Spitfire PR.XI PL983 had its first air test today at Duxford, following repairs since its landing accident back on August 22, 2019 (when the left landing gear failed to lock). It has now been added back into the list of active flyers.
This is the current Spitfire/Seafire list as I have it. Any recommendations for changes welcomed. Note that at present there are no Seafires currently flying, despite there having been as many as four separate ones flying in modern years. The last to fly was PP972, but it hasn't flown since 2017 and it sounds like its present owner doesn't intend for it to fly anytime soon. It is likely that Seafire SX336 will be flying again this year, following completion of a major overhaul.
There are about 64 Spitfires flying in the world: Australia: 3 (MV239, TB863, TE392) Belgium: 1 (SL721) Canada: 1 (TE294) Germany: 2 (MV154, TP280) Israel: 1 (TE554) Netherlands: 2 (MK732, TB885) New Zealand: 3 (MH367, PV270, NH799) Sweden: 1 (RW386) United Kingdom: 38 (AB910, AR213, AR501, BM597, EE602, EP120, JG891, MH434, MJ271, MJ627, MJ755, MJ772, MK356, ML407, MT818, MV293, N3200, NH341, P7350, PL344, PL965, PL983, PM631, PS853, PS915, PT462, PV202, RN201, RR232, RW382, SM520, SM845, TA805, TD248, TD314, TE184, TE311, X4650) United States: 12 (AR614, BL628, BR601, EP122, MJ730, MK959, ML417, NH749, P9374, SL633, SM832, SM969)
-----Purposely Not included: Seafires PP972, PR503, SX336 and VP441 - all four have not been flown in a few years or more.
There are quite a number of more Spitfire restorations very close to flying this year or next, including:
- Mk.XIX PS890 (in UK, for French owner) - Mk.XVI TB252 (in NZ, destined for the US) - Mk.IX MH415 (completed in Australia, but now shipped to the UK for first flight) - Mk.IX MH603 (Australia) - Tr.9 TE308 (UK) - Tr.9 BS410 (UK) - Mk.IX LZ842 (UK) - Mk.IX PT879 (UK) - Seafire SX336 (UK)
There are a good number more than this also under restoration at this time, but are at least two or more years out from completion.
Last edited by JohnTerrell on Thu Jun 11, 2020 1:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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