Your first Spitfire

My first Spitfires would of been
1, North Weald in the early 60s maybe.
2, Biggin Gate Guardian late 60s.
3, I did pass North Weald on the bus when filming of the Battle of Britain 1968.
4, But I feel the first where I remember a display was at Halfpenny Green when Adrian Swires MH434 in the capable hands of Ray Hannah, it was a military show I think, very early 1970’s

My first Spitfire was TD248 while she was stuck up a pole at RAF Sealand. Her roundel used to glare at me every time we came back over the border into Wales.

My first Spitfire would be this one… in the era of plastic model aircraft with glue fingerprints and paint drops on them, this beauty with engine and retractable undercarriage was the non plus ultra. My father used all decals which were included, hence the black anti-glare nose fairing. I was quite surprised as I recently learned that the markings AIoA are from the “Battle of Britain” movie… as you can see, it is still with me after 40 years.

In case you have a spare aerial mast, I need one to replace the long lost (somewhere over the Channel???) one.

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First one up close would have to be Hendon. First live one would be Old Wardens AR501. We sat behind it for its start up down by the control tower and our program disappeared into the carpark. Happy times 🙂

AR213 by the sounds of it.

I went to a VSCC meeting at Silverstone in the 1970s and there was a Spitfire parked on its own. In the lunch break it put on a terrific display in Tony Bianchi’s hands and the commentator thanked Patrick Lindsey ‘for lending him the keys.’
mmitch.

My first Spitfire was the Mk VII at the Smithsonian in 1989 at the tail end of my stint in the US. I don’t recall knowingly seeing one in Australia before that. My first flyer was Shuttleworth’s Mk V at Old Warden in 1999 several weeks before Legends. She was displayed by John Allison.

I am guessing my first flyer would have been 1977 at Greenham Common, my first airshow as a 7 year old. I would have also seen the Science Museum example around the same time and Doug Arnolds G-BAUP at Blackbushe around 1978.
I must admit I had never really been a Spitfire man, they were very rare in the late 70’s and early 80’s and jets were more common and exciting. Mind you I have seen 76 spitfires and Seafires looking at my database!

This was the first aircraft I saw at my very first airshow at Woodford 1969 as we got out of the car and walked to the barrier and it was my first airshow picture as well.

Mark 12’s post 114 brings back memories of my first trip to the IWM South Lambeth with a school friend who was as much a Spitfire maniac as myself. I guess we were both about 13 years old in 1954 and allowed to travel twenty miles in from leafy Surrey by train to Waterloo. (How the world has changed!) The view of R6915 is exactly how I remember it. Our first Spitfire to look at, make notes and sketches so that our flying, control line scale, models might be more accurate. Not that they flew any better though!

1955 and we went again to London and Horse Guards Parade. This time K9942 was on show with a Hurricane and a Bf109. We found the 109 still had the outline of former RAF serial DG 200 under a coat of matt and dingy grey paint. The Junkers 88, Me 110 and He 111 were alongside. Being cheeky lads then my pal said “I belong to ATC Sqn 11F (Brooklands) any chance we can get really close” to the RAF guardians ! The rope was held up for us and we were in. And that meant in the cockpits of some of them as well. I still have the photos somewhere with the programme.

Then he and I plus my dad got some tickets for RAeS Wisley Garden Party in 1956. My dad worked at Wisley and he was supposed to have been the last Vickers employee to have certification to OK fabric covered surfaces. Thus he looked after that aspect of AB910. It was the first Spitfire we had seen fly and J Quill Esq flew it. Bill Bedford flew the Hurricane and that was still in Princess Margaret’s racing blue colours. I spoke to Bill Bedford years later and he told me he thought that it was probably the first time he and JQ had actually done their tail chase around the airfield.

Dad then introduced me to the man from Supermarine’s at South Marston where he had rebuilt AB910 for Vickers and JQ. It sticks in my mind that he said he could not find either the correct 3 bladed prop let alone a suitable Merlin anywhere in the UK and had to make to do and mend to get it back in the air. Vickers had it painted a very high gloss to his disgust but it was to ease the cleaning – apparently!

Just as a bit of humour AB910 + JQ used to turn up all over the place for another ten years or so. I also got used to seeing the Hurricane about 6 miles east of Farnham Surrey from time to time. Apparently Bill Bedford lived in the area and would use it to amuse family and friends at his home. Dunsfold wasn’t that far away.. Then came the day when AB910 with JQ arrived from Wisley and he it knocked holes in the sky over Bill’s house as well !

