JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #113 - June 2017 - 56

SOLUTlONS aircraft

Full-size composite replica Spitfire fighter
aircraft built using advanced materials

DaviD Wilson,
UK Sales Manager,
Scott Bader Co. Ltd.

T

he team started from
scratch, with the key first
stage of the project being
to fabricate the individual patterns and plugs. New moulds
were produced for each of the
GRP parts required to produce
the replica propeller, and the
monocoque composite sections that make up the fuselage,
wings and tail sections. Exact
dimensions were achieved at
this critical mould-making
stage by copying off an existing

The Spitfire Heritage Trust recently completed a major project, successfully
building from scratch an exact, full-size all-fibreglass replica of the iconic WWII
Battle of Britain Supermarine Spitfire Mk VB (Type 359). Designed by Reginald
Mitchell, and produced from 1938-1948 at Supermarine Aviation where Mitchell
was employed as an engineer, the original Spitfire fighter-interceptor was the
first all-metal stressed-skin aircraft.
original aircraft. Once all the
moulds had been produced and
checked, the next stage of the
project was to start laminating
the FRP parts, section by section.
All of the glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) aircraft body parts
manufactured for this replica
plane were moulded using laminating resins and structural
adhesive materials supplied by
the project's principal sponsor
Scott Bader, which donated
the majority of the composite
materials used to construct the
Lesotho replica Spitfire.

FRP technical challenges
For this static, display replica
aircraft, hand lay-up glass fibre/UPR resin-based laminate
systems were technically sufficient for moulding the GRP
parts. However, there were still
a number of technical performance-in-use considerations to
ensure the correct choice of laminate system for specific sections
of the aircraft to ensure that key
areas would have the necessary
mechanical and physical properties to cope with long-term
exposure to the elements. The
annual climatic conditions in

The bare FRP mouldings, manufactured in early 2015 using Crystic® 489PA and Crystic® 2.414PA UPR hand layup
laminating resins, supplied by the project's principal sponsor Scott Bader.

56

jec composites magazine / N°113 June 2017

Maseru - the capital of Lesotho
where the Spitfire is destined as
a permanent outdoor display
show piece - typically involve
seasonal wet and very dry conditions, high winds, extensive
periods of intense sunlight and
a range of extremes at ambient
temperatures from as low as
-10°C at night in winter up to
an average daytime temperature
of 28°C in high summer, with
maximum temperatures sometimes exceeding 35°C.
To cope with these extreme
outdoor conditions, two different Crystic® polyester back-up
resin grades were specified after
taking advice from Scott Bader's
technical support team. Given
the dark paint colours used to
camouflage the upper sides
along with prolonged periods
in direct sunlight, the upper surface temperature of the wings
was expected to regularly exceed
30°C in high summer. To ensure
that the wing sections maintained stiffness, did not warp
or twist, and could support
their own weight in these sorts
of high ambient temperatures,
Crystic® 489PA isophthalic unsaturated polyester (UP) resin
was specified due to its elevated
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #113 - June 2017
