Tag: Spitfire

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RAF Museum Welcomes Newly Refurbished Spitfire, Hurricane Gate Guards

The Royal Air Force Museum in London has just welcomed back their Hurricane and Spitfire gate guards after a year-long restoration.

As previously reported, the reproductions were dismantled and transported to Michael Beetham Conservation Centre in Cosford in early 2017. During refurbishment, each aircraft was given a new livery “to reflect the rich and diverse history” of the London site when it was a working RAF station. The Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 now wears the colors of P2725 flown by Sgt. Ray Holmes of 504 Squadron during the Battle of Britain, while the Spitfire Mk XVI now represents TB288 as it appeared during its service with 601 Squadron.

The aircraft will reportedly be assembled over the coming days and positioned at the museum’s pedestrian and car park entrances.

Click below to check out photos of the restored reproductions following their arrival.

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Shuttleworth’s Spitfire Mk VC AR501 Performs First Post-Restoration Flight [Video]

The Shuttleworth Collection’s Spitfire Mk VC (AR501) performed its first post-restoration flight earlier today with pilot Stu Goldspink at the controls.

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.”

Today’s test was described as “very successful.” The machine is scheduled to debut at Shuttleworth’s season premier airshow on May 6.

Click below to check out a video of today’s flight.

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SL721, One of the World’s Most Original Spitfires, Arrives at New Home

A Spitfire XVI touted as one of the most original airworthy examples of the type in existence has arrived at its new home after being sold to an enthusiast in Europe.

Previously owned by Vintage Wings of Canada in Ottawa, Spitfire SL721 has reportedly arrived safely in Belgium and will be reassembled over the coming weeks in the FAST Aero workshop in Brasschaat.

SL721 was built in August 1945 and delivered to the RAF, where it became the personal aircraft of Air Chief Marshall Sir James Milne Robb, a WW1 pilot who served as Commander-In-Chief – Air Forces Europe following WW2. The Packard Merlin 266/R55-powered machine was sold in 1967 and transported to the US, where it would stay until 2002, when it was acquired by Vintage Wings of Canada. last month it was sold to an enthusiast

Upcoming plans for the historic aircraft have not yet been announced.

Click below to check out photos of its arrival.

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BBMF Spitfire TE311 Debuts New Markings

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Spitfire XVI TE311 has new markings after a visit to a Coningsby paint shop in February.

The machine, which most recently appeared in the all black “stealth” livery seen above, is now adorned with the markings of TD240 / SZ-G, flown by Captain Aleksander Gabszewicz of 131 Polish Wing.

TE311 was originally manufactured at Castle Bromwich in 1945 and served with with No. 1689 Ferry Pilot Training Flight and No. 2 Civilian Anti-Aircraft Co-operation following WW2. It was used for taxiing scenes in the 1967 film The Battle of Britain and also acted as a traveling display prior to being acquired and restored by BBMF, returning to the air in October 2012.

Click below to check out a time lapse video of the process as well as photos of the new livery.

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Spitfire Mk V, Hispano Buchon Offered For Sale

Please Note: This is an archived post. The information presented here may not be current and the associated listing may no longer be active.

Westland Spitfire MK V EE602 (G-IBSY) and Hispano HA-1112-M1L Buchon (ME109 C4K) G-AWHH have hit the market.

The Spitfire was constructed by Westland in 1942 and served with 66, 129 and 453 Squadrons. It completed over 100 missions in WW2 and even escorted the famous B-17F “Memphis Belle.” The machine was painstakingly restored and finished in 129 Squadron markings. The airframe, propeller and Merlin engine have reportedly amassed only 30 hours since restoration and the aircraft is said to be supplied with a full CAA Permit to fly on its British civil registration.

The Merlin-powered Buchon, a licence-built Me 109G, was constructed in Tablada Seville in 1958 and served with the Spanish Air Force until 1965. In 1968, it participated in the filming of The Battle of Britain before being stored in Texas. It was shipped to Air Leasing in 2017 for restoration and will reportedly be completed by June. It will wear the colors of “White 9” flown by Uffz Edmund Roβmann of Luftwaffe III./JG 52 and, like the Spitfire, will reportedly come with a full CAA Permit to fly on its British civil registration.

Prices for each machine are said to be available on application. The full listing for the Spitfire is available here. The Buchon listing can be found here.

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Blue Sky Simulations Announces Spitfire FR.XIV For Flight Sim World

Following on their P-40F Warhawk, Blue Sky Flight Simulations has announced the upcoming release of a Spitfire FR.XIV for Dovetail’s new Flight Sim World.