Times certainly have changed!

hi, Mark,
thanks very much…

regards
jack…

…..does anyone know what Spitfires the exhibition flight had in the early 50,s to transport around the country

K9942, P9444 & X4590

Mark

hi,morning all,
with proding the old gray matter to post on this thread, its got me wondering does anyone know what Spitfires the exhibition flight had in the early 50,s to transport around the country?

regards
jack…

Would anyone happen to know where this spit is now…..?

Undergoing rebuild with Historic Flying, I think? (Pr.XI PL983)

Well hats off to you Mark12, I first remember an article by you in “Scale Modelling” magazine about the Spitfires used in the making of the “Battle of Britain” film. One of the boys at school had it and I was impressed by it, as I’ve always been a Spitfire fanatic so I sent for a copy from the publishers Model and Allied Publications. In fact I’ve still got it today. Good luck in your quest.:)

I thought it would be easy to pin-point my first Spitfire sighting…not so. 🙂

I have a sneaking suspicion that the first Spitfire would have been the IWM Mk I R6915 at Lambeth before it was suspended in the side gallery. This would have been a school related trip in the mid 1950’s. Here a postcard I think from the occasion.

I then homed in on K9942 on Horse Guards Parade but this proved to be September 1958. From there I moved on to the first page of the first photo album I compiled. Clearly dated 14 September 1957, The Battle of Britain display at Biggin Hill, a Saturday. Although the image has been removed the title indicates a Mk V which I have always thought to be AB910.

On this day I would have seen also the Biggin Gate Guard SL674 and a Mk XIX in the static park, if I have the right year, PM631.

This would all surely be confirmed in the SCRAMBLE show reports of yesteryear…not so.

http://www.scramble.nl/?option=com_showreports&view=article&ct=GB&id=921

With a show date of a Wednesday I am inclined to think there are a few errors here.

Certainly by the following year, June 1958, I had been up close and friendly with a living breathing Spitfire AB910 flown by Jeffrey Quill at the RAeS Garden Party at White Waltham.

This was to be the start of a long, near 60 year, journey to photograph and inspect the World’s extant Spitfires. I am not quite there yet with just one Seafire in Myanmar, that the authorities continue to refuse access, and a couple of the projects still to see.

Mark

The first time i saw a spit in the air i was 13, it was the 5th march 1986 standing in stoneham cemetary watching Roland Frasinet put on a very spirited display in a PR blue Mk9…. Low and fast seemimg to come out of no where behind the trees…
Ooh the sound…
burned into my memory for ever….
on that day…. i fell in love……..

Would anyone happen to know where this spit is now…..?

The first Spitfire I encountered was probably the gate guard at Biggin Hill (SL674 I think) with a Hurricane alongside, but I forget the identity, as we arrived for the 1967 Battle of Britian display.
AB910 participated in the flying display along with Hurricane LF363.
Also saw my first P-51 that day (Charles Masefield’s N6356T?) which was also in the flying display and I think Lancaster NX611/G-ASXX was in the static display.
In those days Biggin housed part of what was to become the RAF Museum collection so the hangar display included Wellington MF628, Heinkel HE111, Messerschmit BF110 and ME109, Fiat CR42 still marked BT474 and I think there was a JU88 and maybe a ME163 as well.
Quite a day for my first sightings of WW2 types.

That original very dodgy (as I subsequently learnt) Airfix kit with underwing bombs and BT-K reg. Two shillings in a plastic bag. I camouflaged it using a pot labelled n****r brown (you know, Guy Gibson’s dog.) I was about 6 at the time. Object lesson also as to how far polystyrene cement could spread.

If I’d kept it in the bag, how much would it be worth now?

Then later the much better Airfix Mk IX.

First real one? Can’t remember. In North Wales we got a lot of Ansons, Vampires and Venoms overhead but I don’t remember any Spits. Probably Battle of Britain days at Biggin Hill in the early 60’s, but 111 Squadron’s Lightnings made a much more lasting impression.

I think that this (my first) was in my first post. Deleted somehow, but deserves a place?

https://www.flickr.com/gp/23579676@N03/320SRd

Tim

Previous link was a ‘private’ one – hope this works.

Just to add that I flew this – my 4th ‘O’ – on ops in NI in early 1942.