Warbird Information Exchange

With two more restored Spitfires airworthy these past two weeks it is easy to assume the number is stretching well past 50...but is it?

Some 80 Spitfires and Seafires have flown since the Battle of Britain Film of 1969 but it seems as new ones take the air others drop away to keep it broadly in balance.

If a Spitfire hasn't flown for more than a year I drop it down to 'airworthy resting' status before it drops even further to museum static or private storage category as the paperwork runs out.

So who then in the US can please advise the last time the following took to the air.

AR614 Seattle. BL628 Texas. MK959 Millville. ML417 Texas. PL344 Maryland.

Many thanks.

PeterA

Nothing really to add aside from some shots of the Spitfires in question.

AR614 Seattle


BL628 Texas


MK959 Millville


PL344 Maryland


These correct? Wish the Tom Duffy and Maryland examples we're up and flying. Would love to host an East Coast Spit / Hurri gathering

Spitfire VWoC
Spitfire Duffy
Spitfire Yagen
Spitfire Maryland
Spitfire Beasley

Hurricane VWoC
Hurricane Yagen

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What about JG891?



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Hi Peter, how many airworthy Spitfires/Seafires do you have in your listing?
I've counted 55 including the ones you mention above.

I understand AR614 was last flown in July (there is photos on Flickr).

You can also add SM832 and RN201 to your query.

FHC fly theirs (AR614) a couple of times a year or so, the last time was due to have been the BofB Flyday on 7th September.

I'd believe that all 3 Friedkin Spitfires are still active, they just stay at the ranch and don't get seen much. The same would probably go for Lewis' airplane as well. I've also seen photos from a month or so ago of both PL344 and RN201 at an open airport day where Tom Blair keeps his collection. They were static for the day, but certainly didn't look neglected.

I don't know anything about MK959, but I thought I read somewhere that she was due to appear at an airshow last year, so I would assume that to mean that she's fixed and flyable again.

Ben,

I was up tp 52 then down to 50 with the knowledge that Seafires VP441 and PR503 have not flown since 2010 and are firmly in the 'airworthy resting' category.

PeterA

Hi Peter,

Are there any plans for a black and white version of volume II of the book?

I am very much enjoying volume I, but am reluctant to order vol II given the cost of shipping and duty on the collectors edition.

Thanks

Andy Scott

Andy

To the surprise of some, the colour version of Volume I considerably out sold the b/w version to the point where it was not commercially viable to produce a Volume II in b/w format.

It is expensive, wish that it were not, but it is over 500 pages and 900 images per volume, colour process throughout, and that does not come cheap on short order publishing.

PeterA

Worth every penny! I think Vol.2 is even more interesting and informative than Vol.1 - thats saying something!

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I'm wondering if some of the Spitfire aircraft rebuilt in the 1980s maybe about ready for another major rebuild. Some of the prewar fighter aircraft were designed with a reasonable "service life" . But no one designed fighter aircraft at the time to be flying for 30 years. The P-40/Allison engine combination seems capable of extended operation, but it had wartime limitations in part because of its stout construction.

Bit of a job to know really, after all MH434 was not rebuilt until the late 90's and she'd been flown pretty continuously since WW2, and now most of them are not flown to their limits and they don't put that many hours on them so they should last a fair while.

SL721 (VWoC) has never undergone a major rebuild.

Thanks for the reply Peter. The book(s) are definitely worth the asking, given the research, effort, knowledge and work. I've been very pleased with Vol I
I'm in awe, at the depth, of what is clearly your lifes passion.

I'll bite the bullet and order in the new year

Andy Scott