Mk I Spitfire back in the air

Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:40 am

Not the oldest airworthy Spitfire, but AR213/G-AIST is now back in the air after a lengthy restoration, now reverted to correct canopy glazing and a three blade hub.

PeterA

Booker, UK, 13 Dec 2007

Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:01 am

Great news, always a fantastic day when another example of the finest fighter ever is made airworthy again.

Jeff

Sat Dec 15, 2007 2:05 pm

What a beautiful machine.

Cheers,

David

Sat Dec 15, 2007 2:06 pm

great work indeed.

Sat Dec 15, 2007 2:30 pm

A W E S O M E ! ! ! ! !

Sat Dec 15, 2007 4:24 pm

Good job lads! What sqn. markings will it have, or has that been decided yet?

Doug Ratchford-Canso42

Sat Dec 15, 2007 4:50 pm

Canso42 wrote:Good job lads! What sqn. markings will it have, or has that been decided yet?

Doug Ratchford-Canso42

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/attach ... tid=158648

per

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=76675

cheers

greg v.

Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:02 pm

Thanks for posting that Greg.

That's quite the unique paint scheme. What's the relevance of the striped nose?

Cheers,

David

Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:39 am

Actually, I'm not sure if it is to be restored with the cowling stripes or not; I thought I'd read somewhere that it was to wear the stripes temporarily after restoration, but who knows. The stripes are, from what I understand, some sort of recognition aid added during the aircraft's use as a "bouce" aircraft, I guess for training bomber crew or something similar. I bet all the answers are floating around on the FlyPast forum. I'm just happy that there is a MkI Spitfire flying with all the proper acoutrements...

cheers

greg v.

Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:41 am

edit: unintentional double post erased

Last edited by gregv on Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:41 am

edit: bartender, make it a triple.

Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:17 am

gregv wrote:Actually, I'm not sure if it is to be restored with the cowling stripes or not; I thought I'd read somewhere that it was to wear the stripes temporarily after restoration, but who knows.

It will not be finished with the cowling stripes, not will they be applied later. The owners instructions are to finish the aircraft to appear as she was shortly after arrival at 57 OTU (Operational Training Unit) at Hawarden (north of England), July 1941. The scheme changed a few weeks after this with the replacement of the Dark Earth uppper surface camouflage with Ocean Grey. It is the later scheme with which the nose stripes were associated.

Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:45 am

Well, regardless of how they paint her up, I can't wait to see it. Thanks for filling us in.

Cheers,

David

Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:39 am

Yes that is Bloody Fantastic- Cheers

Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:04 pm

Mark V wrote:
gregv wrote:Actually, I'm not sure if it is to be restored with the cowling stripes or not; I thought I'd read somewhere that it was to wear the stripes temporarily after restoration, but who knows.
It will not be finished with the cowling stripes, not will they be applied later. The owners instructions are to finish the aircraft to appear as she was shortly after arrival at 57 OTU (Operational Training Unit) at Hawarden (north of England), July 1941. The scheme changed a few weeks after this with the replacement of the Dark Earth uppper surface camouflage with Ocean Grey. It is the later scheme with which the nose stripes were associated.

thanks for the clarification Mark V

so was she delivered in dark earth or ocean grey, and which will she ultimately wear? Seeing the areas already painted gives me a clue, though

cheers

greg v.