Wow, a replica (80% original size) beast on fleabay, suitable for the Douglas Bader types amongst us (with deep pockets)... SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK 26 | eBay
seen this on ebay, remember seeing a spitfire, lancaster, and mustang leaving eastleigh airport, or southampton as they now call it, the most gloroius sound of the merlin engines, i shall never forget the sound as they did a fly by, truely awesome
I................want........................it..............................pleaseletmewinthelotterypleaseletmewinthelotterypleaseletmewinthelottery...............
The Grace Spitfire (the two seater) is hangered near me and I get regular displays........sounds better than a Ducati. AL
Imagine a project getting the blueprints for a merlin engine then using it as a static display for roasting your burgers come barbie day.
True,but at 30 litres an hour I can just afford to fly it....:biggrin:...."Tally ho old bean,beware the Hun in the sun....."
Half a million just to salvage the engine and put it to the use it was designed for? Worth it. Classic Bentley fitted with 27-litre SPITFIRE engine goes on sale for £500,000 (but even Top Gear stars might wince at the fuel bills) | Mail Online
Someone did it years ago with a Rolls.........he worked for Borg Warner, I think...................and still couldn't stop the transmission from breaking..........but the Autobahn cameras couldn't trap him, even in reverse.
Lovely bit of kit and the closest most mortals will get to owning one. I wonder how the purists view it?
My old flying club are doing this... If you can't stump up the reddies for a whole one, then a share might be the way to go. Spitfire Mk26B Club, Enstone Flying Club, Oxfordshire I would be interested if I still lived close by. Plane ownership on your own doesn't really make sense, unless you do lots of hours, the fixed costs of hangarage and insurance are probably going to be about £2.5k per year for most things depending on where in the country you are. Avgas is north of £2 per litre thes days too. Getting your PPL is probably going to be about £5k at todays prices, then you have to add to that the costs of adding to it a complex aircraft rating for a hot ship like a Mk XXVIB with retractable gear and a wobbly prop.
I'm pretty sure someone arranged a "group build" when these came out a few years back.They were going to buy X amount of kits with x amount of of shares for home-builders.Try to get enough in the air to form a "Squadron". I'm strictly a club spam-can flyer,so well out of my league,but a good idea nonetheless Look better with a 3 blade prop though,2 blades look curiously old-fashioned....more like the prototype Spitfire,funnily enough... Jabiru surely runs on pump fuel,doesn't it?Be surprised if it was Avgas,being a recent design and all that
I have no knowledge of piloting a plane. For those that do, would the experience at the low speeds this thing is capable of be anything close to flying a real spit' and throwing it around the sky. I imagine it wouldn't.
Planes are like bikes...you can have fun and scare yourself silly on a 50cc,just like you can on a 1500... Also,it's the power to weight ratio.A full size Spit weighs a lot more so needs a lot more power...as well as having to fight...this doesn't need all that,not the ability/power to climb to 35000 feet over the channel..
the kits are actually made in the USA this particular one is from this mob, and at 80% apparently are much more forgiving and easier to fly than a full sized spitfire, which ultimately is a combat aircraft, and all warbirds - much like your genuine factory works race bikes are a pig to use when you're not using them as nature intended. that said, a genuine battle of Britain pedigree spitfire now weighs in at around the 3-5 million mark - the two seater trainers are a 'kin sight more, however there are a couple of places that will do the biposto conversion if you had a monoposto spit However, here's one from platinum fighter sales, and absolute bargain I hasten to add! Platinum Fighter Sales - Warbird Aircraft Sales As for the merlin, the later spitfires were fitted with Rolls Royce gryphon engines, - imagine a merlin on stroids and you get the idea. Merlin were made in the states for a while, under licence and were called Packard merlins. One, generally sets you back around 50k depending on condition. Old warbirds, like race bikes also are priced according to pedigree, for instance Battle of Britain survivor or WW2 vintage = arm and a leg, whereas one of the later spitfires, say 1950's or the indian airforce ones weigh in much less .... when they come up for sale. Running costs, oh around the 2-4k per flying hour all said and done, oh and don't forget that the airframe and engine will need overhauling (rebuild) at some point, which is why XH558 is at risk of not flying anymore :frown: not that owning a warbird is a wet dream of mine or anything! (SM spitfire, DH Mosquito, EE lightning or harrier... any of... i'm not fussy!)
