2. Aircraft

IWM Duxford

Ross and I had a superb day at the Imperial War Museum Duxford 20 odd years after our first visit. The sound of warbirds flying all day just added to the atmosphere. The vehicles in the Land Warfare building are in the Military Vehicles folder. 10/5/2022
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    Spitfire LF mkVb EP120 was built at Castle Bromwich in early 1942 and assigned to No. 501 Squadron RAF in 1942, and then subsequently RCAF 402 Squadron. This aircraft destroyed seven German aircraft during its wartime career. Post-war, it was an instructional airframe, then displayed as a Gate guardian. It was acquired by the fighter collection in 1993 and restored to airworthiness. It is currently painted in its 402 Squadron markings. G-LFVB
    The biplane is a Hawker Nimrod Mk.I S1581. The Nimrod never fired her guns in anger, but served well with both the Home and Mediterranean Fleets. The last Nimrods to fly operationally were with 802 NAS, when they were replaced by Sea Gladiators at Hal Far, Malta, in May 1939. The very last Nimrod in Fleet Air Arm service was Mk.I S1582, which was being used as a hack with 753 NAS undertaking weather checks until she was paid off in January 1942. The Fighter Collection’s Nimrod Mk.I S1581 was the third production aircraft built by the Hawker Engineering Company at their Kingston-upon-Thames facility and allocated the construction number 41H-43617. S1581 was subsequently delivered to 408 Fighter flight as ‘573’ embarked upon HMS Glorious. The flight became 803 NAS in April 1933 and S1581 remained with the unit aboard Glorious until she was written off in early 1938. The substantial remains of S1581 were recovered from a scrapyard in West London in the early 1970s and donated to the RAF Museum. The remains changed hands in the 1980's but were purchased in 1994 by Aero Vintage who set about restoring the airframe back to her former glory. Spring 2000 saw the Kestrel V engine installed and test run for the first time in over 60 years. The first flight took place at Henlow, Bedfordshire, in July 2000. She is authentically painted in the colours she wore as ‘573’ when she served with 802 NAS during the 1930s. G-BWWK
    Undergoing serious maintenance is Gloster Gladiator N5903. Flown briefly by 141 Squadron, but spent much of World War II in storage. After a period of private ownership, and a some years as a static exhibit at the Fleet Air Arm Museum it was bought by the Fighter Collection from the Shuttleworth Collection in 1994 and restored to flying condition, taking its first post-restoration flight in 2007. It was painted in the pre-World War II markings of No. 72 Squadron RAF. G-GLAD