70 % SCALE SPITFIRE MK24 DEVELOPMENT

[@johnspruit7296]

Things I learned after watching this video : 1; A very select and few people have the Passion , Skill , and Deep enough pockets to develop TRULY INCREADABLE AIRCRAFT with no practical use other than the pure joy of flying ! 2; If you want one of these INCREADABLE AIRCRAFT you had better have Above average flying skill , Deep pockets ,AND a spare engine ! 3; I applaud these efforts from all this type of person BUT ESPECIALY this project. Such a PERFECT rendition of the MOST beautiful single engine aircraft EVER produced ! Thank you to all involved in the development of this inspirational project. Much success . Ontario Canada .

[@kayandrod]

10/10 for persistence folks.

[@rafaellastracom6411]

You got that right. I´d hate to have this guy as my enemy.

[@ramjet4025]

Fantastic effort, congratulations on the incredible amount of work, designing, building , an unfortunate engine failure and a hell of a rebuild of both. Thank you for sharing.

[@stevensobba1785]

That last chase plane shot of your plane , just awesome ! Enjoy every second sir. Excellent editing . Perseverance 👏🏻👊🏻!thanks for sharing.

[@Nord3202]

Just seeing it in the air flying is a incredible accomplishment. Your dream come true, happy for you.

[@ak-northman726]

100% the most beautiful reproduction warbird. Well done and way to fail and keep moving forward. Hope the sky is filled with these beauties, sounds amazing too.

[@SteamerEdge]

Amazing video of a major accomplishment, your knowledge, skill, tenacity, motivation and determination paid off. Congratulations, this far lesser mortal is in awe of this achievement. :-)) cheers Paul

[@divyajnana]

Dude, you rock, great work. So many fussy problems but you soldiered on. Beautiful classic plane.

[@jadams3427]

What a beautiful job ! I do CAD work on Spitfires, mainly wing, landing gear, engine cowls, propeller and spinner, along with all skin lofting. Unlike most people I really like the low back fuselage; especially on the Mk. XVI . I really admire your skill and persistence through all the development issues. Well done, and thanks for showing us your fabulous aircraft.

[@CarlLydickRC]

Wow! One hell of a project. Fantastic work!

[@aceofhawks]

Great video and even better looking airplane! This is something i dream of doing someday. Maybe when or if i retire. Nonetheless i'd love to see and learn more about this bird's development!

[@tikitime]

those aren’t issues. those are things that make this video great!

[@johnrussell5245]

Man, that's a project! Impressive.

[@brettwoodard167]

She looks beautiful, I'm sure you will get it all sorted out soon enough!

[@shortribslongbow5312]

The spitfire has always been my favorite aircraft yours definitely fits the bill she’s outstanding.

[@oldschoolmotorsickle]

Sir I admire your tenacity in the face of all this adversity. My mechanics intuition tells me your power train and prop reduction unit are not a happy union! It appears that the more reliable system would be one of the belt drive units that mount in unit with the engine. Of course there goes your CG, necessitating a new engine mount and probably cowling as well. Or put a fluid coupling in your existing drive setup? It’s a beautiful airplane, and it is this close to being everything it should be- best of luck with it!

[@Jimbo-in-Thailand]

👍👍 That's gorgeous and a helluva project! Hope your development problems are all sorted out now. Safe flying!

[@tinolino58]

I design a single seater with 130hp. Your project is very interesting! Wish you success!

[@johnjephcote7636]

I am not that old but I discovered that the last Mk24 was sitting in the South Marston factory in Swindon, awaiting delivery on the day I was 'delivered'.

[@stevevw34]

Amazing ,so many problems with the engine though, fair dues to your perseverance,, it's on my bucket list to fly one

[@rafaeltorres2886]

Amazing, smart, and skillful people make dreams happen, of course, with deep pockets. Wonderful story.

[@Tenaciousmojo]

Beautifull ship! congrats on your persistence in bringing this dream to reality! i would like to mention that cam gear/ distributor drive gear wear as shown at 5:17 is not usual or common at all and in fact quite unusual, unless the camshaft material and distributor drive gear material are not matched. has this been addressed? Also, why not just run one, or better yet two crank triggers for redundancy and do away with the distributor entirely? i have to say, an external, V-belt driven oil pump scares the crap out of me. i have never seen the design type of external oil pump you chose to go with, is it still a wet sump? happy flying!

[@johntenhave1]

hats off to you! Great achievement but you are braver than I, I would have employed a test pilot.

[@crankhandle]

Well done that is one heck of a project!

[@petercarbin2077]

I really do love what you done with the plane. The building of it and everything else, but on the Video you're pop Subtitles please allow them to stay up longer for me to read. I keep going back to pause it and it's hard to catch it. At the right moment. I loved the back story just Please allow more time.. Of the words on the screen to stay up longer would help a lot beautiful airplane. You did a beautiful job on building the aircraft.

