Spitfire replica

Last I heard Dave is swapping jobs and time is a real premium for him at the moment.Bits are still being made though.He is still very much on the job.

There’s a new piece of footage on that link. It should come up at the top of the screen as “On Patrol”. You might have to click “Home” in order to get it to come up. Apparently it shows Bob DeFord and Art Vance on patrol over Arizona!

I haven’t seen it yet (my work PC is an ill-equipped lump of crap!) so don’t tell me how good it is yet!!!

And definitely none of the others, either!

The plot is truly thickening!

Definitely not the trundler then – skin is all plywood, fuselage and wings. Also, only one engine, a car one, as I said I think it’s an Morris 1100 but I’ll check with Andy over the weekend.

The plot thickens….!

Piece of Cake Spitfire replicas

Otherwise known as “Rollers, Trundler and Plonkers”

Six replicas – three rollers, two plonkers and the Trundler. Rollers were made of aluminium, while the Trundler and Plonkers made of fibreglass. The Rollers were intended to be pushed, with motors turning their propellers, while the Plonkers were merely static airframes.

The Trundler was made of fibreglass around a metal frame, and equipped with two engines: a 125cc Honda motorbike engine and a Yamaha 250cc engine forward of the cockpit. The 125 drove the propeller while the 250 drove a pump that pushed oil from a 24 gallon tank in the nose down the undercarriage legs towards the wheels, which were turned by hydraulic motors. Each wheel had its own hydraulic motor – like a small, enclosed waterwheel – which was turned by the circulating oil.

So…. if the Trundler ended up on the Isle of Man (it was described as a taxiing airframe, remember), where’s the others that weren’t destroyed in the filming?

Cheers Daz.

Originally posted by skypilot62
Daz

Just to ensure no confusion, the phot I posted is a different beast to the other picture posted on this thread. The first picture shows a much better quality replica than “my” spit.

Ahh, my bad!

Doubt they’re from the same production. Did you say you have some details on the PoC replicas?

I have the book “How They Made Piece of Cake” at home (bought, funnily enough, at Duxford about five years ago!) which includes quite a bit of detail about the replicas, if memory serves correctly. I’ll try to remember to check it out tonight for the replica details.

Email sent Neil. 🙂

Daz

Just to ensure no confusion, the phot I posted is a different beast to the other picture posted on this thread. The first picture shows a much better quality replica than “my” spit. Doubt they’re from the same production. Did you say you have some details on the PoC replicas?

Ant Harrington , check your PM’s, – interested to find out about that Spit fuselage in Wilts matey…

Looks like the second photo was taken quite a while before the first, judging that it still has camouflage on it. Thanks for that, skypilot62.

Aforementioned Mr Saunders and his Spit. replica with my eldest in the driving seat.

That’s what it’s there for! 😉

If I remember rightly, the Spitfire that used to sit outside the D-Day museum at Shoreham is another ex-PoC replica Spitfire. I’m sure it was discussed at length in a previous posting on the forum before.

Isn’t it now sitting in a hangar at Duxford?

The replica referred to belongs to Andrew Saunders (not the Sussex based chap). It is currently languishing in a hangar at former RAF Jurby. The exact history of it is unsure, although it was sold as being from PoC. The u/c is made from scaffold poles and has standard non a/c wheels. The engine is a Morris 1100 (as I recall). Does that help narrow it down? Andy is still hoping one day he’ll find it was used in BoB! The wings are standard ply on a tubular box frame. I’ll gladly pass any info on you may be able to provide.

Glad to see someone has been using the MAPS website Daz!

http://www.maps.iofm.net/spitfire_for_man.htm

The Isle of Man Spitfire replica – P7966, Bader’s MkII.

This one would appear to be a former “taxier” from Piece of Cake – the only one which springs to mind is The Trundler, info on which I do not have to hand at work..!

Interesting one, Ant!

Whatever happened to the PoC Spitfires replicas? I know one was bought by a guy in the Isle of Man to be rebuilt as Bader’s Spitfire “Manxman” (P9766 or W3185 – whichever one it is, Mark12 is sure to know!) for display.

This one looks full-sized, at any rate.

I don’t mean to hijack the post,but whilst we’re on the subject of replica Spits,I thought I’d post this picture up.I went flying from a farm strip in Wiltshire in the summer and this was at the back of one of the hangars/barns.It doesn’t appear to have ever been completed,and there were no other bits lying around,so it looks like being just a spare fuselage.
I’d be interested to know what it was created for-a left over from the making of PoC perhaps??-who might have made it,etc.

That looks utterly superb !! . If you can’t afford one of these we know where there are some 3/4 scale static Spits for sale next Easter;)