During their May Evening Airshow on Saturday, the Shuttleworth Collection’s Spitfire Mk VC AR501 returned to the air for its first post-restoration public display.
As previously reported, the aircraft was originally built by Westland Aircraft at Yeovil and was issued to No. 310 (Czech) Squadron in 1942, where it escorted USAAF B-17 and B-24 bombers. Later, it would serve with RAF’s Central Gunnery School before finding use as an instructional airframe at Loughborough College.
AR501 was acquired by the Shuttleworth Collection in 1961 and restored to airworthy condition for the 1968 film The Battle of Britain. It entered the shop once again in 1973 for restoration to its authentic wartime condition, eventually returning to flight in in 1975. The most recent work was initially expected to last only 18 months, but eventually expanded into an extensive overhaul that has seen the aircraft completely dismantled and rebuilt. The result is said to be “95% original.”
Saturday’s flight was performed by pilot Stu Goldspink and marked AR501’s first airshow appearance since 2007. Click below to check it out.
(via High Flight Photo: Alan Wilson via Wikimedia Commons)
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