Spitfire Mk26 Replica ZK-EFY

The Supermarine Aircraft Spitfire Mk26 Replica ZK-EFY2 c/n PFA324-14102 of Gary Cotterrell was captured airborne over inland Canterbury on Friday the 9th.

ZK-EFY has been mentioned several times previously HERE

Photos supplied by Anon.

Rangiora open day # 2

There were three Supermarine Mk26 Spitfire's, ZK-MEB, ZK-CGV and ZK-EFY, and one Titan Mustang ZK-MSY on static display.

 Above we have Gary Cotterell and Ivan Campbell discussing their pending display in ZK-EFY and ZK-CGV.

 Scrambling out on "07".

And "gear up  -  gear up GO".

Supermarine Spitfire Replicas of New Zealand

The completion of the last Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire Mk 24 in 1947 bought to an end eleven years of Spitfire construction during which over 22,500 examples were produced and over those eleven years the aircraft was developed possibly more than any other aircraft in history.

More than 50 years later, in the late 1990s, Australian aircraft engineer Mike Mike O'Sullivan wanted a Spitfire but couldn't afford a real one so he built a 75% scale replica that first flew in 2001.  He then formed Supermarine Aircraft Company in Brisbane and produced the production prototype aircraft which first flew in 2004.  This aircraft was designated the Supermarine Spitfire Mk 25 with the blessing of the descendants of the original Supermarine Aircraft Company.  In 2010 the company moved to Cisco Airport in Texas where it has further developed the aircraft and produces kits.

The Spitfire Marks 25, 26 and 26B are all aluminium with a monocoque fuselage.  The original Mk 25 was 75% scale single seater and is no longer produced while the Mk 26 has a 80% scale fuselage with a rather cramped rear jump seat with the original 75% wings, and the Mk 26B is a 2 seater with the option of dual controls in an approximately 90% scale fuselage, but still using the 75% wings.  A variety of engines can be fitted from 6 and 8 cylinder Jabirus to various automotive  V6 conversions to the 400 HP Chevrolet LS2 V8 engine conversion.

The next type of sport aircraft to be registered here was the Supermarine Spitfire replica and five examples of various marks have flown in New Zealand to date:

The first example to appear was ZK-SPT (c/n 070) which is a Mk 26B model that was registered to Harding Enterprises Alpha Ltd of Wanganui (Richmond Harding) on 30/8/10.  The airframe was built from a kit by Ivan Campbell of Campbell Aero Classics (the New Zealand agents for Supermarine Aircraft) at Loburn, and the engine and systems were installed at Wanganui.  It has a 400 HP Chevrolet LS2 V8 engine.  It is photo'd above at Wings Over Wanaka on 5/4/12 where you can see the shadow of the famous elliptical wing.  It suffered damage in a wheels up landing at Wanganui Airport on 1/10/12 but the damage was minor and it was repaired.

On 13/2/17 ownership changed to Richmond R Harding of Wanganui.  Along the way the spinner was repainted black as can be seen from this photo taken at a Flat Hills flyin on 11/6/17.

There is a video of ZK-SPT operating off Richmond Harding's airstrip near Wanganui at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw2hNOLr4JQ  where you can hear the sound of the big V8 engine, that I reckon sounds real good.

The next Supermarine Spitfire to appear was ZK-CGV2 (c/n 52) which is Ivan Campbell's personal aircraft which was first registered to him on 11/12/15.  It is also a Mk 26B model and has dual controls fitted in the back seat.  Ivan spent a lot of time working on the cowling and canopy to ensure that their lines were more true to the original Spitfire and it looks really nice.  It also is powered by a Chevrolet LS2 400HP V8 engine.  The photos above and below were taken at Ivan's property Loburn Abbey on 8/2/15, before its first flight.

ZK-CGV2 is painted in the colours of Group Captain Colin Gray personalised aircraft RM787.  I have posted more details about this aircraft and Colin Gray at: http://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2015/05/supermarine-spitfire-mk-26b-and-other.html

A nice shot of ZK-CGV2 taken at the West Melton flyin on 8/9/18, showing off the Spitfire's classic lines.

And a shot of it on take off at Wings Over Wairarapa on 23/2/19.

Next up was an imported Mk 26 model which was freighted to New Zealand from the UK in 2017 and was registered as ZK-EFY2 to Gary R Cotterell of Rangiora on 18/12/17.  It is also photo'd on take off at Wings Over Wairarapa on 23/2/19.

The aircraft was built by David B Thomas of East Neuk in Scotland and was first registered G-CENI (c/n PFA324-14102) on 4/4/07.  It is powered by a 8 cylinder Jabiru 5100 engine of 180 HP.  It passed through several owners in the UK before being cancelled from the UK register on 14/6/17 as exported to New Zealand.

ZK-EFY2 is painted to represent W3257 which was a Spitfire Mk V of 611 Squadron, RAF in 1941.  This aircraft was flown by Lt Eric Lock, DSO, DFC and Bar who claimed 26 victories in one year, and they are painted on the aircraft.  Flt Lt Lock was posted missing with his aircraft on 3 August 1941.

Next up was another Mk 26B model which was built by Ivan Campbell at Loburn Abbey.  ZK-MEB (c/n 72) was first registered to Ivan Campbell on 28/11/16 and is also powered by a 400 HP Chevrolet LS2 V8 engine.  It is painted as HC974 but I do not know the history of the aircraft it represents. It is photo'd above at Loburn Abbey on 22/4/17 at a gathering of four Supermarine Spitfire replicas.

It is photo'd above at the Canterbury Aero Club's 90th Anniversary flyin at West Melton, on 8/9/18.

On 6/11/18 ownership changed to Hayden J Cowan of Greta Valley.

