Spitfire Auction – merged

Well, lets hope with the money received, the Subritzkies can get on and finish their Hawker Hind and Vildebeest they are rebuilding……..

Absolutely. More interesting and historic than a Mk.XVI Cessna. :diablo:

Well, lets hope with the money received, the Subritzkies can get on and finish their Hawker Hind and Vildebeest they are rebuilding……..

The world of Spitfires is a strange one ! Certainly the Chinese benefactor of the museum has paid a good price to be generous! However I do recall a well known British company donating a Spitfire to a foreign museum in the last decade so maybe there is commercial goodwill to be made from it !

I can also think of a certain late Mark Spitfire currently in the UK that used to be quite close to China

The world of Spitfires is a strange one ! Certainly the Chinese benefactor of the museum has paid a good price to be generous! However I do recall a well known British company donating a Spitfire to a foreign museum in the last decade so maybe there is commercial goodwill to be made from it !

[QUOTE=benyboy;1298316]

I have not seen any photographs of the Mosquito and Apache, do you have any ?

How did they they get a Harrier ? :confused:

The lighting where the Mosquito and Apache are is abysmal. As they were mostly replicas I didn’t bother taking any pictures. The only original bit of the Mozzie is the left wing, and pretty shoddy it looks too. The rest of it is fairly inaccurate (Too pointy nose, ‘waisting’ in the fuselage under the wings), Real Apaches I can see most weeks anyway so why take a picture of a fake?

As an example of the lighting here’s a couple I took nearby, with and without flash. No tripod, not best camera.

The link above is to the Beijing site, which I didn’t get too, but I believe they have a Harrier (GR1?) as I saw it in a TV program while I was out there.

John

How did they they get a Harrier ? :confused:

IIRC wasn’t it was part of the deal Ray Hanna did with them to get the La-9 out…??

[QUOTE=zoot horn rollo;1298291]There are a number of oddities in the China Aviation Museum museum already (the “Mosquito” being one and the home built “Apache” helicopter being another) so a Spitfire wouldn’t be much difference.

I have not seen any photographs of the Mosquito and Apache, do you have any ?

How did they they get a Harrier ? :confused:

I expected to see this spit flying. Shame.

There are a number of oddities in the China Aviation Museum museum already (the “Mosquito” being one and the home built “Apache” helicopter being another) so a Spitfire wouldn’t be much difference.

The term conspicious consumption comes to mind. Let’s buy a Spitfire just because we can.

I understand your feeling of “oddness”.

Surely there are plenty of historic aviation enthusiasts in China, so adding a Spitfire to the museum would be a boon (even if China never operated the Spit).

From what I can find about the museum, the money could have been better used to upgrade and restore their current exhibition, which is mostly outside:

http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/museums/126479.htm

http://rides.webshots.com/album/552886023ESzYOD

Although from this “newsflash”:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelsonmail/4693474a6510.html

We read: “The Chinese party intends to display the plane in a museum, to be established in Beijing.”

Odd to use it for static display, or odd to fly it?

Odd to buy it, ‘donate’ it, in China. It would also be odd to have it static and hard work to get it flying in China. AFAIK, apart from Hong Kong (which I don’t think the Chinese would be particularly keen to celebrate) the Chinese use of Spitfires was rather ‘limited’.

There’s a big fact missing in the financial equation, IMHO. Nothing wrong with the story, but, as yet, it doesn’t add up.

But it would be the first flying ‘warbird’ in China, unless someone knows different?

It seems an odd plan to say the least.

Odd to use it for static display, or odd to fly it?

Seems alot of money for a static aircraft, even a Spitfire. Although it saves the restoration work.

It would not be the first museum with a flying exhibit.

But it would be the first flying ‘warbird’ in China, unless someone knows different?

It seems an odd plan to say the least.

Don’t know of any flying museum aircraft in China though

Err…….according to that report in the OP.

He plans to donate the fighter to the China Aviation Museum in Beijing.

So, airworthy is not on the cards….;)

It would not be the first museum with a flying exhibit.

and good luck to Mr.Gao with his new Spitfire, hopefully it will become airworthy

Err…….according to that report in the OP.

He plans to donate the fighter to the China Aviation Museum in Beijing.

So, airworthy is not on the cards….;)

The plane was the main attraction among 15 vintage and racing cars offered by Bonhams & Goodman, the Australian unit of London-based Bonhams. It is believed to be the first Spitfire sold at auction since the 1960s, Bonhams & Goodman Chief Executive Officer Tim Goodman said.

