Quick question: How many Spitfires regularly fly?

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Member for

19 years 5 months

Posts: 9,821

A Spitfire, IX SL 633, is moving from one branch of a collection to the local branch where I volunteer, so it's time to brush up on my Spit stats...

So, how many Spitfires regularly fly (not counting airworthy examples stuck in museums, etc).

I trust the collective wisdom here more than other sourced...

Thanks

Original post

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 2,893

I think this is pretty convincing proof that the Spitfire Brains Trust have decamped, I imagine never to return.

A year or two ago you'd have had more replies than you could shake a stick at.

I've always reckoned there are usually somewhere around 50, with the rate of attrition matched by the number of restorations but I don't know an exact figure.

Member for

24 years 2 months

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The oft-quoted figure is around fifty, so you're on safe ground quoting that number I would have thought. 

Enjoy that Spit, a rounded rudder Mk.IX is a lot of people's idea of the perfect Spitfire. Such unusual markings too, a good opportunity to talk about the contribution of the Czechs and other nationalities in the wartime RAF and the difficult days that followed in post-war Czechoslovakia. 

 

Member for

19 years 5 months

Posts: 9,821

Thanks for the replies...

Dhfan....You're correct, back in the "old days" when this was the best aviation forum in the world, I would have had an answer in minutes...and likely started a small war as the Spitfire guys argued among one another.

Oh well.

Shall you call the coroner or should I?  This place is officially dead. 

In the meantime, I looked up wiki...that comes out to something like 52:  40 in the UK, 7 in the US, 3 in NZ...I each in Canada and OZ...

 

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19 years 5 months

Posts: 9,821

Ant.H...

Yes, SL633 is in beautiful shape. Before the Foundation relocated to Spokane, John Sessions brought it to Felts Field for the annual "Neighbor Day". It's a free event and the aircraft was simply parked in the open to give everyone a good view...I suspect many UK enthusiasts would have been envious for that opportunity.

 

I'm looking forward to spending time with it once the facility reopens.

 

Since the Spokane museum opened in December, I've had the pleasure to spend a lot of time around the "B" model Mustang, it too is in excellent condition. And Sessions is very accessible, he enjoys sharing the aircraft with the public. 

 

BTW: He told me he prefers flying the Spitfire over the Mustang...high praise from a man who owns and flies both.

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Member for

11 years 2 months

Posts: 580

In Canada, it is exactly one.
So you'll have to excuse me for getting a bit testy when people moan about "another two seater" or some other nonsense.
Also, you are totally correct about this forum. The last time a Spitfire question was posted, I, a lowly Canadian was the first to show up with the goods! :D
At this rate, in another year, the answer to the posed Spitfire question will be.... ...."what's a Spitfire?"

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16 years 11 months

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about 65 airworthy ? give or take !!

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6 years 2 months

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What is this spits fire thing you speak of?

Just kidding. Sort of. 

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11 years 2 months

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There you see!!??
It's starting already......

Member for

19 years 5 months

Posts: 9,821

How quickly they forget.?

I understand the type was famous for a battle somewhere...

 

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17 years 7 months

Posts: 275

Here in Canada we had one Spitfire but it has now moved on

The only thing we have now is a replica MkIX that was built from scratch by Vintage Wings of Canada.

There are some Spitfire bits in it, engine , instruments etc  but that's about it.

A lovely recreation but one that did not start from any actual airframe and has 0 provenance.

As VWC themselves say " its the first Spitfire built in Canada" .

VWC no longer operates the aircraft in the collection and they have all been transferred back to the Mike Potter Collection. 

Operations at VWC have been winding down over the past couple of years and most of the aircraft have been mothballed for some time now .

Even more so post Corsair incident last year

It seems that the aircraft are slowly being sold off though some due to them  having doubles.

sold off:

Lysander, Swordfish , Spitfire , Hurricane , Fleet Finch , Foxmoth , Waco Taperwing, Sabre ,

 

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17 years 7 months

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Good news

Ive just heard that the VWC replica has just completed its annual inspection and the test flight will happen soon?

Replica or not it’s better than nothing. 

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I was a bit surprised about the lack of Spitires in Canada given the number of aircraft there and the fact the country is home to a number of airworthy rare types...Hurricane, Lancaster, Mosquito (I don't know how frequently the Mosquito flies).

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24 years 2 months

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As far as I'm aware, the Canadian Mosquito (Bob Jens' VR976) flew a handful of times after restoration in 2014/2015 but hasn't flown since. The three NZ rebuilds now in the US are really the only ones that can be considered airworthy, and even then the future of the Flying Heritage example is in doubt at the moment...

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19 years 7 months

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There's one Sptfire - RW 386 - which belongs to the car-parts dealer Biltema, located in Sweden or Norway. I'm not sure exactly where it's hangared at present. It flies quite regularly.

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20 years

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Slight thread drift but one for our Canadian chums. A Firefly was retrieved from Ethiopia and was restored in Canada but subsequently damaged in a ground accident I believe. Any news of the current status?

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20 years 1 month

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Cam, forgot to mention that by my estimates, the VWoC replica Spitfire was/is the most expensive Spitfire restoration to date. Even with buying one set of wings and setting up and building another pair, every part of the restoration was costly in both time and money.

  The Firefly is in one piece again and looks complete. It certainly wont be run or taxied again though. Most of the repairs and damage has been looked after . The propeller has been rebuilt using the original blades. This picture was taken in December 2019, I don't think it would look much different today.

Mrp

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Member for

17 years 7 months

Posts: 275

The VWC Spitfire was is not actual a restoration rather it is a recreation

There was no actual airframe to start with 

The aircraft is a replica/new build Everything was built in Canada 

I think in the end they purchased an indentity in England and attached it to this project.

Like the majority of Spitfires flying , this one really has 0 provenance at all and is a replica 

Its been estimated that of the 50-55 “Spitfires” flying only about 25 are actual real ones with history . The rest are dataplate copies. 

 

 

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I read your posts with interest Fleet16b, about the Canadian recreation Spitfire and guessed you meant TE294, but I was a little puzzled by it. Your last post makes it perfectly clear where you were coming from. This last post would have caused a flurry of activity by now on the old forum.?