British Flying Club Plans a Squadron of Spitfires

The Spitfires in the squadron will be an experimental version with the designation Mk26B, which was designed by Mike O'Sullivan, an Australian who started the Supermarine Aircraft Company building replicas of the Spitfire in the mid-1990s.

Unlike the single-seat fighter versions, the Mk26B Spitfire will have two seats and cost about $340,000, a fraction of the price tag of an original Spitfire. Part of the savings come from replacing the Merlin V12 engine with a V6 engine. The airplane is expected to fly about 200 mph, a little more than half the speed of the warbird version.

The flying club aims to fly formation exhibitions with the airplanes at events around Europe during the summer months and make the airplanes available to members of the club for personal flights during the remainder of the year. The first airplane is complete and is expected to take to the skies shortly, Paul Fowler, the flight instructor and brains behind the project told The Daily Mail.

The concept for the squadron is to have the airplanes funded by builder-enthusiasts and sponsors. Fowler hopes to get the squadron going by next summer in time for the anniversary of the Battle of Britain. However, the likelihood of that is slim. While the first airplane is essentially complete, the project has been ongoing since the fall of 2010.

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