Biggin Hill's ex-gate guardian Spitfire replica is up for sale

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17 years 5 months

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With a price that will make you wince...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Full-Size-Supermarine-Spitfire-GR-Z-Replica-/180813258979?pt=UK_Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item2a194f60e3

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17 years 5 months

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Wasn't this replaced because it wasn't in good nick???

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19 years 2 months

Posts: 1,317

A very poor description. This replica is not the actual aircraft that it attempts to depict. So what is the relevance of the information about Sqn Ldr Bushell?

It should in my view tell us what the structure is like inside, that it is supplied with a pole that it can be mounted on and its general condition.
Its pointed tail and 4 bladed prop do not represent a Mk 1 Spitfire. Just like the one at Turnhouse.

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12 years 8 months

Posts: 271

It does have a best offer button on the sale page, hmm i wonder if they`ll part with it for a tenner and a cup of tea when they install it?- i`ll even throw in a biscuit or two!. :-D

Member for

20 years 6 months

Posts: 7,025

History: 1 offer
Price: £20,394.00

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18 years 9 months

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More value (and much more interesting) is the Wessex on sale by the same person.

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14 years 2 months

Posts: 1,558

If its anything like the last two long term GRP gate guards that have been in circulation in recent years (ex TDL ?)We had the misfortune to end up having to carry out extensive work on both.They tend to be very thin in the rear fuselage ,in the correct light on the last one we had you could see from inside out through the roundel and it had Ply reinforcing bulkheads not very securely within.And the wing attachment area left a lot to be desired.

I think the ones we had the owners picked them up for £6k and £8k respectively but that is about 4 years ago. When you consider you can go to GB replicas and get a complete brand new one built for around £30k an elderly thin one at £20k plus is perhaps overvalued somewhat.

Mike E

Aircraft Restoration Group
& whirlwindfighterproject

www.aircraftrestorationgroup.webs.com

www.whirlwindfighterproject.org

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17 years 5 months

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I think the one here at the Aeropark was donated by Donington Park as it was deemed to be unsafe up on its perch, think they did some remedial work on it...

The RAF's plastic Tornado came through us at Cranfield to be modded as they wanted to fit droppers to the wings, the wing was split horizontally to insert a steel frame, that was found to simply have scaffolding planks in it when split if I remember correctly.. It was then reassembled and reprinted by us as the MacRoberts Repy one.

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14 years 2 months

Posts: 172

They tend to be very thin in the rear fuselage ,in the correct light on the last one we had you could see from inside out through the roundel and it had Ply reinforcing bulkheads not very securely within.And the wing attachment area left a lot to be desired.[/url]

In fairness, unless the grp has a core (balsa etc.) it's always possible to see light through it. I used to run a yacht building factory - went in one night and somebody had left an inspection lamp inside one of the boats. Enlightening in both senses!

Nothing wrong with ply bulkheads either. Most boats have them. In those day we used rolled corrugated cardboard for stringers too.

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17 years 5 months

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Bit like a Cessna then, flying at night in a Chanceller was a bit perturbed to see the Turbos glowing through the solid metal of the cowling..

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14 years 2 months

Posts: 172

There's a challenge.

I'll thrash my SIII Land Rover on the way home in the dark tomorrow, and see if I can see the turbo through the bonnet.

Don't expect much though. IR thermometer says 380C at worst. But in the interests of science.

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18 years 1 month

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More value (and much more interesting) is the Wessex on sale by the same person.

Do you think so? I think the Wessex is a lot of money for a gutted shell?

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18 years 9 months

Posts: 2,766

a gutted shell?

You probably know more than me, I just thought the engines were removed?

(only 4 external pictures)

Baz

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 894

You probably know more than me, I just thought the engines were removed?

(only 4 external pictures)

Baz

Ye, Sadly she's gutted inside. There's a panel but no instruments, no engines and only 1 seat. Its very nice, but I think they are asking top whack for what it really is! - Shame. I quite fancy a wessex!

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13 years 4 months

Posts: 346

Biggin Hills ex Gate Guardian Spitfire Replica is up for

History: 1 offer
Price: £20,394.00

True - but the one-and-only offer (so far) for this Airfix kit was declined. From which we can infer that it was nowhere near the £20k being asked.

As others have posted, the "true" value of this Spitfire-shaped piece of GRP is £10,000 tops...

BTW does the asking price include delivery?

(Reason for asking - the Wessex also mentioned in this thread was offered to the Newark Aircraft Museum for £15,000. Quite rightly, they turned down the offer. That same Wessex is now on Evilbay for £11,940 - a price drop of £3,060. From which, I surmise that Air & Ground at Hixon wanted £3,000 for delivery, for a 70 mile trip from Hixon, Staffs to Newark, Notts. If that was what they wanted for delivery of a gutted Wessex, how much would they want for delivering a plastic Spitfire?)

Member for

14 years 2 months

Posts: 1,558

I think the one here at the Aeropark was donated by Donington Park as it was deemed to be unsafe up on its perch, think they did some remedial work on it...

The RAF's plastic Tornado came through us at Cranfield to be modded as they wanted to fit droppers to the wings, the wing was split horizontally to insert a steel frame, that was found to simply have scaffolding planks in it when split if I remember correctly.. It was then reassembled and reprinted by us as the MacRoberts Repy one.

I thought the one at Donington got blown off its mount flipped onto its back and badly damaged or is this a different one ??. I seem to recall being told the wings we got from Dumfries now in Oz came from one at Donington and that it had basically been flipped and the wings had clapped and totaled the fuse ?. We also got told that two of the ones we have repaired including the remains now in Oz came from the John Poiser aircraft ? apparantly he had three One ended up at or near Donington one we have the rear fuse from and the cockpit is for sale in Lancashire and the third is in the back garden of an artist in Kent ?. But the origins of them are a little bit vague.

Mike E

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14 years 11 months

Posts: 300

The Aeropark Spitfire came from Kevin Wheatcrofts store near Leicester along with the V1. It came from Belgium i believe. It was fairly good accept the ribs had come loose in the wings and the rear fuselage formers were loose as well.
It was returned to Kevin Wheatcroft after the 5 year loan ran out. It is being refurbished now by DD Gateguards to go on display at the racetrack. The Spitfire which was on show at the race track had its wing torn off by a truck. This was removed and also rebuilt by DD Gate guards. It is now in France at a property owned by Kevin Wheatcroft on display as a crash scene in a field by his house. It has caused some problems as people have reported it to the police as a plane crash. The same thing has happened with pilots flying overhead reporting the same.

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18 years 1 month

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I’m not sure whether this helps or not!

IIRC one of the Poyser ‘mock-ups’ arrived at Newark in poor condition in the late 1990s or perhaps early 2000. Unfortunately it suffered additional damage in heavy winds whilst in the Southfield Site; it was taken away for repair and never returned.

It had a brown and green paint scheme – sorry I’m not a Spitfire expert! ;)