Spitfire pack set to soar
AIRCRAFT enthusiast Brian Scoffell has invited his Spitfire-flying friends to drop in for a stunning display of warbird flying that will raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation.
The experienced pilot and skydiver, who last year attempted to fly around Australia in a Spitfire with his son Stewart, has organised a formation flight of five of the legendary Second World War aircraft.
This will be combined with joy flights and exhibitions of other classic planes.
Mr Scoffell said visitors could also expect to see a Yak-52, Nanchang, T-28 Trojan and an Antonov A-N2 - the world's biggest bi-plane.
"These planes will be flying in from all over Australia," Mr Scoffell said.
Among the high-flying exhibits will be Mr Scoffell's own two-seater Spitfire MK 26B, which was taken on a "round Australia" trip to raise money for leukemia last year but had to be trucked home after bending the propeller when the landing gear failed.
The plane - which Mr Scoffell built from a kit - is fitted with a General Motors V8 LS2 engine, which gives it a similar power-to-weight ratio to the V-12-powered Mark Five Spitfire once you take into account the fact that the war planes weighed about three times as much.
Packing a few guns and a pile of ammunition and other supplies, the real Spitfires weighed somewhere in the vicinity of 2300 kilograms.
By comparison, Mr Scoffell's replica comes in at only 725kg.
"The Spitfire is just a slick-looking machine," he said.
"Our plane can do all the tricks that the original Spitfires could do - like barrel rolls, slow rolls and loops. "They won the Battle of Britain and saved Australia during the Second World War - the plane has a proud history in Australia and New Zealand."
Entry is free, however visitors have been asked to donate whatever they can to the cause.
Mr Scoffell said the Leukaemia Foundation's work was extremely important to his family.
Established in Queensland in 1975, the foundation is the only national organisation dedicated to the care and cure of patients and families living with leukemias, lymphomas, myeloma and related blood disorders.
The group receives no ongoing government funding and relies heavily on the generosity of ordinary Australians to keep going.
Along with high speed Spitfire low flying displays, visitors will have the chance to take a joyride in one of the classic aircraft.
The event will be held at the Willowbank Airfield at 139 Goebels Rd, Mt Forbes on September 29 and 30.
For more information, contact The Spitfire Project on 0438 734 845, email thespitfireproject@gmail.com or look on Facebook.
Super spitfire
The Spitfire was no slouch in the power department, with the original machines packing Rolls Royce V12 engines ranging from 1000 to 2000 horsepower
Although the kit that Mr Scoffell used to put his Spitfire together only comes with a V8 engine which produces about 430hp, he said the modern version was capable of similar acrobatics because of its lower weight
The Rolls-Royce Griffon-powered Mark XII could reach speeds in excess of 600kph in level flight
