The recommended engine is a V-8 auto-engine conversion produced by Supermarine to perfectly match the airframe (at least one project is underway to incorporate a Mazda rotary, and British customers favor an Isuzu V-6 that is also produced by Supermarine). It is an all-metal, monocoque design with a fiberglass cowl. This airplane faithfully reproduces the beautiful lines of the original while providing a passenger seat and giving the modern builder an opportunity to own a flying version of the legendary fighter for a price far less than a real one. The current production kit is a 90% version called the Mk 26B.
Several of this type were built before he came out with a slightly larger model (80% of the original) that added a (small) second seat behind the pilot and was called the Mk 26. Mike O’Sullivan built his first Spitfire replica in the early 1990s, as a 75%-scale version of the original, which he called the Mk 25. The cockpit of the Mk 26B reflects the “steam gauge” heritage of the original Spitfire, while hiding a few “digital age” enhancements. Mitchell (the original designer of the Spitfire) had indeed gotten it right, and today’s modern kit company has been careful not to ruin the formula. Through the efforts of an Australian-born company, Supermarine Aircraft-now of Cisco, Texas-a modern-day Spitfire, true to the original but built in a slightly smaller size for practicality, is available as a kit for those who want to know what it was like for that early test pilot who implored the engineers not to change a thing. It was an inspired design.įew will ever have the chance to fly a real Spitfire, but that doesn’t mean that a modern pilot can’t experience the thrill of handling one of these amazing machines. It is no wonder that today we list it among the ranks of the “best of the best.” Through all of its versions, it maintained the heart of the British lion within its subtle curves. While the P-51 was power itself, the Spitfire was both quick and nimble, a perfect combination as an air defense fighter. With youthful simplicity and innocence, we locked our attention on the airplane we saw at airshows, and it was only later (with maturity comes wisdom) that we learned of the elliptical-winged wonder that flew so heroically in the Battle of Britain and beyond, the Spitfire. Powerful, fast, long-ranged and lethal, it was clearly the ultimate aerial combat machine, flown by heroes who swept the skies clean for democracy. Every red-blooded, aviation-crazy American boy who grew up in the decades after the war (myself included) took it as an article of faith that the ultimate piston-powered fighter was the P-51 Mustang.
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