Warplanes of the UK: Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX

Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX

(RAF Photo)

Supermarine Spitfire Mk, IX (Serial No. MK356), No. 601 Squadron RAF.

(Simon Boddy Photo)

(SBP41Sqn Photo)

(Sgt Pete George MA ABIPP/MOD Photo)

(Mike Freer - Touchdown-aviation Photo)

 (Tony Hisgett Photo)

(Aldo Bidini Photo)

(Carlos Menendez Photos)

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXe (Serial No. MK356), coded 5J-K, No. 126 Squadron RAF, previously coded 21-V, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire.  This aircraft was recently painted in a desert camouflage pattern to represent No. 92 Squadron RAF (Serial No. EN152), coded QJ-3, flown over Tunisia April - May 1943. S/L Mark Long was killed when MK356 he was flying crashed in a field in Lincolnshire on 25 May 2024.

(James Photo)

Supermarine Spitfire HF Mk. IXe (Serial No. RR232), "City of Exeter", Reg. No. G-BRSF, Airworthy. Built at Castle Bromwich in 1943 and returned to the UK by the late Jim Pearce in 1989, now owned by Martin Phillips, operated by Spitfires.com and based at Goodwood Aerodrome, West Sussex. (Wikipedia)

Supermarine Spitfire F Mk. IX (Serial No. EN179), Reg. No. G-TCHO, Martin Phillips, Exeter.  This aircraft is being converted to a two-seat Tr.9 configuration at Vintage Aero Ltd., Pent Farm, Kent.

Supermarine Spitfire F Mk. IX (Serial No. EN570), coded FY-J, Reg. No. LN-AOA, converted to two-seater by Biggin Hill's Spitfire Factory. Airworthy as of 22 April 2024. Notodden, Norwegian Flying Aces. Previously with No. 611 Squadron RAF, shot down over northern France on 11 June 1943, with the loss of F/O Gordon R. Lindsay. To be ferried to Norway.

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXc (Serial No. LZ842), Reg. No. G-CGZU, EF-F, ex 327 Squadron, Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, Biggin Hill Airport, Westerham, Kent. Airworthy at Biggin Hill. This aircraft flew with various squadrons in the Malta Campaign, which include 93 Squadron, 232 Squadron (where it wore the codes EF-F) & 327 Squadron. Afterwards it flew with the South African Air Force in 1948. Restoration in the UK included the aircraft being repainted as it did when it was with 232 Squadron as EF-F and the fitting of a Rolls-Royce Merlin X. LZ842 took to the air for the first time post-restoration on 23 June 2021 out of Biggin Hill. (Wikipedia)

Supermarine Spitfire HF Mk. IXe (Serial No. MA764), Reg. No. G-MCDB, 122 Squadron, Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, Biggin Hill Airport, Westerham, Kent.

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk IXc, RAF (Serial No. MH415), coded ZD-E,No. 222 (Natal) Squadron, RAF, Reg. No. N415MH.  Airworthy, after being refurbished by Air Leasing at Sywell. Owned by Warbirds Flight Club Pty Ltd, Hunter Valley NSW, being restored to flying condition. Previously owned by Wilson 'Connie' Edwards and stored at his facility in Big Spring, Texas for decades. During its time with 'Connie' Edwards it wore the codes ZD-E to replicate the colours and markings it wore during its service with No. 222 (Natal) Squadron RAF during 1943. Its FAA registration was cancelled, sold via Platinum Fighter Sales in October 2015 and subsequently transported to Australia. After 5 years of work, it was exported to the UK to fly right before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The first post-restoration flight for this aircraft finally took place on 8 April 2021 out of Sywell Aerodrome. (Wikipedia)

(Ray Hanna Photo)

(John5199 Photo)

(Kogo Photo)

(Tony Hisgett Photos)

 (Mike Freer - Touchdown-aviation Photo)

(Alan Wilson Photos)

(Tim Felce Photos)

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXb (Serial No. MH434), built at Castle Bromwich and first flown on 7 Aug 1943, later delivered to 222 Squadron at Hornchurch, Essex.  Reg. No. G-ASJV, previously SZ-G, "City of Warsaw", ZD-B, No. 222 Squadron.  Old Flying Machine Company, Duxford, Cambridgeshire. Airworthy.  Duxford. Owned and operated by The Old Flying Machine Company and based at Duxford. Built at Castle Bromwich, MH434 shot down an Fw 190 in 1943 while serving on 222 Squadron. From the 1980s it was usually flown by Ray Hanna, ex-Red Arrows leader and display pilot up until his death in late 2005. MH434 has featured at European air shows and has been in many other TV and films including Operation Crossbow, The Longest Day, Battle of Britain, Foyle's War. (Wikipedia)

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXc (Serial No. MJ271), Historic Flying Ltd, Duxford, Cambridgeshire.   Reg. No. G-IRTY.  Built in 1943 at Castle Bromwich, this Spitfire was flown on 51 combat missions.  Restored as "The Silver Spitfire", the first post-restoration flight took place in late June 2019 at Duxford.  Finished in polished aluminium, the owners, Boultbee Flight Academy,crossed 22 countries and four continents, and completed a circumnavigation of the earth in this aircraft on 5 Dec 2019.

