Plastic Spitfire

Date 1970

Test Aircraft Airfix Spitfire Mk1

Location My parents back garden

Nature of test Effect of exploding banger on test airframe

Conclusions Cat 5 Spit. Severe earache from parents for setting
off fireworks in back garden.

Many thanks for all your help gentlemen..

Plastic Spitfires

There was one order placed with aerolite in Feb 41 for one prototype fuselage and a further order placed after the completion of the first one in April 41. The second fuselage was only partially finished.
Apparently they both ended up at Farnborough for weathering trials.
There is a complete chapter about it in “Spitfire the History” by Morgan & Shacklady.

There was one test fuselage (never flown) made out of a Bakelite type composite called Aerolite.

John

I have a 1969 edition of Airfix magazine which has an article about the “Battle of Britain “film. In the part of the article which mentions the plastic replica Spitfires used in the film the author mentions that “Gordon’s Aerolite”, a material rather like Bakelite , was considered as a material for building Spitfires duiring WW2.

Colin

Try a search under ‘Aerolite’ or ‘Aerolite Spitfire’.

I have a technical report somewhere.

This was the Aero Research Ltd, later called or merged, I think, with the Ciba Giegy company close to Duxford.

Mark