saved the fuselage after it was released on the Salisbury Plain Ranges in 1948.
The Supermarine Spitfire F Mk 22 PK519, his last task, was kept at his home in Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire before his death in 2025.
It was anticipated to bring in between ₤ 20,000 and ₤ 30,000 at auction– however cost ₤ 18,000.
The aircraft was purchased on June 2, 1943, and provided to Brize Norton on September 22, 1948, where it was utilized as a ground target on the Salisbury Plain Ranges.
Mr Arnold utilized replacement panels from other Spitfires developed on the initial wood formers to bring back the body, a cockpit window assembly and a Perspex canopy.
His fascination with Spitfires grew in school when he would cycle to crash websites within a 50-mile radius to discover and fix them.
For many years, his dedication to narrating the making it through airplanes around the world saw him tape some 365 extant Spitfire and Seafire airframes.
Peter Arnold, who became referred to as ‘Mr Spitfire’, saved the fuselage after it was released on the Salisbury Plain Ranges in 1948. He is envisioned here with his insufficient task
He is envisioned with his child Richard with the fuselage in the back of a red pick-up truck
Mr Arnold is seen here in earlier years. The Spitfire and other products in his collection were auctioned on October 8
Auctioneer Henry Meadows stated the airplane was among the ‘more uncommon lots’ to be offered for many years and it would be ‘valued for a lot more years to come’
The within the airplane is visualized here. The control board included the product, which eventually cost ₤ 18,000
He would frequently wheel the PK519 out of his garage for neighbours to see and formerly stated: ‘I similar to it being here.’
The Spitfire and other products in Mr Arnold’s collection were auctioned through Dominic Winter Auctioneers on October 8.
Auctioneer Henry Meadows stated the airplane was among the ‘more uncommon lots’ to be offered for many years and it would be ‘valued for a lot more years to come’.
He informed the Telegraph: ‘It’s a truly great variety of products, which has actually been extremely well gotten.
‘He was an incredibly popular guy in the Spitfire world. It’s an excellent homage that we’re using this collection for sale.
‘His collection will go to other fellow collectors and be valued for much more years to come.’
John Sanderson, who dealt with Mr Arnold on a book about the history of two-seat Spitfires, stated he had actually conserved ‘many tasks which would otherwise have actually been lost to time’.
Mr Sanderson included that the lover had actually exposed the real identity of lots of formerly unidentified or misidentified Spitfire airframes.
The fuselage was offered along with Mr Arnold’s RAF sector clock which goes back to 1941.
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