Photo: K-aircraft Jets & Props
When most people think of British warbirds from the Second World War, they tend to think of the Spitfire and not much of anything else. Never mind that the Hawker Hurricane probably played a more significant role in the victory at the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire will always be the world's favorite WWII British fighter, regardless of the historical context behind it. That makes genuine air-worthy Spitfires from the period multi-million dollar artifacts that most common folks can never get closer to than the guard ropes at a museum allow. But there are alternatives out there. Or should we say, 80 percent alternatives.
Look no further than this 80 percent scale replica Spitfire for sale via K-aircraft Jets & Props out of Schwabmunchen in Germany. This particular build, completed in 2005, is part of a production run of roughly 100 aircraft inspired by the dreams of an Australian pilot by the name of Michael O'Sullivan. All his life, O'Sullivan dreamed of taking the stick in the same British warbird immortalized in films, TV shows, and pop culture riff-raff of all kinds but found that genuine examples tended to either be walled off in museums or in the collections of multi-millionaires with too much time and money on their hands.
With the help of his business partner John McCarron, the two-man team went on to form the Supermarine Aircraft company. With the blessing of the corporate holders of the old Supermarine firm's intellectual property rights, Supermarine Aircraft built their first Spitfire replica, powered by a tiny Rotax engine, in 1994. Early production models were three-quarters, 75-percent Spitfire replicas and dubbed the Mk. 25 before the design was completely re-worked to an 80 percent form factor in order to accommodate a rear passenger seat and dubbed the Mk.26. According to the sales literature, the 80 percent designation is in comparison to the genuine Mk. 5 Spitfire, rather than a general interpretation of all real Spitfire models from Mk. 1 to the Mk. 24.
Under the hood of this bird sits a General Motors-Isuzu V6 with an added supercharger to bring the power output up to 252 hp. Not exactly the thousand-plus horsepower you're liable to find with the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine found in the genuine Spitfire, but it's enough to get you off the ground and suspend your disbelief enough to imagine you're flying the real thing, about to tussle it out with some Focke-Wulfs and Messerscmitts over the English Channel.
The sales literature for this particular example indicates the plane landed hard in Canada in 2005, was repaired by 2006, and imported to Germany in 2008. But now fully repaired and sporting a price tag of €130,000, there are plenty of dumber things to spend all that money on these days.
With the help of his business partner John McCarron, the two-man team went on to form the Supermarine Aircraft company. With the blessing of the corporate holders of the old Supermarine firm's intellectual property rights, Supermarine Aircraft built their first Spitfire replica, powered by a tiny Rotax engine, in 1994. Early production models were three-quarters, 75-percent Spitfire replicas and dubbed the Mk. 25 before the design was completely re-worked to an 80 percent form factor in order to accommodate a rear passenger seat and dubbed the Mk.26. According to the sales literature, the 80 percent designation is in comparison to the genuine Mk. 5 Spitfire, rather than a general interpretation of all real Spitfire models from Mk. 1 to the Mk. 24.
Under the hood of this bird sits a General Motors-Isuzu V6 with an added supercharger to bring the power output up to 252 hp. Not exactly the thousand-plus horsepower you're liable to find with the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine found in the genuine Spitfire, but it's enough to get you off the ground and suspend your disbelief enough to imagine you're flying the real thing, about to tussle it out with some Focke-Wulfs and Messerscmitts over the English Channel.
The sales literature for this particular example indicates the plane landed hard in Canada in 2005, was repaired by 2006, and imported to Germany in 2008. But now fully repaired and sporting a price tag of €130,000, there are plenty of dumber things to spend all that money on these days.
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