Hmm! Puzzled why the image is so large. Let me try again

Well almost.
Be nice to see it as JEJ in front of the roundel on both sides, as his original XIV, rather than this JE-J and J-EJ
Incidentally SL721, fresh from the paint shop having lost it’s blue scheme, is now in late war livery with the yellow ring roundels top and bottom of the wing.

Willow,
Double take!
Have another look at the photo!
Yes TE184 was originally a low back XVI converted by Trent Aero in 1989.
See it now or is it just my sense of humour?
Mark12

Seafuryfan,
The identity of ‘Bumps a daisy’ Spitfire AI-H.
At least two Spitfires were used for this sequence – the ‘flying pass’, the ‘taxi in and stop’, the ‘cut to the cockpit’ followed by ‘the walk away’.
The ‘flying pass’ is a Mk IX by virtue of the long Merlin, symmetrical shallow radiators and the long intake fairing. So it is MH415, MH434 or MK297, the three ‘Spitfire Productions’ machines, all of which carried the code AI-H during the span of the filming.
The principal variances and identifying features on these three machines are exhaust system, round or flared, smoke generating attachment, underbelly camera box, strobe machine gun attachments, the famous short underbelly aerial and, if on the ground, 10 ¼ inch wheels. After that it is down to a study of the minor variations in basic camouflage application, artificial distressing of the livery by the film technicians, natural oil stains, and paint chipping all compared against an archive of reference photographs.
The ‘taxi in and stop’ sequence machine is a Mk XVI or ‘Markaddie’ in deference to Hamish Mahaddie who master minded the acquisition and gathering of all the aircraft. Key indicators in this shot are, it is moving under power, the 12 inch wheels, the lack of navigation lights and the fuselage frame 11 behind the pilots seat. This is one of the high back, as opposed to low back converted Mk XVIs brought up to taxi condition – so SM411 or TB382. Distinctive camouflage and various paint chippings on the starboard engine cowling fasteners identify this as TB382. The walk away shot, at North Weald, appears to be TB382 also, with SM411 to the rear. Both these machines were fitted with three blade props for the majority of the filming.

The training sequence ‘takka takka takka takka’ are combinations of the Mk IXs all three of which were coded both AI-A and AI-H during the filming. In all probability this was not filmed in one take and is a composite of takes. With my main video player duff and only the crudest of flashing freeze frame on my secondary machine I will wait for the DVD to pronounce 100% on these combinations of identities.

Interestingly those who have the ‘Dark Blue World’ DVD with special effects feature, which uses footage from the BoB film, can see how with digital manipulation the code letters were changed on a pair of Spitfires actually in flight from CD-M and CD-E to AI-A and AI-H respectively.

Mark12

MH415 confirmed. Before the exhaust change.
Anybody out there with BoB film Spitfires that need an identity?
Post away.

And fun.

Nope.
The first Spitfires from India were Doug Arnold’s in 1976.
MV262, MV293, NH799, SM832 & SM969.
The next batch were the Wensley Haydon-Baillie aircraft MT719, MV370, NH749, SM845, TP263, TP276, TP280 & TP298.