The model represents a type powered by a Rolls Royce Griffon 65 engine, and is reportedly in the early stages of development. A time frame for completion has not yet been announced although a series of in-sim screenshots have been released, additional examples of which can be seen below.

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Udvar-Hazy to Host British Warbird Fly-In Commemorating RAF Centennial

In order to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force, the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia will be hosting a fly-in featuring a number of British warbirds.

“The Great British Fly-In” will reportedly feature more than ten former RAF aircraft that are either currently on display at the museum or will be flown in for one-day-only event. In addition to Spitfires, a B-25 Mitchell and a P-51 Mustang, the fly-in will feature talks by RAF officers and museum experts, presentations about the museum’s newly acquired Sopwith Camel (featured in The Flying Machine #6), interactive STEM demonstrations and performances from the RAF Band and drill displays from the Queens Colour Squadron.

The event is currently scheduled to take place at the museum on April 15th from 10am-4pm. Admission is free, although parking will cost $15. Click here for additional information.

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Spitfire to Arrive at Australian Home Following 10 Year Restoration

Fighter Pilot Adventure Flights, a Brisbane, Australia-based flight adventure company, has announced that their Spitfire Mk XVI (TE392) is about to arrive following a 10-year restoration.

The aircraft operated with the Royal Air Force and served as a gate guard at numerous RAF bases (including Wellesbourne Mountford, Waterbeach, Kemble and Credenhill) before being acquired by Warbirds Of GB, Ltd. and partially restored. It passed through the hands of several additional owners before arriving at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Texas, where it was restored to airworthy condition. It returned to the air in December 1999 but was damaged by flooding caused by Hurricane Ike in 2008.

The current restoration is nearing completion and Performance Aero will reportedly reassemble the aircraft and apply finishing touches before its expected arrival next week. It is expected to grace Australian skies by August of this year.

(via Fighter Pilot Adventure Flights Additional Information via Warbird Registry Photo: Bill Abbott via Flickr)

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Original Spitfire XVIe of “Unparalleled Quality” Hits the Market

Please Note: This is an archived post. The information presented here may not be current and the associated listing may no longer be active.

Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire XVIe S/N TB252 (N752TB), deemed “one of the most original Spitfires surviving today” is now available for sale.

The aircraft was built in the Castle Bromwich factory in January 1945 and served with the Belgian Air Force and the Royal Air Force before becoming a gate guardian in 1955. It was reportedly traded to Historic Flying in 1988 in “100% complete and original” condition and “still had the parachute sitting on the seat from when it was last flown 35-40 years prior.”

In 2002, TB252 was acquired by a new owner and transported to Avspecs, Ltd. in New Zealand, where it is currently undergoing a complete restoration with “no expense spared” in order to make it “the best Spitfire possible.”

The Packard Merlin 266 engine, the same engine it last flew with in military service, reportedly has 0 hrs SMOH by Vintage V-12s (completed in 2017) as does the Dowty Rotol propeller, which was overhauled by Skycraft and has new blades by Hoffman. The airframe is said to have been completely re-riveted with new skins, new main spars, and “everything 0 timed.”

The Spitfire is currently being offered for US$2,500,000. Click here to check out the complete listing.

(Photo: Steve Fitzgerald via Wikimedia Commons)

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Museum to Display Full-Scale Spitfire Sculpture During RW388 Restoration

The original Spitfire LF Mk. XVIe based at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Hanley, Staffordshire has been dismantled ahead of a major, off-site restoration that will see it returned to its former glory.

The museum closed on January 22nd in order to remove the aircraft (RW388) from the popular Spitfire gallery, where it has been on display since 1985. When the facility reopens on February 10th, the gallery will reportedly contain a temporary replacement in the form of a full-scale Spitfire sculpture crafted by apprentices at KMF Group Ltd.

As previously reported, RW388 was originally built by Vickers-Armstrongs, Ltd. in 1945 and served in a training role during WW2. Following the war it was used as a gate guard at RAF Benson and RAF Andover before being officially presented to the city of Stoke-on-Trent by the Royal Air Force in 1972. After arriving at the museum, it was given a place of honor in the Spitfire gallery, which is dedicated to the type’s locally-born designer, Reginald Mitchell.

In 2019, the restored Spitfire is slated to return to the museum for display in a new, £6 million glass-fronted extension that will also include a new cafe and city square.

Click below to check out a time-lapse of RW388 being dismantled as well as photos of the replacement sculpture.

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