Spitfire 161 (again), today at Bourn

John,
My apologies 153 is PX924 and all are FAA. It was a combination of finger trouble and old age, mostly the latter. Now I will go and stand for one hour in the corner!
Regards
Tony K

Tony,

Many thanks, and don’t do the full hour, I’m sure 20 mins is more than enough 😉

Regards,

Mark 12
Just before I go for my punishment. Spitfire 162/ML407 has CBAF2111 on the makers log book.
Regards
Tony K

John,
My apologies 153 is PX924 and all are FAA. It was a combination of finger trouble and old age, mostly the latter. Now I will go and stand for one hour in the corner!
Regards
Tony K

Two data plate numbers for ML407…

…and both are correct in my view.

CBAF8463 is the number from the frame five firewall by inspection.

Frame five is a free standing assembly and was sub contracted by some divisions of the Vickers organisation, typically to Heston Aircraft Industries.

Frame five, by a combination of rivets and bolts, is attached to the main fuselage monococque (tube) to make a fuselage assembly. This assembly receives a data plate that is attached on the right hand side of the cockpit.

For ML407 as a single seater the this plate will read CBAF IX 2***.

When the aircraft was converted by Vickers Supermarine and the cockpit moved forward, this data plate typically on the Irish TR.IXs would get consumed.

What I can say is that the number CBAF IX 2111 quoted by TonyK juxtaposition the known Cockpit numbers of adjacent ML119 and ML427 looks right on the button.

I could well imagine that any documentation supplied to the IAC on the previous history of 162/ML407, log books etc could well have been annotated with this number.

Interesting the one surviving Indian two seater ML417 was ‘re-plated’ and renumbered with a fuselage construction number on the firewall and although a CBAF aircraft originally it is a Supermarine plate… and incidentally it was stamped type 509. 🙂 Further more when removed it had ML417 written in pencil on the rear, which how the original RAF serial was determined when it arrived in the UK back in August 1980.

Mark

This was mentioned in ‘Spitfire Survivors’ by Trant & Riley as being a constructors serial number entered on the application by the owner for a UK registration when the aircraft became G-LFIX.

Mark,

Thanks for the guidance

jbs
I do not know what the source is for those FAA serial numbers, should be

148 should be PX950
149 do PX948
151 do PX941
152 do PX929
153 do PX929
154 do PX915
155 do PR237
156 do PX936

Tony K

Tony,

A question for you, I am only now really looking at your list above and noticed that both IAC 152 and 153 you have listed as ex RAF PX929, and as I’m away from my books at work I can’t look it up. Any chance you could point me right please

Regards,

This was mentioned in ‘Spitfire Survivors’ by Trant & Riley as being a constructors serial number entered on the application by the owner for a UK registration when the aircraft became G-LFIX.

John,
You are most welcome, another question please. What is the source of the c/n CBAF8463 for Spitfire Tr9 ML407 G-LFIX as on your website?
Tony K

Tony,

This is the construction number I have in my notes.
I can’t say that I can guarantee it being 100% correct because I haven’t seen it for myself “in the flesh”. So all I can hope is that one of the more knowledgable Spitfire folk on this board would be kind enough to step in to either confirm or deny whether it is right.

Not a great deal of help I know, but at least I’m honest 🙂

John,
You are most welcome, another question please. What is the source of the c/n CBAF8463 for Spitfire Tr9 ML407 G-LFIX as on your website?
Tony K

jbs
I do not know what the source is for those FAA serial numbers, should be

148 should be PX950
149 do PX948
151 do PX941
152 do PX929
153 do PX929
154 do PX915
155 do PR237
156 do PX936

Tony K

Tony,

Thanks for the correction, its from a spreadsheet on my computer at work, which is obviously wrong !!!

jbs
I do not know what the source is for those FAA serial numbers, should be

148 should be PX950
149 do PX948
151 do PX941
152 do PX929
153 do PX929
154 do PX915
155 do PR237
156 do PX936

Tony K

Seeing MJ772, I seem to recall having a postcard somewhere of this one, in its NL-R markings, flying with a Hurricane – might have been the Strathallen one. I’ll see if I can look it out.

I’m sure the Hurricane wore the markings UP-W, too.

Dave Morgan was a gent. I interviewed him at his home in Buckfastleigh about a year before he died. MH

Melv,

Here is a shot I took of Dave Morgan (R) with Don Plumb, shortly before a little sortie in 159/MJ77 at Shoreham in May 1971. Don had just bought 163/TE308 from the same stable.

I was actually surprised how nervous Dave Morgan appeared to be prior to this flight, as he had regularly been flying G-AIDN in recent years.

Mark

I hope you put him out of his misery before he turned blue 😀

Nope.

Pete,

The IAC operated a dozen de-navalised Seafire LF Mk.III’s between 1947 and the early to mid 1950’s

Here’s a quick list of them
[INDENT]IAC 146 (ex RAF PR302)
IAC 147 (ex RAF PR315)
IAC 148 (ex RAF PP950)
IAC 149 (ex RAF PP948)
IAC 150 (ex RAF RX210)
IAC 151 (ex RAF PP941)
IAC 152 (ex RAF PP929)
IAC 153 (ex RAF PP924)
IAC 154 (ex RAF PP915)
IAC 155 (ex RAF PR236)
IAC 156 (ex RAF PP936)
IAC 157 (ex RAF RX168)[/INDENT]

Hope this is useful

They did operate de-navalised Seafire IIIs.

Hi All,great pics,did the IAC operate any single seat Spits in the same scheme or any other?If so,does anyone have any pics of them?Cheers,Pete

Wasn’t he also one of the test pilots who did the flying in “The Sound Barrier” (1952), along with Les Colquhon, Mike Lithgow, John Cunningham et al?

Yes. The film was partly shot at Chilbolton using the prototype Swift.

I gather one Australian Spitfire collector/owner choked violently on his ‘Fosters’ when he heard that a tail unit removed from a Spitfire had gone on ebay for £41.99. 🙂 Mk.12

I hope you put him out of his misery before he turned blue 😀

Dave Morgan was a gent. I interviewed him at his home in Buckfastleigh about a year before he died.

MH

Wasn’t he also one of the test pilots who did the flying in “The Sound Barrier” (1952), along with Les Colquhon, Mike Lithgow, John Cunningham et al?