Spitfire sold?

[Dave Homewood]

TV 3 News haedline just showed a Spitfire and the woman said

"World War Two Spitfire up for auction in Nelson, so who bought it and for how much?"

I think it was TE330. Has it gone to Nelson?

[DragonflyDH90]

The auction was held in Nelson Dave at the World of Wearable Arts Events Centre. Not sure if it was shipped there for the auction or not.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Ryan. How about a Spitfire for a fantastic piece of wearable art!

Apparently it received a record price according to the latest update. Coming on the news soon.

[Dave Homewood]

$2.8 Million dollars, sold to a Hong Kong owner who intends to donate it to the Chinese Aviation Museum.

Apparently the highest price a Spitfire has made at auction in the world.

Bye bye TE330.

[shane]

So does that leave us with just 4 NZ owned Spitfires or is the one at Avspecs still under NZ ownership also ?

[stu]

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10532207

Spitfire fighter sold for $2.8m

A World War II Spitfire fighter, one of fewer than 60 still flying worldwide, sold for $2.8 million at an auction in Nelson yesterday.

The aircraft was bought by North China Shipping Holdings 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.

Seller Don Subritzky said he family had restored the plane.

[Dave Homewood]

I'm pleased for the Subritzky family that they finally got the sale they wanted and at a great price. However the China Aviation Museum is renowned for all its stuff rotting and rusting outdoors, I hope the new home will care for it as well as it was cared for with its NZ family.

[corsair67]

From Bloomberg -
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aUWAu9aC7y60&refer=australia



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.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington at [e-mail]

Last Updated: September 14, 2008 01:08 EDT

[yak2]

The purchaser has good taste

[John L]

Good for the Subritskis. Now will we see some more progress on the Hind and Vildebeest....?

[Peter Lewis]

"Restored to airworthy"
Did it ever fly here? I don't thinks so.
Will it fly when it gets overseas? Probably not.
How sad.

[Dave Homewood]

It hasn't flown since the 1950's with the BBMF.

That's a Vincent they have Jon, not a Vildebeest. And stunningly beautiful and unique it is too.

[shorty]

Differences between a Vincent and a Vildebeeste?

[Dave Homewood]

The tail strut arrangement that held the horizontal stabilizers on us the main difference, but the original factory designation difference is the Vildebeest was designed to carry torpedoes, whereas the Vincent was a reconnaissance bomber type and carried a large drop tank instead. So it's really just an operational difference.

I'm told by people who flew them that between the Vildebeest III and the Vincent there was no differences in the cockpit and no difference in the flying of them. I'm not even certain why the tail struts were changed.

In RNZAF service of course there were no torpedoes as NZ never bought the gear. The Vincents were mostly used for GR work thoguh they did a little training early in the war, and some Vildes also did GR work though most did advanced training early in the war. The Vildes were numbered NZ1xx and the Vincents NZ3xx

[shorty]

8 out of 10 Dave, the reason for the differing tailplane strut lengths are for altering the angle of incidence for when a torpedo is carried (and dropped!). The external tank is not a definite, see the the photo of NZ 105 at the Hermitage during the Mt Cook flight, one is fitted there. The same goes with the spats, they were not always worn by all Vildies all the time.
The parts otherwise can be mixed and matched and in fact the part numbers are the same for both types.

When it come to recovered parts it gets much harder, as the fabric (with the serial) has long gone, if you are lucky you some times come across a panel with a serial number daubed on the inside, however these can also be misleading. The best bet is to know where the bit came from and then try and deduce from that what aircraft it may have been. The ones I dug up with Sandy Curry at Blenheim were Vincents and we managed to narrow it down to four serials whereas the stuff from Marton (where most of Dons came from) could have been either as both type were diposed of from Ohakea. The bits from Waipapkauri were easy as it was Vildebeestes there but the Nelson stuff might have been either, as the TTS had both types. The one certainty was the stuff from Pelorus, the records have only one aircraft, NZ 357, crashed there.

The answer is, if you can't see the tail or a serial, you mighty as well flip a coin.

[Dave Homewood]

Sure the tanks were mixed and matched. NZ was the first customer to buy the Vildebeest without the torpedo gear and asked for tanks instead. I assume this is what gave the designers the idea to fit the long rang tank to the Vilde and call it a Vincent. Not certain on that.

Is that spats reference to NZ-based Vildes? I know overseas they were often removed, such as in Spain. But I've never seen photos of them operating in NZ without the spats.

Both Vincents and Vildebeests were used at Waipapakauri, by both No. 1 GR Squadron and No. 7 GR Squadron. Do you reckon that only Vildebeest were disposed of there? Is that based on those wrecked in the storm?

I wonder how many wrecks were left in Fiji after No. 4 GR and 5 GR Squadrons finished with the Vincents they had. I wonder if any survived past the end of the war. i don't think they were brought home, were they?

[shorty]

When you read through the list of Vincents disposed of none went from Waipapakauri.
Vincents were seen with and without spats. That was the one recovery trip I didn't go on.

One crash I would like to know more about is NZ 327 at the Conway River Emergency landing area. The Conway is only about 15 mins drive north of my place.

I think thats a good guess about the Fiji ones.

I've got photos of the recovery trips I'll post when I get to the "V"s, but so far I've only made to the end of "D"

[stu]

www.3news.co.nz/video/Spitfiresellsfor28million/tabid/309/articleID/71378/Default.aspx?ArticleID=71378#video