[MindBender26]

There is only one flying Spit, and it is an ugly two seater. Any chance this one can be rebuilt?

[Yo-Yo]

Sure, start with the original data plate and build all new around it.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

There are way more than one spitfire flying.Check out the fighter collection at duxford england.

[alfa6]

After the P-51 Mustang I suspect that the Supermarine Spitfire is the second most popular WW-II fighter

http://www.warbirdalley.com/spit.htm

Reagrds

alfa6 :>}

[Joe 6-pack]

"There is only one flying Spit..."

Um, not quite...

16-ship Supermarine Spitfire formation from the Duxford Battle of Britain Air show 2010

[rlmorel]

There are WAY more flying Spits, and nicer ones too. I have seen the ugly two seater at Oshkosh, but...Hell, I wouldn’t throw a two seater out of the rack for eating crackers in it!

[af_vet_rr]

There is only one flying Spit, and it is an ugly two seater. Any chance this one can be rebuilt?

I saw mention of a company on a PBS show, History Detectives, that was building World War II aircraft. They helped identify some parts from a Japanese aircraft that had crashed in Hawaii. They were building World War II aircraft from original spare parts or parts from aircraft that were unable to be fully rebuilt. When they showed the clip, they were working on building an entire B-17. Unfortunately a B-17 was lost recently.

There was a tank show on I think Discovery Channel, where they refurbish old tanks, and they mentioned a British company that was building World War II aircraft through mostly new parts, or at least the wings/fuselage were freshly machined. They were going by the original blueprints and working with some old RAF mechanics.

[WKUHilltopper]

“There is only one flying Spit, and it is an ugly two seater. Any chance this one can be rebuilt?”

Really? Just one Spit? I had no idea. That’s really sad (I guess the two seater was trainer).

[KeyLargo]

Forgotten Spitfire will fly again after major restoration
A project to create the most authentic flying Mark I Spitfire will be completed later this year when aircraft X4650 takes to the skies 70 years after the Battle of Britain.

By Alastair Jamieson

9:00PM BST 24 Jul 2010

The painstaking reconstruction of aircraft X4650 coincides with a public competition to design a permanent memorial to the aircraft’s designers.

It also shines a spotlight on the extraordinary story of young pilot Howard Squire who was flying the plane on a training mission led by RAF legend ‘Al’ Deere when the pair collided over North Yorkshire.

Sgt Squire, now 89, has visited the restoration project and hopes to see the finished aircraft fly over the south coast of England later this year.

Those involved in the project believe X4650 will be the most accurately-rebuilt Mark I Spitfire in the skies and will contain the highest number of original parts.

The wreckage was only discovered in the long, hot summer of 1976 when low river levels exposed the metal embedded in a clay riverbank on farmland near Kirklevington, Cleveland.
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It had been there since December 28 1940, after Sgt Squire, then 20, bailed out after colliding with X4276 flown by Al Deere, Flight Commander of 54 Squadron at RAF Catterick.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/world-war-2/battle-of-britain/7908245/Forgotten-Spitfire-will-fly-again-after-major-restoration.html

[dalereed]

A friend of mine, Nelson Whiteman, had a fully restored Spitfire given to him by his father when he returned from Korea.

I haven’t seen him in 50 years but Unless he crashed it i’m sure it is still in existance at Whiteman Airpark in No. Hollywood, California.

[mad_as_he$$]

Really?

http://www.vintagewings.ca/Aircraft/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1/language/en-CA/Supermarine-Spitfire-XVI.aspx

[skeptoid]

There is only one flying Spit, and it is an ugly two seater.. . . . .

I just can't resist piling on . . A list of the Airworthy Spitfires around today