Wooden Spitfires

Its Robert Defords Marcel Jurca MJ-100.

http://www.marcel-jurca.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=144&Itemid=55

I’ve seen that plane up close. It looks *smoother* than the genuine article.

There is/was a French-built, all-wood Mk.IX replica flying around a few years ago, also Allison-fitted. Not sure if it’s still kicking about, though.

It has an Allison, hence the P-40 sound. 😉

I’ve seen video of this one flying, and I’d love to know figures for it, as it easily outstripped a Mustang!

Here’s the French machine with its then-new engine (previously fitted with a 690hp Hispano engine)

I’m fairly certain (about 90%) that the engine is an Allison, but the nose profile certainly looks Griffon. I suspect that, with the original engine, there were some design changes to the location of the firewall, and this might not have been changed when the new engine was fitted, but I’m happy to be proved wrong.

Jurca Spit

There is A Jurca Spitfire not far from flight in North East England.

See link:

http://www.airfieldaviation.com/PopFlyingAssocSpitProjNews.pdf

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www.tranwell.wordpress.com

It was the prototype Spit they used the split peas on… 😉

The Allison engine is a somewhat cheaper alternative to the Merlin. It also has fewer parts and is slightly easier to maintain (but don’t quote me on that).

The DeFord Spitfire really is nice, though. His total expenditure on the project was something like $250,000.

There are a few more MJ.100s under construction, mostly Stateside but there is/was one being constructed in Germany, and at least one other in New Zealand.

There is also the “Spitfire Aircraft Company” full-scale Mk.IX being built, which will utilise an Allison as well. This is being advertised as a kit, and is an all-wood job (most MJ.100s have the welded steel tube fuselage. The exception being the French one).

I guess you could do it like Supermarine did it on the flush riveted speed spitfire and glue split pea’s on it to simulate round head rivets!!

OO I like that one, but tell me why an Allison? is it just a shortage of Merlins?

Price and availability I would think. I’ve seen Mr. Deford’s Spitfire on numerous occasions and it is very nicely built and finished, if a bit too “smooth” as pointed out by ZRX61. As a builder of flying scale models I would love to take a crack at simulating the surface detail on the airplane!

OO I like that one, but tell me why an Allison? is it just a shortage of Merlins?

The Allison engine is a somewhat cheaper alternative to the Merlin. It also has fewer parts and is slightly easier to maintain (but don’t quote me on that).

It is indeed a little cheaper and less time consuming to overhaul than the Merlin (around 70%, I was told a few days ago by somebody who deals with both engines), cheaper to aquire and has fewer moving parts (not to mention rollers on the cam followers).

I seem to recall that the speed spitfire never attempted the record; it did however have something like 30 coats of paint to help streamlining!

It was the prototype Spit they used the split peas on… 😉

Anymore Info on that? as I remember from Rolls-Royce days as being told it was the flush riveted Spitfire used for the attempt on the record breaking speed flight (beaten by the 109 at the time) They used it to save time in production by finding where the flush rivet’s had the most benefit. I believe the Aircraft was used by the PRU after………..

Anymore Info on that? as I remember from Rolls-Royce days as being told it was the flush riveted Spitfire used for the attempt on the record breaking speed flight (beaten by the 109 at the time) They used it to save time in production by finding where the flush rivet’s had the most benefit. I believe the Aircraft was used by the PRU after………..

Like what? The prototype was flush-riveted all over, so in order to see where they could cut down build-time (and, presumably, cost) by using round-headed rivets, the Supermarine chaps stuck split peas on the airframe, then flew it with areas of the split peas picked off to see where they could afford to lose performance with the round-heads. That’s it. Been discussed here before.

You’ll notice that on the later variants (Mk.IX onwards, I believe) they are fully flush-riveted.

I haven’t got the books to hand, but I suppose it’s likely the Speed Spitfire was fully flush-riveted also in order to reduce drag as much as possible.

I can’t help but think all those layers of paint must have weighed a lot, though, thus affecting overall performance….

There is A Jurca Spitfire not far from flight in North East England.

See link:

http://www.airfieldaviation.com/PopFlyingAssocSpitProjNews.pdf

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www.tranwell.wordpress.com

I’m looking forward to seeing this one take to the skies. As the text says, it’s a 75% scale Jurca MJ-10, and if I remember rightly the engine is a LOM 230. Don’t think an MJ-10 has flown in this country before.

There was a beauty in Switzerland a few years back, and I remember keeping my eyes on the updates every so often to see the progress. It had a Chevy V8 under the cowling and was built as a Mk.Ia. Sadly, only a year or so after it first flew, the aircraft crashed while performing at an airshow, killing the pilot (Stephan Haug, who’d also built the aircraft along with his father).

(image from www.spitfires.ch – the Haug family’s website)