Simviation Forum - Cost of a Spitfire in 1940

Aug 19^th, 2004 at 9:45am

Hagar Offline
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I came aross this site while doing some research . http://www.the-battle-of-britain.co.uk/index.html

Here's an interesting snippet of information.
Quote:

THE COST OF A SPITFIRE In 1940
------------------------------------------

At the time of 'The Spitfire Fund' the following price list of the major component parts of a Spitfire was issued by the Air Ministry in the summer of 1940.

Engine £2,000 0 0
Fuselage £2,500 0 0
Wings £1,800 0 0
Undercarriage £800 0 0
Guns £800 0 0
Tail £500 0 0
Propeller £350 0 0
Petrol Tank (Top) £40 0 0
Petrol Tank (Bottom) £25 0 0
Oil Tank £25 0 0
Compass £5 0 0
Clock £2 10s 0d
Thermometer £1 1s 0d
Sparking Plug 8s 0d

To these items can be added a further £1,000 for a variety of small parts such as screws, cables, switches, sockets, gauges and paint.

Please note these prices are in the old pounds, shillings and pence!

This was long before the bus fares went up. The average wage would have been about £3 10 shillings (£3.50) per week. I think RAF aircrew got an extra 1 shilling (5 pence) per day flying pay. Wink

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Reply #1 - Aug 19^th, 2004 at 10:54am

ozzy72 Offline
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Have you got Spitfire The History By Morgan and Shacklady Doug, its full of this kind of interesting stuff, it even has a breakdown of the weights of the various parts of the machine etc. Its amazing Shocked

8)

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Reply #2 - Aug 19^th, 2004 at 11:37am

Hagar Offline
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No I don't think I have that one.

Quote:

it even has a breakdown of the weights of the various parts of the machine etc

You mean like this? You obviously didn't check out my link. Wink

Quote:

The Weight of a Spitfire MK 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fuselage & Fin 426
Engine cowling 86l
Tailplane & elivator 58
Rudder 18
Wings 820
Landing Gear 192
Wheels & Brakes 90
Seating 23
Tail Wheel 28
Controls 23
Engine Mounting 58
Engine 1,412
Propeller Hub 36
Propeller 96
Ejector Exhausts 30
Oil Tanks 47
Fuel Tanks 57
Radiator 98
Cooling system 56
Glycol (cooling fluid) 142
Engine accessories 61
Guns & Ammunition 685
Petrol (84 Gallons) 646
Oil (6 Gallons) 54
Sundries 335

PS. The weights are in lb (pounds).

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Reply #3 - Aug 19^th, 2004 at 1:46pm

ozzy72 Offline
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Aye, that would be a MkI with the three blade de Havilland prop I'd guess Wink

The Morgan/Shacklady book weighs in at a good stone or so of amazing data, good history, a wealth of photos and schematics, and if you love warbirds and DON'T have this, then you're mad!!! Grin

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Reply #4 - Aug 19^th, 2004 at 2:36pm

Felix/FFDS Offline
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Can it really be a fighter if it doesn't have two wings, fixed gear, and an open cockpit (G. Gladiator excepted, but they were frequently flown with open canopy)

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Reply #5 - Aug 19^th, 2004 at 3:01pm

ozzy72 Offline
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Yes it can Felix, ask any number of Dornier, Junkers, Heinkel, Messerschmidt etc etc pilots via a psychic link Wink

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Reply #6 - Aug 19^th, 2004 at 3:09pm

Felix/FFDS Offline
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Quote:

Yes it can Felix, ask any number of Dornier, Junkers, Heinkel, Messerschmidt etc etc pilots via a psychic link Wink

I hate to disappoint you, but there were No19 squadron pilots that lamented the flying qualities of the Spit 1 vs the Gauntlets they had to give up (Mind you, the combat survivability in a Spit was better than in the Gauntlet).

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Reply #7 - Aug 19^th, 2004 at 3:33pm

ozzy72 Offline
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Aye well the stats speak for themselves Felix...
Lets face it, if its not a Spit then its not 'proper' flyin' Wink

That said I still like Tiger Moths Grin

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Reply #8 - Aug 21^st, 2004 at 1:45am

Professor Brensec Offline
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I saw a webpage ages ago (can't remember where or when, but I'll recall shortly) that gave a $US cost of all the US planes built throughout the War.

I recall the P47D had a cost (obviously to the USAAF) of around $35,000. How does that compare to the overall cost of the Spit listed above? (couldn't be bothered adding it all up)................ Grin

P.S. I think the webpage I'm thinking of was something like "WWII Fighter Aircraft" or something 'really obscure' like that............... Grin

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Reply #9 - Aug 21^st, 2004 at 4:27am

Hagar Offline
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Quote:

How does that compare to the overall cost of the Spit listed above? (couldn't be bothered adding it all up)................ Grin

According to my calculations that adds up to about £9,825 - give or take a few pennies. This doesn't include the labour costs for assembly etc. The £ Sterling was worth about $4 US at that time so multiply it by 4 to compare. I'm sure you can do that. Tongue

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Reply #10 - Aug 21^st, 2004 at 10:43am

HawkerTempest5 Offline
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Just out of interest Spitfire IXe ML407 cost £4,907 (minus the cost of the items supplied free by the Government such as engine, instruments, armament etc.) and took 35,000 man hours to complete. The cost of the pre delivery test flights was £11.10s.0d.

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