Reach for the Sky
The value of vintage fighter planes is soaring as investors discover a new passion, writes Rupert Walker
Asmall fleet of World War II planes g athering dust in a Texas barn sold last August forus$15 million. A collector paid US$6 million for the jewel, a Mark IX Spitfire that fought in the Battle of Britain, which ended with the defeat of the Luftwaffe and stirred Winston Churchill to remark: “Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.” The rest was spent on nine Buchons, the Spanishbuilt version of Germany’s top fighter, the Messerschmitt 109, which performed in the dogfights of the 1969 film Battle of Britain. Context is important. Investment returns from vintage aircraft are determined by rarity, desirability, airworthiness and—perhaps most of all—provenance. “Value is determined by history,” says Simon Brown of Platinum Fighter Sales, who handled the Texas sale for Wilson “Connie” Edwards, an oil tycoon and former stunt pilot who took the planes in lieu of cash for his work on the movie. According to Gene Demarco, production manager at the Vintage Aviator in New Zealand, the market has three main segments: WWII aircraft, which make up about 65 per cent; WWI classics, such as the Sopwith Camel (25 per cent); and inter- and post-war trainers and commercial planes (10 per cent). The top end of the market is WWII fighters, or “warbirds.” They exude glamour and command high prices, especially if they saw combat, says Brown. In addition to Spitfires and Messerschmitts, they include US classics such as the P-51 Mustang, the Beechcraft Model D17 Staggerwing and the Curtiss P-40