How Much does it cost to fly Sally B?

BIG QUESTION. Do you think it would be worth it if they converted said airframe into a Mk1 short nose varient – is this possible?

I imagine someone closer to ARCo could give you a better idea about this, but there was a thread on here a few months ago in which the idea was talked about. There is a mk 1 nose in existence – I last saw it in hangar 2 at Duxford earlier this year – which I understand is being restored to an airworthy condition. When I spoke to some guys from the Blenheim Society about four years ago, they told me there was a possibility of the nose being fitted to the current mk IV airframe. There have been some concerns raised about weight and balance, but as I understand it many original mk 1’s were converted to mk IV’s by flying into Filton, having the mk 1 nose taken off and amk IV nose put on in it’s place. So I’m therefore making the assumption that the reverse would be possible…

I seem to recall a conversation with Sarah Hanna saying that to hire out a Spitfire for film work, you’d be starting off at something like £4k per hour, not including using the plane for ground work…!!

Hi Philli,

I can give you these numbers off the top of my head.

To fly the Collings Foundation 17 and 24 its roughtly 2500-3000 US an Hour. If you give me till the end of this week when I’ll be with The Collings Foundation I’ll give you a better break down of Cost.

IE Fuel , Hull Insurance ect.

Cheers

Speaking of the Blenheim…
Does anyone know how they’re getting on with the repair job?

BIG QUESTION. Do you think it would be worth it if they converted said airframe into a Mk1 short nose varient – is this possible?

When we had our Vampire, good ole U-1226 from the Swiss Air Force, I remember that the cost of one hour of flight was about $US 1 500. We never flew her because of the hars regulations in force in Canada at the time, but we sure did quite a few run-ups!

I have very fond memories of that Goblin engine! 😉

While a bit smaller than the B-17, and differing fuel and incurance costs here in the US, the local CAF unit gives the figure of $2,000 or about 1100 pounds(sorry, requisite key missing from this US keyboard) per hour for their B-25

A: “More than you can ever get back from any reasonable means of display or other revinue earning.”

Why not ask them?

Speaking of the Blenheim…
Does anyone know how they’re getting on with the repair job?

Aha, that’ll be the chap I need to talk to then. Looking good for the 26th by the way, but I guess it’d be best if we continue this off forum, rather than hijack Phillip’s thread any further…

Sorry Phillip, back to the topic… 🙂

Well, he claimed it was apple juice 🙂

BTW, Steve the chap on the left is the CEO of the BoBHS 😉 😉 😉

Geoff.

Now there’s a phrase I can’t EVER imagine him saying… 😉

Steve, you should have changed your signature to ‘Mine’s an apple Juice’, Bob Doe, Shoreham, 2004′ 😉

Geoff.

Phillip, as I understand it, there’s not a lot of change from £2k for an hour’s flying in a big piston single (Spitfire / Mustang bracket). God knows what it’s like for the larger multis, I dread to think.

I’m sure some of the guys on here who know much more about it will elaborate, but from what I’ve heard the rise in insurance costs in recent years is the biggest single cost element. Not so much the hull insurance, more the public liability. God bless the compensation culture, eh? :rolleyes:

Steve