Spit Prang at geneseo

I dunno about you but I’m hanging out to see that Seafire in the flesh.

I wonder if NZ can get it for Warbirds Over Wanaka 2006……….. 😉

(sorry to get off the subject a little)

IIRC it is, with a cut-down Shack prop, too, or was that PS890??

I’m not sure but there may have been something about engine/prop performance in Spitfire – The History.

I often wonder (with the exception of the Griffon Spitfires, which almost always have the correct engine variant for the type) whether a Merlin-engined Spitfire’s performance is comparable to WW2 specs, given that many Spitfires nowadays are fitted with different variants of the Merlin. :confused:

Is that beautiful US-restored Seafire Mk 47 fitted with a Shackleton Griffon ?

I’m not sure but there may have been something about engine/prop performance in Spitfire – The History.

I often wonder (with the exception of the Griffon Spitfires, which almost always have the correct engine variant for the type) whether a Merlin-engined Spitfire’s performance is comparable to WW2 specs, given that many Spitfires nowadays are fitted with different variants of the Merlin. :confused:

Turbo,

I’m not sure maybe Mark12 could answer that question, I know there was a sound differance with the two Spits. I’m not sure if this was the engines or the props.

Does having a wooden prop affect the performance of a Spit to any noticeable degree ?

Hi All,

here is a pic of Mike Potters Spit when I got out to the end of the Runway.

Hi All,

Just got off the phone with a friend who said there might be a chance that Mr.Potter has sorced some blades in the UK. He didn’t know all the details yet.

I thank my lucky stars a prop for my Spit won’t cost that much…! 😀

At one time, Bill Greenwood used a metal prop on TE308, but I believe that this has now been replaced with one with wooden blades. Doesn’t Shuttleworth’s Vc have a metal prop?

TE308 uses a Dowty prop of resin bonded laminated and compressed wood. The Buchon Propeller, of metal construction and also Dowty manufacture, will substitute clean but wood is the preferred choice due to the reduced damage to the engine in the event of a ‘problem’.

The Shuttleworth Mk V c prop is a metal bladed unit and of DH manufacture.

Add 15-20% to the prices quoted by Bruce for 2004.

All Dowty wooden blades for Spitfires have long gone and are now substituted with newly manufactured units from Hoffman Propellerwerke in Germany. Now there is an irony.

Mark

Wow. My price quote (if it was accurate where I read it) must have been US dollars then. Even so, a bit of inflation too!

Are the wooden props hand made?

Do Spitfire operators anywhere still use metal props? I believe the wooden ones are used as they’ll save the engine in a propstrike. Is that right?

A complete propeller, ready to go, will set you back about £65K sterling.

Blades are running at about £20K stg per set.

Prices based on my last experience of Spitfire propellers, about 4 years ago!

Bruce

$200,000 for a Spitfire propellor? I agree that sounds high. When Sir Tim Wallis had his second prang in his Mk XVI at Woodbourne I read the replacement wooden prop was to cost about $10,000 (not sure if that was US or NZ dollars). Funnily enough it said the Spitfire props were made in Germany!

That was about 1991. I doubt they can have risen so much in cost since then.

Cheers
Dave

Hi Guys,

When I talked with Mr.Potter he said it would take about 4 months to get props. He was shooting to get her out by mid-fall unless he could sorce some new ones in the UK.

As for cost I was told by someone else they are about $200K US this sound a bit high.

They pushed her into one of the T-hangers on the field.

Bloody Propstrikes!

Phew! Thought it was much more serious when I saw the thread title. Still sounds like it’ll cost some bucks to get fixed, but at least nobody’s been hurt.

Sounds like it’ll be ok to me…a few weeks to probably source a blade or two, check the engine and gear, and it’ll probably be on it’s way…

Mark

Hi,
what I found was rather hidden here

Cheers / Salut

dont see any mention of it on wix??

I cant find the thread about the spit??? :confused:

I take it that’s SL721 we’re talking about? Poor girl, I hope she’s OK 🙁