# I want one of these. Now. (Airplane) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873 "2006-01-20T19:47:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/21 "2006-01-21T20:10:22Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Pretty cool, all right. However, the web site says, “Suitable for a first-time pilot”. Since when is a single seat, 260HP taildragger with a controllable pitch prop suitable for a first time pilot?? :dubious: Well… they _didn’t_ anything about someone flying it a _second_ time, did they…? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/22 "2006-01-21T20:17:57Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I’m not au fait enough with planes to know what that means. What I really mean is, do they take the engine and instrument panels of, say, a Cessna, and put a new body on it, or do they make/buy everything and put it together from scratch? Having flown a genuine-not-replica military trainer of that era (Stearman) and climbed in and out of a few others, I can say that even most of the original airplanes of that era are not flying with the avionics (instruments and stuff) of that era. That is, a GPS in a 1943 open cockpit biplane would raise no eyebrows in the aviation world. It’s buyers’ choice, whether your talking about an original or a replica. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/23 "2006-01-21T20:20:50Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Why are they making it 80% size? Why not full size? Actually… There are a couple of 100% scale replicas [on this page](http://www.spitfire.org/replica.htm). I clicked on one, and it’s made of wood. Haven’t checked out the other one yet, but will do as soon as I send this post. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/24 "2006-01-21T20:24:03Z")
Okay. Both are made of wood. The [Marcel Jurca](http://www.spitfire.org/jurca.htm) one uses a 600-1,300 hp engine – which is what I was saying earlier about larger aircraft needing more power. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/25 "2006-01-23T05:59:27Z")
Okay… How’s this? I buy the kit through the studio. I work every spare moment building it, and have my partner videotape the entire process from beginning to end. Record the taxi tests and test flights. With a ton of footage, edit the whole thing down to two hours of construction and an hour of flying. Either sell the completed project to Supermarine Aircraft, or sell the DVDs individually in PAL and NTSC formats to builders, potential builders, and interested parties. Write off the cost of the aircraft as a production expense. Would that be legal? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/26 "2006-01-23T06:59:35Z")
Your studio has the $ to pay for it, and to pay you to build it and to lose all your income while doing so and paying all the extra help in documenting this project and buying all the added tools you might not have and then will let you have the airplane when finished? Oh, you are the studio. If you have that much money, hire a real A&P to build it, document it and then write it off and make yourself the only one in the company that can fly it. Sounds like a plan… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/27 "2006-01-23T12:43:54Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Okay… How’s this? > > I buy the kit through the studio. I work every spare moment building it, and have my partner videotape the entire process from beginning to end. Record the taxi tests and test flights. With a ton of footage, edit the whole thing down to two hours of construction and an hour of flying. Either sell the completed project to Supermarine Aircraft, or sell the DVDs individually in PAL and NTSC formats to builders, potential builders, and interested parties. Write off the cost of the aircraft as a production expense. > > Would that be legal? > > 😃 I was thinking along the lines of going into bank robbery, blackmailing or following a political career to get the money, but your plan doesn´t sound bad neither. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/28 "2006-01-23T15:21:58Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Your studio has the $ to pay for it, and to pay you to build it and to lose all your income while doing so and paying all the extra help in documenting this project and buying all the added tools you might not have and then will let you have the airplane when finished? Well… We’re in the middle of making a film, so there’s no money. And I have no income because we’re making a film instead of taking on clients. (That’s going to change.) It would be a simple shoot, so we wouldn’t have to have extra people. The tools list is modest, and I have most of them. I want everyone to buy a few copies of the film when it’s done. Not just Dopers… (From _Léon_: ‘Everyone?’ ‘_EV-REE-ONE!!!_’) I’ll get paid when we make a profit. 😃 It’s a pipe dream. But it’s more attainable than a real one. I’ll probably end up with a C172 someday. ---
**Author:** ![DrLoveGun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@DrLoveGun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrLoveGun)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/29 "2006-01-24T02:09:09Z")
If I had the money I’d build myself a replica, full size of course, of the Corsair F4U. I love these planes. Some day, baby, some day. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/30 "2006-01-26T17:39:26Z")
A Lincolnshire woman is [building a fill-sized metal replica Spitfire](http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/lincolnshire/4646888.stm) in her garage. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/31 "2006-01-26T17:52:11Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I was just wondering… would the fact that this version does not have an actual machine gun and ammo storage requirement make the 20% size reduction not only possible but even desireable from a performance and engineering point of view? > > Just a thought. What do you mean, there are no machine guns! What’s the point of getting one now?! I guess I can’t use strafing runs to keep those raccoons out of the garbage. I’ll have to think of something else. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/32 "2006-01-26T18:40:27Z")
[Here’s a full-size kit](http://www.spitfireaircraftco.com/home.html), made of wood. Cost for the complete kit: $320,000. Does not include the Allison V-12 engine, prop or instruments. Being a ton lighter than the original, the designer says it will outperform an original Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire MK.IX. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/33 "2006-01-26T22:59:04Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > [Here’s a full-size kit](http://www.spitfireaircraftco.com/home.html), made of wood. Cost for the complete kit: $320,000. Does not include the Allison V-12 engine, prop or instruments. Being a ton lighter than the original, the designer says it will outperform an original Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire MK.IX. > > _sigh_ That´s fascinating… _Starting daydream mode_ ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/34 "2006-01-27T09:14:04Z")
Hey - what about one of [these](http://www.thundermustang.com/index.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/35 "2006-01-27T11:32:38Z")
OK, Spits and Mustangs are cool, but if you want to give a honest scare to the cows on the fields you´ll need one of these [FW-190s](http://www.flugwerk.de/). Nothing says I´m a bad MoFo like a 190. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/36 "2006-01-27T16:28:24Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > Nothing says I´m a bad MoFo like a 190. Unless, of course, you’re in an [ME-109](http://www.marcel-jurca.com/MJ9/index_mj9.html)! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/37 "2006-01-27T21:29:28Z")
No, you need to have the top of the line, the [Messerschmitt 262](http://www.stormbirds.com/project/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/38 "2006-01-27T23:03:50Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Unless, of course, you’re in an [ME-109](http://www.marcel-jurca.com/MJ9/index_mj9.html)! 😉 No, no, no; a one-oh-nine says “I´m a _sinister_ MoFo”. 😉 As for the Me-262, it´s cool, but I would like something that roars rather than whistles. (by the way a Me-262 says “I´m an evil MoFo”) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/39 "2006-01-27T23:46:40Z")
Would you settle for an [engine](http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Rotec-Radial-R2800-engine-R-2800-airplane-aircraft_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ26437QQitemZ4606814084QQrdZ1)? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873/40 "2006-01-27T23:49:09Z")
How about [a '46 Seabee](http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1946-Republic-RC-3-Seabee-Seaplane-Airplane-Sea-Plane_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ26428QQitemZ4605850256QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW)? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-one-of-these-now-airplane/340873.md?page=3)