Scrapyard Spitfire fetches £1.7m
20th April 2009
BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk
A World War II Spitfire aeroplane found in a scrapyard has been bought at auction by a British adventurer for more than £1.7m. The two-seater Vickers Supermarine Spitfire was sold at the RAF museum in Hendon, north London, after a five-year restoration to make it airworthy. In the 1970s the Mark IX aircraft was found in Cape Town, South Africa. It was bought by Steve Brooks, the first person to fly pole-to-pole by helicopter in 2005.

The Spitfire was the first airworthy aircraft of its genre to go under the hammer in 20 years. The plane, serial number SM520, was built in 1944 and sold to the South African Air Force in 1948, where it served for an unknown period.

The aeroplane was originally delivered to the RAF's No 33 Maintenance Unit at Lyneham, Wiltshire, to be prepared for operation. The aircraft was rescued from Cape Town by the late building developer and aviation enthusiast Charles Church. It changed hands several times before it was made airworthy. Auction house Bonhams negotiated the sale of the plane for £1,739,500. Chairman Robert Brooks said: "The sale of this Spitfire touches me personally as an enthusiastic amateur pilot and a keen student of military history." The Spitfires played a pivotal role in the Battle of Britain in World War II.

Spitfire history
The Spitfire fighter plane evolved from the world speed record setting Supermarine seaplanes of the 1920s and early 1930s. The prototype Spitfire was built in 1936. A low drag, all metal, stressed-skin monoplane, the fighter was so advanced that production problems severely delayed delivery of the new fighter to RAF squadrons.

It seems that it was all worth it: the end result was a real pilot's aeroplane! Her cockpit was roomy and visibility was good. She was easy to fly and forgiving: a fighter (almost) without vices. The first production version Spitfire was the Mk. 1, which entered squadron service in mid-1938. This was succeeded by the Spitfire Mk. 1A, which was powered by the famous Rolls Royce V-12 Merlin 2 engine. The Merlin produced a massive 1,230 horse power; it drove a twin blade wooden propeller, giving the fighter a top straight and level speed of about 360 m.p.h., and a best climb rate of 2,530 ft/min. By the time of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a three-bladed constant speed propeller had been fitted; this further improved climb and acceleration.