Ex Dayton Spitfire to be auctioned this Sunday

[PeterA]

http://www.bonhamsandgoodman.com.au/abo ... rticle=220

[Dan K]

I'm assuming you've already informed the auctioneers on the difference between a XIV and a XVI.

Must be that dyslexic twit writing the catalogue again...

(No offense implied or intended to those with clinical dyslexia. No animals were injured in the making of this post. Do not anger or upset happy fun ball.)

[Shay]

beautiful aircraft, one of my alltime favorite aircraft. It was sad to see it leave.

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

[Jack Cook]

By Dayton you mean the low back Spit that was in the AFM??
I remember them disposing of it which to me was another black mark against them because it was present to them by the RAF.
Maybe the RAF should ask for it back

[PeterA]

By Dayton you mean the low back Spit that was in the AFM??I remember them disposing of it which to me was another black mark against them because it was present to them by the RAF.
Maybe the RAF should ask for it back

Yes, TE330, that's the one.

PeterA

[mustangdriver]

I always loved that one as well.

[paulmcmillan]

TIM EVILL at Bonhams

What a Good name that is!

[Warbirdnerd]

Looks like the Spit is heading to the Beijing Museum...

World War II Spitfire Sells for $1.9 Million in New Zealand

By Gavin Evans

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- A World War II Spitfire fighter, one of fewer than 60 still flying worldwide, sold for NZ$2.8 million ($1.9 million) at an auction in Nelson, New Zealand today.

The aircraft, a 1945 Mk. XVI variant of the fighter made famous during the Battle of Britain, was bought by North China Shipping Holdings Co. Chairman Yan-Ming Gao at the sale at Nelson's museum of Wearable Art & Classic Cars. He plans to donate the fighter to the China Aviation Museum in Beijing.

Demand from collectors keen to own a flying piece of aviation history is sustaining a global industry of amateur archeologists and engineers scouring museums and crash sites for parts to restore and include in rebuilt planes. Provenance Fighter Sales, a specialist aircraft broker based in Murietta, California, sold 13 aircraft in 2007, including three Spitfires.

``I don't want to see the Spitfire go,'' Don Subritzky, an Auckland engineer whose family has restored the aircraft the past 11 years, said before the sale. ``Basically, we need to get some money in to fund the completion of a few of the other aircraft we've got here.''

Subritzky has nearly completed a 1936 Hawker Hind biplane. Other airframes waiting to be restored include a rare Vickers Vildebeest biplane, a twin-engined Airspeed Oxford and a Gloster Meteor jet.

The Spitfire sold today started life with Britain's Royal Air Force in June, 1945. After postwar service with the nation's air force reserve it was donated to the U.S. Air Force Museum at Dayton, Ohio. It was sold to private collectors in 1996.

`Spitfires in Particular'

``Spitfires are a very well-known fighter of the Second World War,'' said Gao, who has an interest in military history. ``It made a great contribution to the winning of the Second World War,'' he said through an interpreter.

The plane was the main attraction among 15 vintage and racing cars offered by Bonhams & Goodman, the Australian unit of London-based Bonhams. It is believed to be the first Spitfire sold at auction since the 1960s, Bonhams & Goodman Chief Executive Officer Tim Goodman said.

``Warbirds in general and Spitfires in particular only ever seem to go up in value,'' said Steve Vizard, managing director of U.K.-based Airframe Assemblies Ltd., which is currently restoring six Spitfires. ``Despite the so-called global economic crisis and the credit crunch and all that, it would seem that people who can afford to have this as their hobby, or their passion, can still afford them.''

Rebuilding a Spitfire, regardless of condition, takes about three years and costs about 1 million pounds ($1.8 million), Vizard said. Once flying, a later mark would typically sell for about $3.5 million, while an early model, with proven history in the Battle of Britain, might fetch twice as much, he said.

Including commission, Gao will pay just under NZ$3.2 million for the aircraft. He also bought a 1914 Daimler Tourer, a 1930 Rolls Royce Sedanca De Ville, and a 1898 De Dion Bouton today.

Found it here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... =australia

[Jack Cook]

After postwar service with the nation's air force reserve it was donated to the U.S. Air Force Museum at Dayton, Ohio. It was sold to private collectors in 1996.

Nothing like a museum preserving it's donations by selling them

[Django]

By Dayton you mean the low back Spit that was in the AFM??
I remember them disposing of it which to me was another black mark against them because it was present to them by the RAF.
Maybe the RAF should ask for it back

Funny!

So this was a flyer? And now it's going to a static museum in China?

[PeterA]

So this was a flyer? And now it's going to a static museum in China?

It last flew in 1958, to the ceremony at RAF Odiham, UK, where it was presented to the USAF.

PeterA

[Jack Cook]

It last flew in 1958, to the ceremony at RAF Odiham, UK, where it was presented to the USAF.

If they knew it would be disposed of would they have presented it???
How about the Swedish P-35???

Last edited by Jack Cook on Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Steve S]

I guess when viewed side by side with the P82 issue this would be a classic government case of "Do as I say- not as I do"

[PeterA]

Re TE330

If they knew it would be disposed of would they have presented it???

Possibly not, but they held on to it for 38 odd years.

This was a political decision from up high in the RAF/Government of the day.

For sure the the first Commanding Officer of the embryonic Battle of Britain/Historic/Biggin Hill Station - Flight, would have been most displeased to see go the only and first fighter Spitfire. A Spitfire that he had spotted at a 'Military Tattoo', rescued, and got back flying. The Flight then had three Photo Recce Griffon Spitfires.

If anybody had taken the trouble to look, the RAF had a number of more than adequate static Spitfires that could have been refurbished to museum display condition. Indeed post this date the RAF sent at least four Mk XVIs to the scrappers melting pot.

Of course it may be that the powers at Dayton sought advise and permission from the UK before disposing /trading for the...what was it, a 'Peashooter' I think.

PeterA

Maybe it'll get parked next to their P-61 (unitl it ROTS away)

Steve