William Bate - Vice Chairman / Young Persons Co-Ordinator
Hi, my name is William Bate but better known as Bill, I used to work in the Aerospace industry but have now retired, so I can drive my Spitfire more often (weather permitting).
I am Joint AO with David Embery for the Shropshire area, which all started from a chance meeting on a motorway service area when we were both going to HQ for the open day and as they say the rest is history.
I joined the COM last year, and hopefully will carry on doing so for a while yet.
I was drawn to the idea of restoring a Spitfire when I was travelling on business and pre flight bought a car magazine which contained an article on restoring a Spitfire, which motivated me to restore a Spitfire 1500 which I subsequently purchased in 1992, when I joined the TSSC. The restoration was completed in 1998 the project involved a full body off restoration. My interest was brought on by the fact my very first new car I purchased was a Triumph Spitfire 4 which is now know as a Triumph Spitfire MK1.
During my 4 year period of ownership, for 2 successive years I toured Europe, the Rhine and Moselle Valleys and in the second year Switzerland and the Italian Lakes.
Since 1998 I have enjoyed driving the Spitfire and since the creation of the Shropshire Group have made some excellent friends, they have helped me enjoy my Spitfire even more.
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