Constructive bull. IIRC there were several auctioned in the UK in the late 90s early 2000s. A buyer defaulting on one occasion, and another buyer getting it after the auction may affect the ‘sold’ element, but still PR rich – fact poor.

So a flying BoB Spit is now $6-7 million……….sigh!

I never realised that there was a private interest in warbirds in China. Good news, as it might lead to some search and recover operations throughout China. I’m fairly sure they must have a good few wrecks (how do you say barnfind in chinese?) scattered around that waste country.

Good luck to Mr.Subritzky and family, with their next restoration, and good luck to Mr.Gao with his new Spitfire, hopefully it will become airworthy, even if its not going to be at legends 09.

Spitfire Sale…….. wow big $$$$$

World War II Spitfire Sells for $1.9 Million in New Zealand

By Gavin Evans

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) — A World War II Spitfire fighter, one of fewer than 60 still flying worldwide, sold for NZ$2.8 million ($1.9 million) at an auction in Nelson, New Zealand today.

The aircraft, a 1945 Mk. XVI variant of the fighter made famous during the Battle of Britain, was bought by North China Shipping Holdings Co. Chairman Yan-Ming Gao at the sale at Nelson’s museum of Wearable Art & Classic Cars. He plans to donate the fighter to the China Aviation Museum in Beijing.

Demand from collectors keen to own a flying piece of aviation history is sustaining a global industry of amateur archeologists and engineers scouring museums and crash sites for parts to restore and include in rebuilt planes. Provenance Fighter Sales, a specialist aircraft broker based in Murietta, California, sold 13 aircraft in 2007, including three Spitfires.

“I don’t want to see the Spitfire go,” Don Subritzky, an Auckland engineer whose family has restored the aircraft the past 11 years, said before the sale. “Basically, we need to get some money in to fund the completion of a few of the other aircraft we’ve got here.”

Subritzky has nearly completed a 1936 Hawker Hind biplane. Other airframes waiting to be restored include a rare Vickers Vildebeest biplane, a twin-engined Airspeed Oxford and a Gloster Meteor jet.

The Spitfire sold today started life with Britain’s Royal Air Force in June, 1945. After postwar service with the nation’s air force reserve it was donated to the U.S. Air Force Museum at Dayton, Ohio. It was sold to private collectors in 1996.

`Spitfires in Particular’

“Spitfires are a very well-known fighter of the Second World War,” said Gao, who has an interest in military history. “It made a great contribution to the winning of the Second World War,” he said through an interpreter.

The plane was the main attraction among 15 vintage and racing cars offered by Bonhams & Goodman, the Australian unit of London-based Bonhams. It is believed to be the first Spitfire sold at auction since the 1960s, Bonhams & Goodman Chief Executive Officer Tim Goodman said.

“Warbirds in general and Spitfires in particular only ever seem to go up in value,” said Steve Vizard, managing director of U.K.-based Airframe Assemblies Ltd., which is currently restoring six Spitfires. “Despite the so-called global economic crisis and the credit crunch and all that, it would seem that people who can afford to have this as their hobby, or their passion, can still afford them.”

Rebuilding a Spitfire, regardless of condition, takes about three years and costs about 1 million pounds ($1.8 million), Vizard said. Once flying, a later mark would typically sell for about $3.5 million, while an early model, with proven history in the Battle of Britain, might fetch twice as much, he said.

Including commission, Gao will pay just under NZ$3.2 million for the aircraft. He also bought a 1914 Daimler Tourer, a 1930 Rolls Royce Sedanca De Ville, and a 1898 De Dion Bouton today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington at [email]gavinevans@bloomberg.net[/email]

Last Updated: September 14, 2008 01:08 EDT

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It was airworthy, but has not flown since gifted to the USAF in 1958 .

James Slade, a Hong Kong based businessman and aviation enthusiast, began to restore the aircraft when he bought it in 1997, before selling it to the current owner two years later.

It is now airworthy again, according to Bonhams.

From the Telegraph, so possibly inaccurate

Moggy

Hammer price $2.8m NZD. Just over £1m. Plus extras.

Reported in NZ as, sold to a Hong Kong party for a Chinese Museum.

Mark.

http://www.bonhamsandgoodman.com.au/lot_details.php?lot=67625&auction=257#