[@Flapswgm]

Looks like the aircraft flys well, but you should have done far more investigating that engine. I would have gone with a toyota motor myself IF I was going with a V8. Some guys run the L series from Datona but even then, they have problems. Oh well. Good luck. I LOVE the fact that you built EVERY DAMN PART of that plane INCLUDING the props. Very impressive.

[@edstoro3883]

Best of luck on future flights.

[@robertward8794]

There was a guy near Brisbane Australia a few years ago making and selling under scale Spitfire replicas.

[@P61guy61]

Lots of innovation. Thanks for sharing.

[@troymolitor7766]

Most impressive. What is a good cruising speed for the aircraft?

[@juangaria1882]

lo felicito por su pasion,su conocimiento y principalmente por su voluntad de no rendirse ante las adversidades..sencillamente admirable..👍

[@graemejwsmith]

Tenacious..... OK - what's that bit of engineering you have velcro'd to your headset for? 🙂

[@smithtorreysmith]

This is really cool. Thank you for sharing!

[@tandemcompound2]

neat project. thanks. all the trials and tribulations and cost. Is this a personal project or intended for sale?

[@OlesonMD]

What performance numbers are you getting? Top cruise speed, rate of climb, etc.?

[@AquaMarine1000]

The reincarnation of Supermarine in Australia made ultralight version of the spitfire. Cheers

[@jsm9069]

You are awesome, great job!

[@airtightindustries]

My question is, did you stick with needle bearing, roller rockers and lifters or did you swith to torrington bearing roller lifters and rockers? Those needle bearings cause lots of downstream trouble upon failure, whereas torrington not so much. Just my two useless cents

[@ctwalston1565]

Just WOW!! Please lust all parts by manufacturer so we know what to avoid in future builds!!

[@donmcdonald4347]

What was the mileage on this engine? The failures you are seeing in the timing gear, rockers and crankshaft suggest a very high mileage engine.

[@richardgreen7811]

Feelin the pain ... 1965 AC Cobra 427 MKIII. Installed Ford's Aluminum Windsor Racing Engine (basic engine). Basic engine (technical term) because I wanted better components that from Ford. AFR 220 Renegade Heads (built to a specification) / Richard Iskenderian designed camshaft / on-and-on). Engine develops 648hp / 574 ft/lbs torque @ flywheel. As With Your Problems: Ignition - The new MSD Distributor installed with the new aluminum block had to be machined by my "gunsmith" who had the only mill that could precisely position the distributor gear for "gear-climb" to prevent damage to the block. Rocker Arms - The "aluminum racing rocker arms" sheared immediately on startup. Engine required hardened steel rockers from Comp Cam (which perform flawlessly). Fuel Delivery - Required Magna Fuel fuel pump (for 1,200hp) in order to circulate fuel through Deraile Triple Pass Fuel Cooler with two 6" cooling fans sufficient to prevent gasoline from vapor locking and limiting use of the 20 gallon racing fuel tank to 10 gallons usable fuel. I've run it down to 1 gallon now. Blah-Blah-Blah ... The point is, these are just a few of the developmental matters. This has been a journey (operationally and financially ... $35,000+ engine). The Difference: So far no cornfields since I stay on the ground.

[@creightonfreeman8059]

I've been wanting to build a P-51 Mustang replica for a number of years but I have to admit this Spitfire replica is a beautiful plane. The engine out landing in the cornfield is a little concerning. I recall a Titan T-51 Mustang did a similar thing a few years ago. I think it was a prop reduction unit problem. Gears and belts seem to be a weak point in these builds.

[@warp65]

Looks stunning.

[@306champion]

Great stuff mate, my burning question is? Is that a Chrysler donk? It really sounds like one to me.

[@darrylhardy9935]

G'day Mark can I have your contact details as I have two V12 BMW with a 2;13/1 geared reduction unit in the build stage if you would like some photo's cheers and best regards Darryl

[@gren509]

Fantastic work. Darn that engine, if it had been up to the same standard as your creation, this would have just been a video about flying ;-) It's got a lot of P51 about it for a Spitfire !?

[@cedhome7945]

Well sir you are no quitter !

[@Kosty19]

It's incredible, but do You get insurance for this? Do You really feel safe flying it with all these hiccups and malfunctions and technical problems? Are You allowed to CNC Your own propeller blades? I thought they have to be from a certified, tried and tested propeller manufacturing company.

[@ianhindmarsh7373]

Very nice well done.

[@tsclly2377]

YUP.. and then dual turbos.. I would have gone with the 3.5L Eco-Boost due to the max torque being quite low and ditched the down gearing drive.

[@noyfub]

Incredible machine. Cudos.

[@FroggyFrog9000]

GREAT!!!!

[@setts3]

Build two, I'll buy the second.

[@hedleypepper1838]

When your cnc is cutting the propeller its jumpy, I guess you are reaching max speed for one of the axis. I'd suggest you reduce tool movement speed untill all axis are within speed limits 😊

[@MJPilote]

Or drip feeding and too small buffer on that machine.

