Fleet16b wrote:
It begs the question ; Of all the Spitfires now flying , how many are " new builds" that have no provenance but a data plate ?
I think it would depend on the definition one would be willing to use/accept for what constitutes a "new build" or "data plate rebuild", vs. a restoration/repair of an airframe that continues the provenance back to its original manufacture. In some cases of course there are projects based on just the corroded and largely missing remains of a wartime wreck, pulled from under a salty beach or Pacific jungle, where as other times a project has started with a full or near-full surviving airframe that remained largely intact, but perhaps stored outside for decades where in which the completed restoration could only have used a partial amount of the original airframe (in such cases it is hard to know the amount of original material that remains, unless you were intimately involved in the restoration - how much originality needs to be present to get over the threshold of not being considered a "new build"?). In some cases I know some projects had just a fuselage or good section of fuselage to begin with, so again, it would depend on an individual's interpretation of what constitutes how much original material allows the aircraft flying today to still be considered the original.
I think it's pretty safe to say that the flying (or soon to be) Spitfire Mk.I's P9374, N3200 and X4650, the Mk.V's BL628, JG891 and EP122, and the Mk.IX's/Tr.IX's TE294, TA805, TD314, MH367 and SM520, began with very little usable material from the original aircraft. (Perhaps Seafire SX336 too, but if so, then perhaps a few in the following paragraph too, depending on how one judges it.)
That leaves the remaining currently or near-to flyable examples - Mk.I AR213, Mk.II P7350, Mk.V's AR501, AR614, BM597, EP120 and AB910, Tr.VIII MT818, Mk.VIII's MV154 and MV239, Mk.IX's BR601, MH434, MK356, MK732, MJ730, ML417, MK959, PV270, PL344, TE554, SL633, RR232, and MK912, Tr.IX's PV202, ML407, PT462, TE308, MJ772 and MJ627, Mk.XI PL965, Mk.XIV's MV293, NH749, NH799, RN201 and SM832, Mk.XVI's TD248, TE184, TE311, TB863, SL721, TE356, RW386 and TE476, Mk.XVIII's TP280, SM845 and SM969, Pr.XIX's PS853, PM631, PS915 and PS890, and Seafires PR503, VP441, and PP972. These range a wide spectrum - from some having been in near continuous operation for many decades, down to others existing today, as they are, having been rebuilt from only partial surviving sections of airframe.
As of 1985, according to those involved in Spitfire restorations at the time, it was said that there were only 15 Spitfires known to be flying in the world - now (depending on how you call it) there is just shy of 60 active flyers, with more set to join the ranks this year.
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