I remember being contacted by somebody/organisation about making a Lancaster front cockpit section out of plywood as he had the flight instruments, seats etc. Nice idea and i would have loved to have given it a go but with limited working space at the time it was just not practical to do it.

Thank you for explaining EN. Going back to the Stirling project and David’s response that you realise the scale of the task in hand. I thought my Spitfire was a big project to undertake, but a front section of a Stirling being the size of a double decker bus. An amazing project.

Work starts on my new Spitfire airframe with suprise suprise a frame. Frame 5 is where the wing spar joins the aeroplane just in front of the engine bearers. This one is made from MDF from the full size drawings that I have collected over the years. Here is one of the other frame plans for frame 8

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No En, Thanks for that, that’s interesting. What metal standard do they use in aircraft?

I wasn’t thinking of using old war time metal in construction. I was thinking more of producing new metal to the correct EN standard suitable for this aeroplane and are there jigs and drawings available to create things like the spars. How many years did it take to make jigs and moulds for the Mosquito in New Zealand. A static aeroplane assuming the drawings are available and a huge spare hangar. I made my Spitfire frames in the garage at home and it’s only now that I have moved to a storage unit as she comes together as a whole. Even with extra space I can’t get both wings on as my unit is 28ft square.

I can make another aeroplane at the side of it and have started making new frames after work etc.

What you need is a film company to make a film like the Longest Day and commission somebody to make a fibreglass Stirling replica as part of that assuming it’s not just going to be a CGI version of the aeroplane. For a flying aeroplane I wonder if the metal is still available. I know of one engine not far from where I live at a small museum open on Sundays, but what a project.

An interesting thread and being a fan of 1930’s air racing I think I’d like to make a replica of the Miles Attwood Special. I have the drawings and could make a start. However as I near the completion of my first Spitfire replica the next replica is wait for it another Spitfire. Main problem is saleability It would be great to make something different but if I am to make another aeroplane, I will have to sell it and the Spitfire or Hurricane is more saleable.

Hello Robert, Yes I am building a complete airframe and I do have a limited number of photographs of the construction as I hadn’t thought about it at the time. They are not very good photographs though. What I have done is used balsa, ply, spruce and fibreglass in my construction for lightness strength and durability, with panels, rivets and detailing added as appropriate to replicate the original airframe.

Here are a couple of photographs of the wing construction on another Spitfire I am making a Mk16. I started making parts for the second one to use up spare material from the first and to make use of the huge number of plans I have acquired along the way. Not sure what to do with the second one, but plenty of time to think about that at a later date.[ATTACH=CONFIG]226981[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]226981[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]226982[/ATTACH]