[@jonathanseal5155]

Brilliant and tenacious work‼️ congratulations on doing something very few humans can achieve.

[@queensapphire7717]

Hon, I’ll be outside playing with my airplane.

[@sbkenn1]

Do it for a Mosquito next.

[@Robert-mn8gc]

Xcellent Job .. No Guns in the Wings 😢😢😢😢😢

[@patrickcarpin2758]

I want one.

[@barryansell5981]

sure is nice unit but well beyond the limits of the average home build aircraft

[@danielkemp4860]

CNC prop blades 👌💪

[@flypawels]

👍

[@rocketshipsoapys]

why not just replace the engine with maybe a 520 or see if a kestrel or merlin is available and build a scaled down one.

[@bernardcharlesworth9860]

Always a better aircraft when scaled

[@pumarolz]

I want one so bad rn

[@terryhawkins2324]

Pertaining to last entry (ASSUME) Assumption IS THE Mother of ALL F$&@ up’s be careful good looking plane. Check ,check, recheck, check. If in doubt check it could save your life! Happy flying

[@washburnb1]

I respect your great engineering. It actually does not look just like a replica. The canopy line is a touch of P51.....(no matter. It's your aircraft)

[@SoloRenegade]

late model Spitfires had bubble canopies. the first ever bubble canopy was on the Miles M.20 canopy may have been lifted from a Vans design

[@washburnb1]

@@SoloRenegade The fuselage is not even close, including the nose to the wing.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@washburnb1 quit your whining and childish nit picking. Also, we were not discussing the fuselage, but the canopy. Do try to keep up.

[@jeremyprice679]

Check out the Mk 24. Looks like a good replica to me

[@bogdanbonk]

Good effort but does not do the model justice being 70%. For me its got to be a 1 for 1 scale..

[@evreet2000]

70% scale, that means fuselage width is just 25-1/4". No place for a fluffy person.

[@wallywally8282]

You’re a brave man!😂😂

[@nunyabidness3075]

You built a stout plane. Better than Cessna!

[@afterburner2869]

I so wish I had deep pockets. 😩

[@thomashesselgrave6898]

With all that time, work and money you could have gone to a warlord school and checked out in a real Spitfire.

[@TheMorayMosstrooper]

C'mon...there must be some commentary you could record that gives this some perspective? Problems? Solutions? Forward planning? Things you wouldn't do again? This tells me nothing even as someone "interested in technical issues" as you suggest.

[@georgevprochazka5316]

I don't understand this fascination of making "deformed midgets" of beautiful planes. Seems silly to me.

[@washburnb1]

Well, I guess that is the worst engine ever made. It is a hazard risking engine failure every two hours of flying.

[@leovolont]

The vertical tail fin and the wing tips should be squared off. That silver POS looks like a Spitfire Wannabee. Also, if you keep crashing that thing, soon enough it's going to kill you, all for a 3/4 scale that doesn't know what the hell it is.

[@nzsaltflatsracer8054]

Drop a link to your perfect creation Dick...... I mean Leo! Did you remember to take your medication this morning?

[@donmcdonald4347]

Sheesh cool off dude. What, you haven't you heard of Sport Scale? This is a fantastic personal vision of an airplane that pays tribute to the Spitfire, not a detailed to the inch museum model of some Mark or other. The effort and skill that went in to this airplane is just amazing. The creator deserves nothing but praise and admiration. And if fear of developing a new aircraft and the risks that entails kept us on the ground, none of us would be flying homebuilt aircraft. Far worse risk every time you drive on the highway.

[@clivedavidson322]

With the bubble canopy you really have done the correct thing by enlarging the fin to maintain directional stability. At the moment we have managed just five flights since February in our project Mk 26 with an Isuzu. We have a great team and I have to share this video with them. Many Happy Landings, Clive

[@leovolont]

@@clivedavidson322 Yeah, you certainly have a point, if you design prioritizes Air Worthiness' over Model Accuracy. For to get that North American Aircraft Co. look, would have just taken the design decision to square off the lines of the wing tips and the tail surfaces. But, yeah, screw all that if the plane flies really well... let the design be ITS OWN THING. A Great Plane would be a great plane. I used to be a pilot when I was a kid and would have wet myself to fly anything like this plane is... 3/4 Size with a 5 Liter Motor, WOW!

[@leovolont]

@@donmcdonald4347 Yeah, I got another comment which made me rethink my point, and decided that model authenticity is BS, but at the end of the day, the designer was going for the best air worthiness and flyability. There's no question about this being a Sport Plane that any Pilot would dream of. That 5 Liter Motor out in front would be great.

[@Zeb70]

Very cool. Why 70% scale though?

[@robertward8794]

Power requirements. At 70% the plane can use an automotive power plant, at 100% you really do need a Merlin V12

[@MarineEnfield09]

with this worn parts you normaly have to see something in the oil or in the oilfilter much before an engine failure !