“Supermarine “ Spitfire(!!??) seen over Charlbury sunday

Tue 24 Aug 2021, 22:36

Or, on a moment of extra thought, why would one put a larger fin on an aircraft with a significantly lower power output and spoil the sleek lines of the original design?

Tue 24 Aug 2021, 22:33

Even more disappointing, which I hadn't spotted at the distance it was seen at, was that the rudder fin ISN'T  that of the classic earlier marks, but the enlarged, pointy, "elven-ears" of the later Griffon engined aircraft.

Tue 24 Aug 2021, 20:27

Philip is correct, it was one of the reproductions from Enstone. Rather a disappointing sound compared to the original!

Tue 24 Aug 2021, 20:23 (last edited on Tue 24 Aug 2021, 20:26)

link www.spitfireclub.co.uk/

Tue 24 Aug 2021, 20:20 (last edited on Tue 24 Aug 2021, 20:27)

Visually it looked the part, but sounded rubbish. Lycoming engine? It must have been one of the first of the fifteen 90% scale two-seater models being built at Enstone.

Tue 24 Aug 2021, 18:20

??????? 

Tue 24 Aug 2021, 18:00

A clear view of the planform of the wings. Their unmistakable double ellipse wings. The correct empennage. 

But NOT that unmistakable song of the “blown” RR Merlin engine and it’s supercharger. And it didn’t seem to be quite the right size for the relatively short distance we were viewing it from- it just looked a bit too small.

ISTR some few years back there was some talk of reproduction Spitfires commencing development and construction up at Enstone airfield. Could this have been one of these now actually in the air?

From what ISTR these reproductions were to be engined with a 600hp powerplant and built to 5/6th scale (though why build a reproduction so close to the actual full scale size somewhat bemuses me, unless to keep an adequate power/weight ratio from a 600hp versus the 1030hp of the Mark I version of the real thing so it “handles” so handily in manoeuvre that flyers of the earlier Marks found so delightful. My Uncle flew many Marks of Spitfires for the Royal Canadian Airforce over here during WW2 - as well as Hurricanes and later Allison and Merlin powered P51 Mustangs, and adored the act of flying the early Marks of Spitfires above all other flying machines. As after tours he became a test pilot he flew a lot of different types.

Apart from power vis a vis handling cannot see why a smaller machine should cost less to manufacture by a big enough margin so as to why not? build the extra 1/5 in size.

And just a thought- will an aircrafts handling be changed a bit if the empennage is a couple of feet closer to the ring roots, or the distance between ailerons being lessened by shorter wing alter the action of them in terms of sensitivity etc.

Pilots talk in mysterious languages- like well harmonised controls. Which the Spit had in spades apparently. How much shrinkage would it take to hazard such virtues?