wow, a real spitfire, I would love to fly in one of those

meeeee tooooo....

V.

I think the original engine was a Rolls Royce Merlin or later variations, but still, very cool:)

I believe you are right!

*slaps her forehead...

V.

Merlins sound sooooooooo sweet! I was at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford when they had a dozen +flying around:)

OMG that must have been glorious... you know Anthony then?

V.

Nope

pity - he does a lot with the fursuiters your way and worked at Duxford as a volunteer.  ant

V.

a very good possibility...

V.

An amazing project. I hope you get to take pictures when it's finished.

I'll be there to be sure!

V.

nice try how am I to believe you can touch a spitfire

but I did!

V.

Hard to tell how detailed they are getting but just to have on full scale model to fly would be a blast. I just wouldn't want to have to cover the fuel the thing will drink an hour.

this day and age you're exactly right - but if you could afford to own it I think gas would be the least of your worries...

V.

You are right.

But still at 75 to over 100 gallons an hour fuel burn of the good stuff... Ouch in anyone's pocket book

nope - it's plywood. There are some fiberglass parts as well.

V.

I see someone caught the RR merlin point...When I was a ramprat in highschool there was a p-51d that I washed and waxed and flitz'd the 4 bladed massive props. it, of course, had a Packard built rolls Royce merlin. the owner would fly it a few times a year, buzz the field full out at what seemed like 2 feet off the deck. there has never been another sound in the world as magical and awe inspiring at one of those going by 100 feet away going 290mph over your head....

I absolutely agree... I love going to the airshows...

V.

Gee I'm glad to know I was not the only one that was a ramprat!

The Merlin and big Packard have a lovely sound and it's one I love to hear. The radials have a sweet sound to them as well. The PW Corncob has a sound all it's own. They all beat the flat engines hands down.

yuppers... though they are so much bigger than the flat ones.

V.

Oh I know and those round engines make a butt load of power for their size.

I've had a few 'crap' jobs along the way, but being a ramprat was thee best low pay one I had. chat with pilots, crawl around and tow cool planes even go for a ride or two...awesome. then I went to college, booo.
the same guy also had an SNJ-4. big ol PW R-1340 spewing oil everywhere and smoke when it starts up, and the great rouwlblroublerowble sound.

Dad had a Bellanca Sr Skyrocket with the PW Wasp or as most call them now a 1340 on the nose. Sadly when it came into the States the FAA had a hissy fit and wouldn't let it fly.

any particular reason?

V.

one was they had no paperwork they had ever been built here in the US and they didn't like the fact the 1340AN1 had an AN3 prop on it. Never mind the face the plane had thousands of hours flying that way in Canada.

too bad you couldn't have called it experimental.

V.

Dad got the aircraft to put to work flying but the way things happened that didn't happen. It was a real shame too. The Skyrocket would carry more than a Caravan and was with in 15 knot at cruise speed on 200 less horsepower. Not bad for a 1930s design I would say.

I have to say my respect is really approaching infinity to those old school guys. My sweet god, could they engineer! no CAD, no wiki, no banks of multi processors for modsim. but here you have 75 years later planes STILL haulin the trash to the bush like the day they came off the line.

I saw a piece on the ME-109 engine and the museum sent it to a modern engine factory and they said with the technology they had now they could not duplicate the crankshaft. Is that wild or what?

V.

I know, I've heard that same description, and it's because modern machining techniques are by nature deterministic, and will always have a systemic variance. where a master machinist will be able to measure, and turn, measure and turn, just so, to bring that variance to zero. Now that totally plays hell if you're trying to produce more than one of something a year, but wow. also considering they made on the order of 30,000 of them during the war gives you some idea of how many master machinists working how hard were around in Germany at that time. The world would have so much more wonderful if a certain corporal had just gotten a wee bit more of the gas back in the great war eh?

not to mention all the spares - and bomber engines! As to machinist - it's not that we don't have them now, it's just that they depend on modern tech just like anyone else. The idea of a mechanic diagnosing an engine just by listening to it is long past.

V.

indeed, I design things, then get schooled by the guys who have to make it ( and love it) ( I do have a smithy in my garage) and the tools and machines they have now are miraculous. but as you say, those old sailor crew chiefs who could tell cylinder 4 needs turned out by 2 thou by listening to it...they just KNEW how things worked, even if they couldn't explain how. I always wonder what would get done by grabbing a guy from then and bring him to now with the tools and materials we have today. Hawking ain't got squat on Einstein!

First they would be lost with all the new stuff BUT get them in a shop with old school tools you would be shocked at what they would make.

Yes Rolls-Royce rebuilt one of the ME-109 engines and told the owners what every you do DON'T break that crankshaft because we can't make another one! Because we don't know how.

Oh yeah those old planes were built to do a job. Sadly none of the aircraft that Giuseppe Bellanca designed are flying in Alaska. Back in the early 50s they were still in use.

If you took the Bellanca Sr. Skyrocket and put the same power the Caravan has in it would be 15 knots faster at least get off the ground shorter and climb faster. Even with the Wasp at 550 HP she cruised at 160 mph at 7000 feet as I remember.

Dad said like many of the aircraft of that era they flew like a truck because that's what they were but the Bellancas were a truck that handled like a sports car.

I had the pleasure of a couple trips in a Bellanca... can't recall the model. A high speed aerial tour of the new Yuengling brewery, for example! We covered a good chunk of Pennsylvania and Maryland and were still home in time to "leave work" 8)

BEAUTIFUL!

it is!

V.

There had damned well BETTER be room for a bunny in there as well.

Bunners

a Bunny and a Fox together!

V.

Stuff the bunny under the seat.... Not sure where to put the fox yet...

I suspect the fox would fit under the seat better than I would.

Bunners

maybe... We could hang you from one of the hard points they use to hang small bombs on... Just hope the pilot doesn't forget and does a mock strafing run and then hits the button for the bombs... Could get real exciting really really quick!

heh, but not for very long

yep it's all over at impact...

they were... this is a full scale 'reproduction' based upon the design

V.

wow really?! that's amazing. Sad part is the fuel consumption but I guess this days and since is not a perfect replica that they could use a different engine to make it run when need to it fly and change to the Original on land to display. Plus its a huge heavy and not extremely efficient engine, but yeah the sound is something else. And the crank shaft its impossible to be made this days because is such a huge time consumption work it would be crazy to do it I guess. But I think is possible and affordable to make it in poor countries like Cuba since they still have to make parts for automobiles of that time. I seen some Redbull air racing live but I think the engines are new age, sadly never seen an original ww2 airplane flying. Any way the airplane it's going a piloted or RC?

About Cuba and poor countries being able to do repairs and make new parts is true believe me there is some very skilled guys making amazing thinks in those countries with very basic machinery, true artistry. Seen some oldshool crankshaft or Cigüeñal/Cambota making on youtube

I do believe it... I really believe it...

V.

it's full scale Azedo and will look and fly just like the original... and trust me; if you can afford to own it you can afford the fuel...

some day make it to an air show...

V.

now that is awesome

it is awesome!

V.

They made a spitfire from scratch?! Have you ever asked them if they've tried making the WW2 German flying wing, because thats one of my dreams I have is to fly the german flying wing.

And I was honestly thinking about making the flying wing my self when I get my pilots license and got the money to do it but I figured that since the original is made out of wood, it would be easy to be a backyard project. I'm a aviation fanatike myself and the only planes I love to fly in the future are WW2.