A Spitfire for £8 million

G-AIDN was my baby sitter most saturday afternoons when it was kept at RAF Andover, I lived in Houghton at the time and G-AIDN was a frequent visitor over Houghton as Fairey lived close by. 20 minutes of aerobatics was the norm whenever it showed up. So yeah, it flies, just not recently.

Now it seems the whole aim was never to show her off, but to use it as an investment with a ‘major’ profit in mind!!! Very sad!

As said by Moggy earlier, the ‘price’ wasn’t really applicable considering that it was there to draw people in, don’t get too sad about it chap! she’ll be flying again soon enough 😉

Tom

I have a soft spot for ‘IDN from when it was pale blue and owned by the late John Fairey. I made my first air-to-air photo shoot on this aircraft out of Staverton in 1968. The following year it was repainted dark blue then around 1974 is was repainted yellow and appeared at Yeovilton that year and I last saw her at Middle Wallop in 1975, I think, before she was sold to the States.
Since being reimported back to the UK, I don’t think she has even flown but has spent a prolonged period at Kemble and Booker being put back together. Many hoped that at the very least the owner could have got her outside on static display at one of the Kemble Air Days, but she remained hidden away.
Now it seems the whole aim was never to show her off, but to use it as an investment with a ‘major’ profit in mind!!! Very sad!

Has anyone ever seen this aircraft fly? Graham

Not recently. 🙂

I seem to remember it was £20 toward the fuel.

Mark

Thanks for finding that, made my day reading that story. Would be another six years before I saw ‘IDN as a resident at Eastleigh. 🙂

Indeed, here’s a nice little story involving John Isaacs and Viv Bellamy re-activating this Spit back in 1951, http://www.agentsmart.co.uk/blog/aviation/the-hampshire-aero-club-eastleigh-by-john-isaacs/

Why is this abortion considered to be super-valuable? It’s the aerial equivalent of a four-door Ferrari.

I take it you won’t be putting an offer in then?

Regards,

kev35

So that’s the one. I first went at Wallop in 78 and heard about the GSE coloured Spitfire but never saw it. At the time there was also talk of an unmatched engined mosquito that was owned or flown by one of the Corps.

D’you know, I’ve never noticed that! 😮 I was actually thinking more the website that I found it on originally.

A more recent pic – found in my files, but no photo credit:

USA, sometime before sale to Jack Erickson?

Isn’t that the photo credit bottom right?

Indeed, here’s a nice little story involving John Isaacs and Viv Bellamy re-activating this Spit back in 1951, http://www.agentsmart.co.uk/blog/aviation/the-hampshire-aero-club-eastleigh-by-john-isaacs/

Not to mention the fact that it’s a prototype Spitfire – albeit not THE prototype, of course.

Abortion?! Surely this airframe has plenty of history of its own, I love the yellow and other civil schemes that it wore (such as in G-ORDYs’ lovely shot).
Big thread on G-AIDN here, http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?p=1614549

Abortion?? :confused:

Why is this abortion considered to be super-valuable? It’s the aerial equivalent of a four-door Ferrari.

Saw it fly in the 70s – Weston Park 21st July 1974 – and here’s a terrible photo to prove it:

A more recent pic – found in my files, but no photo credit:

USA, sometime before sale to Jack Erickson?

Thanks Gordy! where and when?

Graham

Has anyone ever seen this aircraft fly? Who ever happens to own this aircraft throughout the years always seem to generate a lot of noise but it never seems to show up at airshows?

Graham

🙂

Has anyone ever seen this aircraft fly? Who ever happens to own this aircraft throughout the years always seem to generate a lot of noise but it never seems to show up at airshows?

Graham

Oh well, it will be interesting to see what transpires.