It was the prototype Spit they used the split peas on… 😉

The Allison engine is a somewhat cheaper alternative to the Merlin. It also has fewer parts and is slightly easier to maintain (but don’t quote me on that).

The DeFord Spitfire really is nice, though. His total expenditure on the project was something like $250,000.

There are a few more MJ.100s under construction, mostly Stateside but there is/was one being constructed in Germany, and at least one other in New Zealand.

There is also the “Spitfire Aircraft Company” full-scale Mk.IX being built, which will utilise an Allison as well. This is being advertised as a kit, and is an all-wood job (most MJ.100s have the welded steel tube fuselage. The exception being the French one).

The Douglas Skyshark (on the Skyraider thread).

Again, heard of but never seen. What an extraordinary-looking beast that is!

I *think* one of the RAF Museum’s Luftwaffe birds was flown to the UK by defectors, but I could be wrong. Something tells me it was the Ju88.

There is A Jurca Spitfire not far from flight in North East England.

See link:

http://www.airfieldaviation.com/PopFlyingAssocSpitProjNews.pdf

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http://www.tranwell.wordpress.com

I’m looking forward to seeing this one take to the skies. As the text says, it’s a 75% scale Jurca MJ-10, and if I remember rightly the engine is a LOM 230. Don’t think an MJ-10 has flown in this country before.

There was a beauty in Switzerland a few years back, and I remember keeping my eyes on the updates every so often to see the progress. It had a Chevy V8 under the cowling and was built as a Mk.Ia. Sadly, only a year or so after it first flew, the aircraft crashed while performing at an airshow, killing the pilot (Stephan Haug, who’d also built the aircraft along with his father).

(image from http://www.spitfires.ch – the Haug family’s website)

One of the ‘110’s engines is/was at East Fortune.

The accident aircraft that put paid to Sir Tim’s flying was NH799, however TB863 suffered an accident shortly after arriving in New Zealand. Its now in Australia. NH799 was/is under rebuild again.

Having just had a look at Platinum Fighter Sales’ website, it seems they’ve sold on ‘799.

Stunning.

Not me, but John Taylor built the prototype Taylor Monoplane (G-APRT, still around these days) in the front room of his house.

There’s video footage somewhere of it being removed – carefully! 😉