Hunt on for rare Spitfire parts

JOHN SELKIRK/Dominion Post

DO UP JOB: The owner of a rare Spitfire damaged in a landing mishap in Auckland last week is looking for spare parts.

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The owner of a rare Spitfire damaged in a landing mishap in Auckland last week has begun a hunt for spare parts which may take him to the other side of the world.

Doug Brooker's Supermarine mark IX, two-seater Spitfire, slewed to one side as it landed at Ardmore Airport south of Auckland last week and tipped onto its nose. Its four bladed wooden propeller and parts of its undercarriage were damaged and there was minor cosmetic damage to the underbelly.

Mr Brooker said the damage was not significant but as there were no shops selling spare Spitfire parts his search could take him to the other side of the world.

He said he had sourced new propeller blades which should arrive in January but he still needed parts for the undercarriage.

The mishap made international news because of the profile the Spitfires had during World War 2.

Mr Brooker said it was a very minor mishap.

"The wind turned around and it pushed the aircraft off line a bit. It was a pretty innocuous landing.

"One wheel folded up as the aircraft yawed around in the wind. I sat there and swore."

Mr Brooker said there were no factory built two-seater Spitfires.

After the war about 29 single seater mark IX Spitfires aircraft were converted into two seaters as training aircraft but there were only about five left around the world, he said.

He said he had "great hopes" he would get his Spitfire back in the air within three months.

"But that depends on the availability of parts."

He said the cost of repairs was immaterial.

"It's a bit like saying how much are you going to spend on a Picasso," he said.

The Spitfire was believed to be worth about $3 million. It arrived in New Zealand on September 11 last year, and was painted in RAF desert colours with the markings of a Mk IX flown by a New Zealand Squadron Leader Colin Gray, when based in Tunisia in 1943.

It was the aircraft's second accident in New Zealand. In January it was damaged when it landed heavily at Hood Aerodrome, near Masterton.

Mr Brooker said damage in the latest incident was "nowhere as bad as Masterton".

- NZPA