Most recently a Mark 25 Spitfire has been imported from Australia and has been registered ZK-RGV (c/n 011) to Gary D Marsh of Inglewood (on 14/6/19).  It is powered by a 6 cylinder Jabiru engine.  Surprisingly, it is registered as a Class 1 microlight!

The aircraft was built by Peter Yates of Perth WA and was registered as VH-XST on 26/2/07.  It is painted to represent the aircraft A58-497 of 457 Squadron RAAF which was the aircraft of Wing Commander R H (Bobby) Gibbes DSO, DFC and Bar, OAM.  It carries the name "Ecstasy".

This is the original 75% scale replica and it therefore has the purest lines of the Supermarine Spitfire replicas.  If you look at the lines of the larger Mark 26 and 26B fuselages which are 2 seaters, you will see that the cockpit is further forward to keep the centre of gravity within limits (and of course their wings are relatively smaller).

There has been one more Supermarine Spitfire replica registered in New Zealand.  ZK-LEJ (c/n 57), a Mk 26 model, was registered on 8/5/08 to Paul D Bayly of Auckland.  I believe that it was being built as a project on public display at MOTAT for a time and it was intended to be powered by a Chevrolet LS2 V8 engine.  I saw the partly built fuselage covered up in a hangar at Ardmore quite a few years ago and some progress has been made since.  On 14/6/18 it was re-registered as ZK-EDM to Paul D Bayly of Wanganui.  So we will have another Supermarine Spitfire in New Zealand skies in the future.

Wings Over Wairarapa (3) - Scale WW 2 Fighters

With the no show of the Mustang and Spitfires due to the weather up North, it provided a great opportunity for the scale WW 2 fighters to show their stuff and they flew several impressive slots during the Friday and the Saturday.

Titan T 51 Mustang ZK-MLE in the colours of the 325th Fighter Group USAAF circa 1945.  It is named "Smoke and Mirrors" on the starboard side.  The Titan Mustang is a 75% scale replica of the P 51 Mustang and ZK-MLE is powered by a 3.5 litre Honda engine which produces around 245 HP.

and on the port side it is named "Hell's Belle" with the pilots name Capt Greg Tetzlaff (ret) on the canopy.  Greg will base the aircraft at Hood so the flight North doubled as a delivery flight.  It was flown at WOW by Evan Belworthy.

Supermarine Mk 26 Spitfire ZK-EFY2 was flown by Gary Cotterell.  It was imported into New Zealand from the UK by Gary in March 2017, where it was previously G-CENI.  It is powered by a 180 HP flat 8 Jabiru engine.

It is painted to represent W3257 which was a Spitfire Mk V of 611 Squadron RAF in 1941.  W3257 was flown by Flt Lt Eric Lock DSO DFC and Bar who claimed 26 victories in one year, and these are painted on the aircraft.  Flt Lt Lock was posted as missing with his aircraft on 3 August 1941.

ZK-EFY2 is a Spitfire Mk 26 which is a development of the original 75% scale Mk 25, with an 80% scale fuselage while retaining the 75% wings.

The third scale WW 2 fighter at WOW was Ivan Campbell's Spitfire Mk 26B ZK-CGV2.  The Mk 26B is a further development of the 75% Mk 25 with a 90% scale fuselage that allows for 2 seats but still retains the 75% wings.  It is powered by a 6 litre V 8 420 HP Chevrolet LS 2 engine and is painted to represent RM 787 which was the Spitfire Mk XIV of Colin Gray DSO and DFC who was the highest scoring New Zealand fighter ace of WW 2.

We have 2 Spitfire Mk 26s and 2 Mk 26Bs flying in New Zealand and they will soon be joined by a Mk 25 which is coming from Australia.

The Sport Aircraft Year 2017

As 2017 draws to a close, I thought I would look back on the sport aircraft year briefly (There is a problem with just what is a sport aircraft but I do not include most rag and tube microlights in the following):

By my reckoning there were 31 new sport aircraft registered including first of types the SPA Panther ZK-PMD2, Zlin Shock Cub ZK-EUP2, Morgan 10 Cheyenne ZK-CZJ2, RK Jungster ZK-DDA2 and Techpro Merlin ZK-MEF, Ariane Swift (a potentially foot launched glider) ZK-LAJ and our first Technam P2002 Sierra Mk II ZK-EVE2.

2 new amateur built helicopters were registered.

5 sport aircraft were returned to the register.

6 sport aircraft had their registrations changed.

8 gyrocopters were registered including one new type - the Delta Trikes J-RO ZK-RAC3.

11 sport aircraft were cancelled from the register including sadly 3 in fatal accidents being Titan Mustang ZK-SMF, Rans S 6 ZK-TJE2 and Rans S 19 ZK-MBX.  And 2 gyropcopters were cancelled including Bensen B8M ZK-OOZ which was involved in a fatal accident.

The weather wasn't kind to airshows/flyins with both the Wings Over Wairarapa and Black Sands Flyin being cancelled, and Classic Fighters dodged a bullet with a weather bomb just sliding by.  However I thought that Classic Fighters was great, and so was the RAANZ Flyin at Rangiora which was blessed with settled weather over the whole country for the whole weekend, resulting in a great attendance of visiting aircraft.

I reckon the highlight of the year was Graeme Frew's exploits at Reno.

And another highlight for me was the gathering of 4 Supermarine Spitfire Mk 26's at Loburn Abbey.  ZK-SPT, ZK-MEB, ZK-EFY2 (it was registered G-CENI then) and ZK-CGV2.  I wish I could have been there.

And finally, a mystery - Does anyone know anything about the Zephyr Airworks Mule SPA ZK-UZA, that is ex N302ZX and was registered to Zephyr Airworks LLC of Wellington in October 2017?