Thread: A rare Spitfire Mark I takes to the skies

Thanks for sharing...

Fascinating, but I wonder how much of the original aircraft is flying, after 40 years in salt mud? I suspect much of the airframe was used as templates for reconstruction, or to confirm identity of new spare parts. And is the engine the original, or a similar Merlin II? (or is it indeed a Merlin II?).

A change during production of the 1,566 Spitfire 1s was to the Merlin III, using a constant speed de Havilland or Dowty propeller rather than the two speed de Havilland fitted to this one (which in turn had replaced the fixed wooden propeller of the earliest Spitfire 1s, also on the Merlin II).

The Spitfire II started to replace the Spitfire I during the Battle of Britain in 1940, and I supect that very few Spitfire Is were still airworthy by the end of the war, although quite a few may have still existed - but there were plenty of later models, so very few would have survived the scrap metal dealers of the late 1940s! Hence the historic value of this aircraft.

John

There could be a lot more Spitfires in the air soon....

Hidden Burmese Spitfires to be excavated - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Apparently they are Mk XIV versions with more powerful RR Griffon engines and 5 bladed props.