Mighty Mini Spitfire MK XVI Build Thread

GrizWiz

Elite member
In the last month or so I have been working on designing building and testing my new spitfire, and it works great!

Here is some information about the Spitfire MK XVI

The Mk XVI was the same as the Mk IX in nearly all respects except for the engine, a Merlin 266. The Merlin 266 was the Merlin 66 and was built under licence in the USA by the Packard Motor Company. The "2" was added as a prefix in order to avoid confusion with the engines, as they required different tooling. All Mk XVI aircraft produced were of the Low-Altitude Fighter (LF) variety. This was not determined by the length of the wings (clipped wings were fitted to most LF Spitfires), but by the engine, which had been optimized for low-altitude operation. All production Mk XVIs had clipped wings for low altitude work and were fitted with the rear fuselage fuel tanks with a combined capacity of 75 gal. Many XVIs featured cut-down rear fuselages with bubble canopies. On these aircraft the rear fuselage tank capacity was limited to 66 gal. Because of a slightly taller inter cooler and rearranged accessories on the Packard Merlins a new, bulged upper cowling was introduced and also appeared on late production IXs. Armament for most Mk XVIs consisted of 2 × 20 mm Hispano II cannon – each with 120 rpg – and 2 × .50 caliber Browning machine guns – each with 250 rpg. 1 × 500 lb (227 kg) bomb could be carried underneath the center rack, and 1 × 250 lb (114 kg) bomb could be slung under each wing. Some production aircraft had rear fuselage fuel tanks in addition to the main tank which allowed it to fly approximately as far as the Spitfire Mk VIII. Problems with the licence-built engines limited introduction to front-line squadrons for several months. A total of 1,054 Mk XVIs were built by Castle Bromwich.

The build is very strait forward as it follows the FT mini mustang exactly, so just watch the video and you are good!

I will be remodeling the rudder because it looks to pointy.

If you have any question or problems please tell me.

Plans will be posted under resources as well as here
 

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DazDaMan

Elite member
Nice! The Spitfire XVI is my favourite of them all.

This is a photo I took 27 years ago - the Spitfire is now flying again.
 

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Flyingshark

Master member
I went to your plans index and there looks like there are two versions of the Spit plans, which one should I use?
 
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Flyingshark

Master member
How's to build going? If you have any questions just ask!
I'm going slowly while I wait for the power pack to arrive, but here's my progress so far:
IMG_0260.JPG IMG_0261.JPG IMG_0262.JPG

The bottom sheeting A turned out to be a little too long, so I cut it down.
IMG_0264.JPG

Also, what are these L-shaped cut-throughs on the wing for?
IMG_0263.JPG
 

GrizWiz

Elite member
The L on the wings are for landing gear if you want to add them! Yeah the bottom sheet I forget to fix in the plans, thanks for finding that! Looks amazing!! Good luck with the rest of the build!
 

Flyingshark

Master member
The L on the wings are for landing gear if you want to add them! Yeah the bottom sheet I forget to fix in the plans, thanks for finding that! Looks amazing!! Good luck with the rest of the build!
Thanks! I'm planning to make this a belly-lander, so I won't cut the Ls. I just wanted to make sure they weren't an essential part, like markings for where to put the spar.