Spitfire SL721

That last shot reminds me of the scene in 1941, where Wild Bill Kelso lands his P-40 at a gas station to fill up…!

Great shots. Thanks for sharing.

Oh there were lots of stops, of course. SL721 still has the original fuel tank and that’s all.

It’s kind of fun: to land unannounced at a little “Washington County” airport in a Spitfire and P-40, pull up to the pumps, shut down in unison, jump out, and say, “Do you mind if we park these here for a few minutes? Gotta make a phone call.”

5 hours cramped in there ,blimey it’s hard enough driving a car where you can stop and have a breather 🙂

It is indeed. We were able to do a Merlin swap, and match them up, when we were juggling requirements for the P-51, the Spit XVI, and the Spit IX under construction. It all worked out.

Here’s a photo of SL721 from 2009. We were flying back from OSH. The radio crapped-out in the Spitfire, so we flew formation for the 5 hours all the way back to Gatineau. Not the sort of thing you usually see when you’re driving and you glance back over-your-shoulder…

Website does say that her original Merlin is in place which is somewhat magical !

Mk XVI’s didn’t have Griffon’s…

If I recall correctly , a few years ago Mike Potter was able to locate and purchase SL721’s original Griffin engine and return it to the airframe. This must make her one of the more original Spits out there I’m sure.

My most memorable encounter with SL721 was one Thanksgiving morning in Arizona. I was at Deervalley Airport with Carl Schmieder as both our families did not gather for Thanksgiving until later in the afternoon. It was the typical Phoenix Thanksgiving weather, clear and sunny and 75 degrees, too nice a day to be working in the hangar. Carl seemed to come to that conclusion at the same time I did and asked how long to do a pre-flight on the 6, I said give me 10 minutes. I preflighted Carl’s T-6 N2757G and we pushed it out and strapped in and fired up. While we were taxying to the run up area I spotted a fast-moving shape low against the foothills to the east of the airport and saw that it was a Spitfire turning to make a low pass down runway 25. I keyed the intercom and said someone had the same idea we did, and pointed out the Spitfire, then commented that had we been a few minutes earlier we would all ready be in the air and might been able to join up for some formation fun. We completed our run-up, took off and started a turn to the north practice area, then called Deervalley Tower for a Frequency change, which was given along with the following “ The Spitfire is waiting to the north”. We found Chris Woodson and SL721 and joined up on his wing for a very enjoyable formation session with a low pass back at Deer Valley to end the flight. One thing about the low pass, Chris pushed the nose down and the Spitfire being slow clean just left us as if we were sitting still. Carl push everything to the stops in an attempt to catch up, we topped out at about 245-250mph (VNE on a 6 is 235 mph) so it ended up being a low pass in trail formation.
I have never had a chance to thank Chris for a very memorable Thanksgiving Day

Seems the original link has now been edited and she’s off to Belgium!

Back on topic!
Photos taken at Deer Valley 1977 where my father re-assembled her after disassembly at Blackbushe.

Photos of LA198 at Kelvingrove Art Galleries in February 2009.

Plus the RAFM/Kennet one

…and the Seafire 46 LA564 the Naval derivative of the Mk 22, with non folding wings but with stinger hook and contra-prop.

Mark

Spitfire F Mk.21 LA198. Built in September 1944 at South Marston. Assigned to No 1 Sqn (RAF Manston). On 12 May 1947, allocated to 602 Sqn (City of Glasgow) Royal Auxiliary Air Force. Used in the Battle of Britain film. Aircraft is on display since July 2006 at the reopening of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Glasgow.[98] It wears the markings LA198 / RAI-G to replicate the colours it wore during its 602 Squadron service.

A friend of mine’s late grandfather was the last person to fly her.

D1566
Spitfire F Mk.21 LA198. Built in September 1944 at South Marston. Assigned to No 1 Sqn (RAF Manston). On 12 May 1947, allocated to 602 Sqn (City of Glasgow) Royal Auxiliary Air Force. Used in the Battle of Britain film. Aircraft is on display since July 2006 at the reopening of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Glasgow.[98] It wears the markings LA198 / RAI-G to replicate the colours it wore during its 602 Squadron service.
Spitfire F Mk.24 PK683. On display at Solent Sky in Southampton.[99]
Spitfire F Mk.24 PK724. On display at the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon.[100]
Spitfire F Mk.24 VN485. A former Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force aircraft on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford[101] it wears an all-over silver scheme with a red/white spinner.
(From Wikipedia)

And for completeness the remaining Mk.21 and the surviving Mk.22 examples,

Mk.21 LA226 – RAF Museum, Stored.
Mk.21 LA255 – 1 Sqn, RAF Leuchars
Mk.22 PK355 – Museum display, Zimbabwe
Mk.22 PK481 – Museum display, Bull Creek WA, Australia
Mk.22 PK519 – Stored, UK
Mk.22 PK624 – Stored, Duxford. The Fighter Collection
Mk.22 PK664 – Stored, UK

Plus the RAFM/Kennet one

I’ve flown beside it many times. It’s a shame to see it go, but we have a new Mk IX, and the hangar is jammed.

Here’s a video of it, taken by my GIB one day…

This is the aircraft that truly launched the VWoC Collection. When Michael Potter bought the Spitfire, and started flying it to various places and events around Ottawa, he was overwhelmed by the response. Crowds of people magically appearing, reporters, airport staff, old men tugging their great-grandchildren and then getting all misty-eyed as the years rolled away…

After which of course he built a magnificent hangar and then filled it.

Dave

Far too many Spitfires, if i had to waste my money on 1, I’d want a 20 series as they’re non existent.

Spitfire F Mk.21 LA198. Built in September 1944 at South Marston. Assigned to No 1 Sqn (RAF Manston). On 12 May 1947, allocated to 602 Sqn (City of Glasgow) Royal Auxiliary Air Force. Used in the Battle of Britain film. Aircraft is on display since July 2006 at the reopening of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Glasgow.[98] It wears the markings LA198 / RAI-G to replicate the colours it wore during its 602 Squadron service.
Spitfire F Mk.24 PK683. On display at Solent Sky in Southampton.[99]
Spitfire F Mk.24 PK724. On display at the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon.[100]
Spitfire F Mk.24 VN485. A former Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force aircraft on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford[101] it wears an all-over silver scheme with a red/white spinner.
(From Wikipedia)

It might be the ugliest single-seat Spitfire variant but it’s very original and would still be very welcome here in the U.K. I’m casting another vote for it to be put back into the blue colour scheme it adorned!

I always dreamed of seeing a Fairey Battle come to fruition. What a sight with the Blenheim!