Everyone loves Spitfires or so it seems and we at Gateguards seem to be knee deep in whole airframes and parts at the moment. Our old website was shall we say a little tired, but as of yesterday, the new one is up and running and interest has been a lot better than in the past. Yesterday alone we received one enquiry for a Lysander and another for a set of Spitfire prop blades.
But that is not to say that we only build that iconic aeroplane, we also have a Hurricane in production and are looking at building more P-51s (an American Museum Curator, told me that real ones these days are made of "
unobtanium" and so its down to people like us to bridge the gap and to display aircraft that may not be freely available, or even exist today). The Bf109E and Lysander we built before are good examples of what can be built for the discernible customer. But within reason, anything can be produced.
As we have produced a new accurate mould of a Spitfire Mk.I/II, which of course can be converted into a Mk.V, by using Duxford and Shuttleworth examples as sole references, we are now in a position to be able to offer these at a lower price and so as it's the 100th Birthday of the RAF this year, we are keen to promote the new model. A marked change from what has come out of the hangar before, they truly are worthy replicas of the real thing. Biased?, of course not!
We are currently looking at building T-6 airframes. We have use of a donor example, from which moulds can be taken and what with some 35 years experience working with them, this is something that I would love to do. But, why I hear you all say? There are a number of airframes up on poles that could come down, be restored to either static or airworthy condition, or swapped with other Museums for something on the 'wants' list. And there are so many T-6 organisations and companies around the world offering rides, a full-size replica up on a pole or sat on its undercarriage outside would make an interesting advertisement for that venture. I know that the type is still available in a plentiful number, but surely an idea like this saves more airframes for future use. It may not happen, I hope it will, but it shows what we can and love to do.
Best wishes to all,
Martin Pengelly
Researcher/Archivist
GateGuardsUK
http://www.gateguardsuk.com DSCF7593 by
Martin Pengelly, on Flickr
Lysander weathered by
Martin Pengelly, on Flickr
Outdoors_21 by
Martin Pengelly, on Flickr