Mfg'r of 80% Spitfire Replicas Relocates to USA...

[Zagi-2]

ARTICLE:
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/ ... cisco.html

MANUFACTURER:
http://www.supermarineaircraft.com/

NICE PHOTOS from an unaffiliated site:
http://wingsoflife.com.au/explore/australia_flight

[RyanShort1]

To make a minor correction, they're moving to Texas...

Ryan

[EDowning]

The only thing I can think of that I would like to have less than a copy of a warbird would be 8/10 of a copy of a warbird.

[bdk]

But for the price of one real Spitfire you could afford to have dozens, each painted up in different historical markings. Fly a different one every day! Form your own squadron and make a museum of sub-scale Spitfires. Or maybe you could radio control them, light them on fire and purposely crash them?

[Bill Greenwood]

BDK, you don't want to light on fire and purposely crash any airplane, much less one that looks that nice.

Sure, it is not a Spitfire, not in it's category for handling, performance, historic value, and just plain coolness. But that could be said of most other airplanes.

The replica MK 26 looks fairly much like a Spit, at least 80%. I wonder if anyone who is critical has really examined one up close. I saw it at Sun N Fun, talked to the owner and sat in it. From the cockpit aft, I'd give it about a 9 for realism, the cockpit about a 7 and the wings about an 8, (they are elliptical and have flaps) and the front about a 7, if you over look the prop blades. The only real item that looks out of place is the small prop blades and the small gun barrels. When I saw it the props were really small,the owner was aware of the discrepancy, but that was all the engine would pull. Now the blades are a little larger, and at least painted like the real ones. The spinner looks ok, the exhaust stacks are ok, the canopy is close.

I guess I have flown perhaps 40 airplanes, and of those, a P-51 is the only thing that comes close to a Spitfire, in my opinion, and it is really a different airplane in some ways, different strengths and weaknesses. Of course, there are some fine airplanes like a Bearcat or DC-3 that I haven' t flown. But I wouldn't trade one good Spitfire for any dozen of T-34s, or T-28s or L-39s or CJs, or even T-6s which I admire greatly. It would be like saying that you could have a dozen Big Macs for what one entree costs at a fine restaurant.

So it is sort of unfair to measure a Mk 26 replica against a genuine Spitfire. To be more accurate , measure it against other replicas or even measure the money involved to own one and perhaps the building time. I am not sure of the price, but I'd guess you can have a nice Mk 26 for under $200k, and I may be off by half. So what else can you get for that price? Some C 172 which is good for its purpose, but really not too exciting. The are some beautiful Stearmans. Cubs, etc, but that is a different look and purpose.

I haven't flown the Mk 26, I'd really like to, and then could give a good pirep on it. But I think it is worth consideration in the niche that it is aiming at. It seems well made to me, as for as I know.

Last edited by Bill Greenwood on Thu Dec 23, 2010 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Dave Lindauer]

To the guys at Supermarine, "Welcome to Texas!"

(Sure, I'd rather have an original Winchester 1866 Yellowboy, than my Umberti 1866 Yelowboy replica is still a lot of fun -- and a lot more affordable.)

[JDK]

To make a minor correction, they're moving to Texas...

From Queensland...

[PbyCat-Guy]

I'm wanting to build one of the WAR P-47 replicas. Most people will never have the resources to ever own or fly a real one, and if it's their way to pay tribute and try to get a sense of what it was like, I'm all for it, but there is room for improvement; scale engines and props for example. It's better that people know about history, rather than knowing all about what celebrities are on what drugs and where they use them. They're cool, might even promote the younger generations what happened all those years ago, and get them hooked.

[bdk]

BDK, you don't want to light on fire and purposely crash any airplane, much less one that looks that nice.

C'mon Bill, I was only joking. I know you have a sense of humor in there somewhere!

P.S. As Charles Barkley once said, "I'm no role model!"

[Bill Greenwood]

As for the Charles Barkley sayings, when he told his Mom that he was voting for a Republican, his Mom said "Charles, the Republicans are for the rich folks", and Charles came back and said "Mom, I am a rich folk."
When he was on Tonight Show, with Jay Leno,and Charles talked about making a comeback in the NBA because the players were not as good as they were in his day, Leno said, but Charles, you are not in shape and Charles said, "Round is a shape."
He was an excellent player, skilled and very competitive, just a half notch below Bird and Magic.
He has a great sense of humor.
He also has the worst golf swing, even though it used to be much better and he could shoot under 80. Jordan, Tiger etc. said they couldn't play golf with Barkley because whatever he had might be catching.

BDK, I am all for humor, but I think the idea is crashing a plane doesn't have much of it, or I missed the joke. I have seen it happen for real, lost friends that way, didn't see much humor in it,or even when it was not a friend.

As for humor, I saw a funny ad on tv, just caught the end of it. The cops are arresting Bernie Madoff, and there is a little dog on the sidelines watching, and Bernie says to the cops "where are you taking me, and the dog says, "You ain't going to Aspen."

And BDK, I wrote 20 lines in my post before this one, of which you picked out one line to respond to. Did any of the others interest you?

[bdk]

And BDK, I wrote 20 lines in my post before this one, of which you picked out one line to respond to. Did any of the others interest you?

It was the first line in your response, and it included my name. And I said you could radio control the aircraft, light them on fire and crash them. I said nothing about them being occupied. I though that was implied.

I too have lost friends in aircraft accidents. What that has to do with my post is quite puzzling to me.

[Invader26]

Mike's one of the good guys.

Texas's gain is Queensland's loss.....

We wish him well...

[groundpounder]

And BDK, I wrote 20 lines in my post before this one, of which you picked out one line to respond to. Did any of the others interest you?

It was the first line in your response, and it included my name. And I said you could radio control the aircraft, light them on fire and crash them. I said nothing about them being occupied. I though that was implied.

I too have lost friends in aircraft accidents. What that has to do with my post is quite puzzling to me.

I didn't see one mention of 80% Spitfires in that post. Can't you guys filter eachother out or something? You both put up great posts on your own. BTW, i think those Spitfires really kick #ss !! I you tubed some of their other videos, the engine sounds sweet on some of the low passes !!

[Mike Halbrook]

The replicas by Supermarine Aircraft are one of the few kit Spitfires to be successful and have more than one or two aircraft built. I watched a blog about 6 years ago by a guy building a home built Spitfire with a 350 Chevy engine. He had already built one successfully with a smaller engine. I followed it through to completion, then no more posts. He did not survive the first flight. "Thunder Wings" did a 3/4 fiberglass Spitfire in the 1980s I know of one that crashed in Norway, non fatal in this case, never knew of another that was completed. The Loehle Spitfire looks to have been abandoned (a shame, looks like a giant rubber band model). The Spitfire Aircraft Company has been building their full size wood replica for at least seven or eight years and has some time to go. The Marcel Jurca 100% Spitfire looks and (apparently) flies well, but this is a plans built mixed construction aircraft that takes many years and lots of dollars to construct.