2-seat Spitfire up for auction: Edited Took out link

[ffuries]

LONDON (AP) — A rare two-seat version of the Spitfire fighter, the plane that earned a nation's gratitude in the Battle of Britain, may fetch a record price in an auction this month.

This Spitfire is unique — a one-seat World War II-era fighter that became a two-seat trainer in the 21st century.

Bonhams, which is offering the meticulously restored plane at a sale on April 20, estimates it will sell for 1.5 million pounds ($2.2 million). Retrieved from a junkyard in South Africa 30 years ago, the plane is now certified to fly.

Bonhams' Austria unit, Bonhams & Goodman, sold a 1945 Spitfire Mark XVI for NZ$3.2million ($1.8 million) in September, reportedly the record auction price for a Spitfire. That plane had been on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio until 1997.

The one now for sale is a Mark IX model delivered on Oct. 23, 1944, one of 23,000 Spitfires built through the war.

It remained a single-seater into its junkyard years; it became a trainer in the shop of Classic Aero Engineering at Thruxton Airport, 66 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of London.

The company's chief engineer, Bruce Ellis, spent weeks tracking down the original specifications for the TR9 trainer version at the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon, north of London.

Tim Schofield, head of the motoring department at Bonhams, said the Spitfire's reconfiguration is unlikely to affect its value.

Valuable old racing cars or rally cars may preserve little more than a registration plate from the original, Schofield said.

"The key is finding the original ID to start the project," he said, adding that the Spitfire restoration started with a substantial portion of the original.

The Royal Air Force never used Spitfire trainers, so this one is painted in the colors of the Dutch Air Force, which had three and crashed two. The airplane's number, H-99, is the number of the one Dutch trainer which didn't crash.

Ireland, Syria and India also used Spitfire trainers. During the war, the U.S. Army Air Forces' 14th Photographic Squadron flew unarmed and unarmored single-seat Spitfire Mark XI planes on reconnaissance missions.

The first Spitfires were delivered in 1938, and the plane proved its mettle two years later in the Battle of Britain as it took on the German Messerschmitt. The Spitfires matched the speed, if not the climbing rate, of the German planes.

My question is: Is it RARE if it started out life as a one-seater, and was converted to a two-seater way later in life?

Edit: Took the link out, in no way was that a spam site or whatever, it was a legitimate link, but since it seemed to give some false/erroneous readings I felt I'd rather delete the link, then there be any problems caused to anyones computer. Better safe than sorry, right?

Mike in Florida
USAF Aircrew Life Support (Retired)
"Your Life Is Our Business"

Last edited by ffuries on Tue Apr 07, 2009 6:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[Bradburger]

Some video from the local BBC News here : -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hamp ... 987821.stm

WARNING!

Might be a false alarm , but when I clicked on the link posted by ffuries, I got a warning from Spybot S&D (this is pretty good normally) regarding a dodgy third party URL or pop up.

Cheers

Paul

[Bluedharma]

This Spitfire is unique — a one-seat World War II-era fighter that became a two-seat trainer in the 21st century.

There is a picture of this aircraft (I think) in the latest issue of Warbirds March 2009... right inside the cover.

They are rare, but there is one in Colorado.

Last edited by Bluedharma on Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Jollygreenslugg]

They are rare, but there is one in Colorado.

*gets popcorn, sits on sofa*

[retroaviation]

*gets popcorn, sits on sofa*

Gary

[JDK]

Oh, it's 'unique' alright. It's the only one with that particular history from that serial number.

Unique - just like all the other Spitfires.

Remember, auction house are there to get the best cash they can for themselves. They're exactly as honest as the law requires them to be.

[Mudge]

They are rare, but there is one in Colorado.

Yeah...but like the Scarecrow said in The Wizard of OZ, "Part of me is over there and part of me is over there and...."

Mudge the cold

[Ryan Keough]

Oh, it's 'unique' alright. It's the only one with that particular history from that serial number.

Unique - just like all the other Spitfires.

Just like all the "Cessna of Warbirds" aircraft tooling 'bout the skies over here in the colonies. That was one of the most memorable quotes I retained from you from Ottawa that summer!

[Mark V]

My question is: Is it RARE if it started out life as a one-seater, and was converted to a two-seater way later in life?

As there are only five examples currently flying in the world (all UK based), I would say it is a rare aircraft. All 2-seat Spitfires, 'original' factory produced or modern restorations were converted from single place aircraft.

[JDK]

My question is: Is it RARE if it started out life as a one-seater, and was converted to a two-seater way later in life?

As there are only five examples currently flying in the world (all UK based), I would say it is a rare aircraft. All 2-seat Spitfires, 'original' factory produced or modern restorations were converted from single place aircraft.

All spitfires are 'rare', flying ones 'rarer', two seaters obviously 'rarer'; but this is not 'unique' beyond the fact that everything's 'unique'.

If I'm reading the blurb correctly, they'd like us to believe there is a unique cachet to it being the only Spitfire converted to two seater status in the 21st century - and so what. There's a minor cachet of being the first to be converted to two seat type for civilian use alone (I understand) but even that's pretty shaky ground given the rambling (but clear) history of many two seat Spitfires.

It'll sell, or not, on the fact that it's a Spitfire on the open market. It'll be interesting more because of the current climate than for any tenuous puff the auctioneers try to clothe it in.

Ryan, who me?

[Bluedharma]

Interesting little write up on this Spit here.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1165333/The-battle-Bonhams-How-pick-spitfire-1-5m.html
Lots of pics.

'There were only 20 of these aeroplanes [two-seater Spitfires] ever built,' Classic Aero's chief engineer Bruce Ellis explains.
'It's still hard enough to get original parts for a standard Spitfire and there were 20-odd thousand of those,
so you have to go back to the original drawings to build any parts you can't source.'

Mark,
How many of those original 20 are still around? Is it just the 5 flying in the UK and the 1 here in the States? Are there any more being worked on?

[bootlegger]

Spitfires are one of my favourite aircraft but a 2 seater just doesnt turn me on. It just doesnt look right the extra canopy looks exactly like it is, an after thought.

[JDK]

Spitfires are one of my favourite aircraft but a 2 seater just doesnt turn me on. It just doesnt look right the extra canopy looks exactly like it is, an after thought.

The second hole isn't for looks - it's for rides. For that reason, there's a future for the two seaters. How do you think it would 'look' to you were you sitting in it? (NB alternative is 'no ride'.)

[Mudge]

The second hole only bothers me to the extent that I'll never get to ride in it.

Mudge the large

[PeterA]

As conceived by Vickers Supermarine, post WW II, the rear seat for their types 502 & 509 advanced trainer was for the command pilot instructor.

Although in need of a little updating here is a good place to understand the two seat conversions.

http://pacificcoast.net/~zoman/

PeterA