I know he did not die that day, but we unveiled a memorial to JB Nicolson VC on the site of 249’s dispersal at Boscombe Down 50years to the day on 16th August 1990.

This year, I am hoping to raise funds to get Peter Vacher’s Hurricane to fly over on the 70th Anniversary (need to raise an extra £600 if anyone wants to help out!!)

i sent you a pm

unfortunately not! I think Jay Wisler in Tampa has replicas….

AP1086 lists both Spitfire IB and IIB, as well as VB etc, under spade grip AHO8068, and since my understanding is that the Spitfire IIB had both cannon and machine guns, then this would surely seem to be the correct type of grip?

What no-one has commented on is that the grip in lanner55’s photos appears to be stamped AH80(?)28 as he states, not AH8068.

AH8028 is not on my list; can anyone account for this variant?

Well done AM old chap!
Could the 8028 be a misquote? Interesting about 8068 on earlier types…never seen a cockpit of a Mk2 with anything but a round button…anyone else

The Spitfire VA had a round button, I think you will find? The VB onwards had the aluminium rocker button as per Lanners55 first post in this thread.

excellent, makes me feel happier about the 8068 fitted to mine!

Well….sadly, you won’t find a Spitfire one. Unlike the AH2040 (early Hurricane type) the Spitfire spade grips were magnesium alloy and just turn to white powder. All you get left is the brake lever, button and tubes and bits of the rubberised gripping. I have never heard of one being dug up intact. Plenty of Hurricane ones and other types too, but its why there are, for example, no museum examples of wreck-recovered Battle of Britain spade grips extant. Just the firing buttons!

Tangers old chap, I am sure we discussed the heavily corroded but completely round one at Hawkinge? Sadly I was not allowed to photo it, but it is there!

The fact that Desoutter pioneered prosthetics would make them doubly historic, the original ones that is.