Was there ever a Mk.1 Spit coded CW_L?

Galdri:
C-FAMY is powered by a 1962 all-aluminum 215 cu. in. Buick V8 that makes @ 185 h.p. at take-off. This was the narrowest V8 ever built and the entire airplane is scaled around it resulting in a 70% replica. GM sold this engine to British Leyland in late ’63 which is what now powers the V8 Land Rovers. I can still get quite a few new parts if I need them. A couple of engine shots are attached.
Mk.1

Just out of curiosity, what engine are you using in the replica?

Daz:
You’re right, I’ve seen a beautiful print of Mk.1 DW-L on take-off with the gear just coming up, but I promised Charlie I would retain “his” code when I re-painted C-FAMY. I guess that is the inherent liberty of replica’s, a bit of historical slack is permissible (at least in the ranks of us amateur builders) 😉
Mk.1

Just thinking out loud here, but you could have had DW-L, or even GW-L, both of which would be authentic codes (610 and 340 Squadrons respectively). It would still honour Charlie Longstaff in a way…?

Like I said, just thinking out loud… 😉

The “Roger’s Pass” picture is truly stunning.

Liking that P-40, too.

For anyone interested in Spits with scenic backdrops, a few more photos from the ferry flight across the Rocks in July of 2005 (including my fighter escort for most of the route) and the welcoming committee (my friend’s 2/3 scale 412 Sqdn P-40).
Mk.1

If anyone’s interested, here she is prior to repaint:

Thanks Daz. I will post a follow-up set of photos when she is fully re-assembled and outdoors again in the spring sunshine (which would appear some distance off as we sit in a foot of snow and -15C temps, awaiting the IFR arrival of Santa here in Calgary).
HoHoHo from Mk.1
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Undoubtedly one of the best Spitfire replicas I’ve ever seen, anyway! 🙂

Hello Graham:
My compliments on your (significant) efforts to display ground runnable BoB birds to the general public in the UK. Many folks simply do not get the chance to get “up close and personal” with famous aircraft like Spits and Hurri’s. The public out here in the far flung outposts of the empire (Calgary and vicinity) rarely get to see flying BoB-era aircraft and that is the interest my humble little replica will try to address.

As for costs of a 70% replica like mine, I purchased it from the original builder as your typical homebuilt (90% done, 90% to go) and ferried it uneventfully through the Rockies from Vancouver to Calgary in 2005. Charlie Longstaff and his machinist partner put roughly 12,000 man hours and 23 years into C-FAMY’s original one-off design and construction. I have put another 3,000 hrs and over 5 years into the modification, upgrade and refinishing effort which saw nearly every system and component overhauled or modified in some fashion. In today’s marketplace, I would guess a replica Spit like C-FAMY would cost @ $80-100K for materials and components alone. You can assign what-ever rates you feel are appropriate rates for the 12-15,000 man hours required for woodworking, custom machining and finishing labour. With even nominal rates applied for labour however, the supportable value quickly approaches $250K.

She has electro-hydraulic retracts, a fully functional custom-built under-wing radiator, in-wing oil cooler, and authentic fully functional fishtail stub exhausts. Every single piece on the aircraft was hand built including the 1.8:1 cog-belt redrive, scale 3-bladed wooden propeller c/w blunt-nose spinner, purpose-built (non-cavitating) coolant pump, smoke system, cast aluminum wheels (which originally housed ’53 Morris Minor front drum brakes), gear legs including authentic pintles and rotatable locking pin mechanisms, and a hand-formed plexi-glass canopy. It would have taken me 50 years to build all these parts myself so my hat goes off to old Charlie every time I sit in C-FAMY.

Best of luck should decide to undertake a flying replica. They are a ton of work but extremely rewarding when finally completed (my wife would undoubtedly have a different take on this last statement!!!)
Best regards, Mk.1
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(apart from S/L C.W.Lockhart)

Baz

Also W/C C W Lovatt, Vampire T.11, WZ570 Cranwell, 1960. CWL was a personal code, i.e., their initials, and nothing to do with squadron codes.

MKI thats a really pretty aircraft, if you dont mind me asking how much would it cost to build something like this? does it have retracts and what sort of performance would you expect. I saw one flying at Upminster in the Summer until it got on the ground i thought it was full size.

According to ‘Squadron codes 1937-56’ – CW was never used as an RAF code, however, it was used on C47s and C53s belonging to the 435th troop carrier group of the USAAF.

(apart from S/L C.W.Lockhart)

Baz

Looks fantastic! 🙂

There’s a nice 3/4 scale Jurca Spitfire being built here in the UK. Last I heard it was nearing completion….

Fascinating photo of CW-L in India – with the 3 bladed prop it looks like it may be a bitsa although being displayed like this makes me wonder if this plane had a significant war record perhaps from Burma to justify its selection for this position of honour? Does Mark 12 know the identity of this Spit and how long it survived?

The serial applied is ‘RSU 101’.

The true identity is unknown to me.

Mark

Mark:
Many thanks for the photo of the “original” CW_L. It isn’t per chance the same aircraft (a dilapidated PR Spit that was languishing as a gate guard outside an Indian Military Academy) that a group of Vancouver-based doctors recovered from India with great difficulty a number of years ago? The last I heard, their PR Spit was still undergoing restoration in Vancouver. My father per chance ran into a retired airline captain (in Vancouver as well) that had actually flown the same aircraft once during the war in Burma, I vaguely recall. It would be the strangest of coincidences if my replica were to bear the same code as a fluke of Charlie Longstaff’s initials.
Mk.1

No that was PR XI PA908.

This is basically a MK VIII fitted with a three blade prop.

PA908 is now in the USAAF Museum in Dayton.

…and ‘Brick’ Bradford was the former pilot in Vancouver.

Mark

To SMS88:
What is a “bitsa”

Bitsa this and bitsa that. 🙂

To SMS88:
What is a “bitsa”

Mark:
Many thanks for the photo of the “original” CW_L. It isn’t per chance the same aircraft (a dilapidated PR Spit that was languishing as a gate guard outside an Indian Military Academy) that a group of Vancouver-based doctors recovered from India with great difficulty a number of years ago? The last I heard, their PR Spit was still undergoing restoration in Vancouver. My father per chance ran into a retired airline captain (in Vancouver as well) that had actually flown the same aircraft once during the war in Burma, I vaguely recall. It would be the strangest of coincidences if my replica were to bear the same code as a fluke of Charlie Longstaff’s initials.
Mk.1

Fascinating photo of CW-L in India – with the 3 bladed prop it looks like it may be a bitsa although being displayed like this makes me wonder if this plane had a significant war record perhaps from Burma to justify its selection for this position of honour? Does Mark 12 know the identity of this Spit and how long it survived?