The Aircraft Restoration Company has some interesting projects on the go at its hangars in Duxford. Chris Gilson met with boss John Romain and had a look around.
The first thing to greet you when you enter the workshop hangar at Duxford-based Aircraft Restoration Company (ARC) is the smell. It’s an evocative mix of oil, fabric dope, paint, machinery, metal and a thousand and one other things that conspire to produce a feeling that the year could be 1947 and not 2017. Turn your head to the left and a Spitfire tail emerges, to the right it’s a Mustang having its engine removed, and to the front a rare Westland-built Lysander. Welcome to ARC, one of the more unusual companies you’ll come across.