Why only now for Aerolite?
In late 1940, Britain faced a potentially serious problem. The rapidly increasing demand for aircraft, combined with fears of an impending aluminium shortage, threatened to constrain production at a critical stage of WWII.
At Duxford, a small company called Aero Research Ltd was investigating an intriguing alternative: an early composite material that might replace aluminium in aircraft construction.
The material was produced by impregnating cotton fabric with phenol-formaldehyde resin and baking it under pressure. The resulting material was strong, stiff and lightweight, with around half the density of aluminium. Cotton reinforcement was subsequently replaced by flax as the technology developed.
Aerolite was born.
The concept showed sufficient promise for the Ministry of Aircraft Production to commission two Spitfire fuselages made from Aerolite material and were tested and evaluated at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.
The results demonstrated the material had the potential to be used in Spitfire construction — a remarkable achievement and an intriguing glimpse of an alternative path for wartime aircraft manufacture.
But history took another course.
The anticipated shortage of aluminium did not materialise to the extent feared. The immediate need for an alternative disappeared and the Aerolite research programme was abandoned.
Coming into its own in the 21st Century
More than 80 years later, the underlying idea is back.
Today’s Aerolite Spitfire takes inspiration from that remarkable episode in wartime engineering but is not a reproduction of the experimental 1940 aircraft.
Instead, it is a completely new design developed using modern composite materials, contemporary engineering and advanced manufacturing processes.
The historical Aerolite programme demonstrated a willingness to rethink how a Spitfire might be built. The modern Aerolite Spitfire carries that same spirit of innovation into the 21st century.
Contact denise.mullen@aerolite-spitfire.com
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