Spitfire BR601 - 1942 SPITFIRE F MK IX - Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar
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1942 Spitfire F Mk IX

BR601

• BR601 was the sixth Spitfire Mk.IX, built at Southampton during 1942

 

• First flight at Eastleigh, 16 June 1942

 

• Flown to 45 MU at Kinloss the next day

 

• 9 July, ferried by Polish ATA pilot Stefania Wojtulanis from Prestwick to Hornchurch, arriving 11 July

 

• Allotted to 64 Squadron, (first unit to receive Mk.IXs) First ops flown with Mk.IXs on 28 July

 

• 21 October 1942, Sqdn Ldr Colin Gray suffered a burst tyre on landing, resulting in undercarriage collapse and wing damage

 

• Repaired at 39 MU and issued to 453 (Australian) Squadron 2 April 1943

 

• 17 July 1943, issued to 129 (Mysore) Squadron, again at Hornchurch

 

• 28 August 1943, reallocated to 316 (City of Warsaw Squadron, a Polish Squadron based at RAF Northolt.

• 28 September 1943, placed on charge with 165 (Ceylon) Squadron at Culmhead, moving to Colerne later that month

 

• 19 March 1944, under repair again at Air Service Training, and repaired again at 8 MU on 29 August

 

• 27 February 1945, sent to Vickers Armstrongs for modifications, going into storage at Lyneham with 33 MU

 

• 27 January 1949, shipped to South Africa on board SS Clan Mackellar, arriving 13 March

 

• 16 March 1951, now serialed 5631, issued to the Air Operation School at Langebaanweg Air Base, suffering three landing accidents and being relegated to a ground instructional airframe with 7 Squadron.

 

• 10 March 1955, sold to scrap merchants, South African Metal & Machinery Co, Salt River, Cape Town

 

• Restored by apprentices from the Atlas Aircraft Corporation for static display on a pole in the scrap yard. Placed on display in 1976

• Sold to Doug Arnold in 1986 for £70,000 and stored at Biggin Hill

 

• 1994, sold to Jet Cap aviation and moved to Bartow, Florida where it remained untouched

 

• Transported to the Lone Star Flight Museum, Galveston, Texas

 

• Acquired by Jeff Thomas in January 2008 and sent to Avspecs at Ardmore, New Zealand

 

• 29 July 2009, acquired by Peter Monk, and fully restored for the Collings Foundation, Stow, Massachusetts, USA

• First flight after restoration 31st August 2016.