(bdburton Photo)

(Matt Sergeant Photos)

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXc (Serial No. MK912), L-SH, Reg. No. G-BRRA, damaged, being restored, Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, Biggin Hill, Kent. Built in 1944, this Spitfire flew for the RAF both during and after the Second World War for a number of different air forces, until being damaged in 1953. Passing through various collections, it was restored between 1992 and 2000, flying again on 8 September 2000. Previously owned and flown by Ed Russell in Niagara Falls, Ontario, MK912 was sold in 2011 to Biggin Hill, Kent.[158] The aircraft made a forced landing at Biggin Hill due to a loss of engine power on 1 August 2015, this tore off the right wing and caused other substantial damage. Almost nine years to the day since the accident, it flew again from Biggin Hill, repainted in its original 312 Squadron D-Day markings coded 'DU-V'. (Wikipedia)

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXe (Serial No. ML119), Reg. No. G-SDNI, G2 Trust, in storage, Buckinghamshire. Ex-Burmese Air Force UB441 and ex-Israeli Air Force 20-20. Currently at Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar to be restored to airworthy status.

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXb (Serial No. ML295), project stored in Kent.

(RonaldV-tm Photo)

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXc (Serial No. NH238), H-60, N, Reg. No. G-LFMH, Reg. No. G-MKIX, Flying A Services, in storage at Greenham Common.

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXc (Serial No. ML417), Reg. No. N2TF. Delivered to No. 443 RCAF Squadron in 1944 before being converted as a two-seater for the Indian Air Force as (Serial No. HS543) in 1948. It was brought back to the UK to join The Fighter Collection and was rebuilt as a single seater in its original 443 Squadron Markings. Becoming airworthy in the UK in 1984 with the registration G-BJSG, it went to the United States in 2001 and registered N2TF. It came back to the UK for some restoration work to be done and remerged in 2023 as a complete airframe, taking flight on 20 June. (Wikipedia)

(Sasha Taylor Photos)

(Birmingham Museums Trust Photo)

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXc (Serial No. ML427), HK-A, Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum.

(tataquax Photo)

Supermarine Spitfire F Mk. IX (Serial No. PL344), coded TL-B (initials of the owner, Tom Blair), previously Reg. No. N644TB, G-IXCC.   Built in 1943, this aircraft will fly out of Northamptonshire with Air Leasing at Sywell.

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXe (Serial No. PT879), Reg. No. G-PTIX, (previously G-BYDE), Peter Teichman, Hangar 11 Collection, North Weald, Essex.  Affectionately known as the “Russian Spitfire” due to her combat heritage flying with the Soviet Air Force during the Second World War, PT879 has completed her flight testing following a long-term restoration effort at Biggin Hill after her first flight on 28 Oct 2020.  This aircraft is the first Soviet Lend-Lease Spitfire to fly since the late 1940s.  She rolled off the production line at Vickers-Supermarine’s Castle Bromwich Aeroplane Factory near Birmingham on 4 Aug 1944.  That October, after flight testing, PT879 made the long journey by sea from Cardiff, Wales, to the Russian port at Murmansk.  Here she joined the 2nd squadron, 767th Regiment, 122nd Division of the Soviet Air Force, operating in the Murmansk region.  PT879 was involved in a collision with another Spitfire over the Kola Peninsular on 18 May 1945 with just 18 hours logged.  Inverted and in a flat spin, Lt Semyonov managed to escape his stricken Spitfire before she hit the ground.  In 1997, a recovery team moved PT879’s badly battered, but substantially complete airframe from the battlefield to St Petersburg.  Spitfire restorer, Peter Monk, acquired the wreck and brought her back to England.  Monk initially sold PT879 to Angie Soper in 1998, and she in turn passed the project on to Peter Teichman.  This Spitfire now wears the same livery PT879 wore in the Spring of 1945.

PT879 was built in 1944 and was delivered to Russia to be part of 2nd squadron, 767th Regiment, 122nd Division of the Russian Air Force. After 29 hours of service, it crashed in 1945 and was recovered completely by a socialist-capitalist farmer (who may have seen value in the aircraft in the future). Peter Monk purchased the Spitfire in 1998 and brought it to the UK. It was later acquired by Peter Teichman, owner of the Hangar 11 Collection for restoration. The aircraft took to the skies over Biggin Hill on 28 October 2020. (Wikipedia)

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXe (Serial No. RK858), Reg. No. G-CGJE, Historic Flying Ltd, Duxford, Cambridgeshire.

Supermarine Spitfire HF Mk. IXe (Serial No. RK912), in storage at Duxford, Cambridgeshire.

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXe (Serial No. SM639), in storage in the Surrey area.

(Wikiwand Photo)Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXe (Serial No. TE517), Reg. No. G-RYIX, in Turkish Air Force colours. Previously Reg. No. G-JGCA, ex-Czech Air Force, ex-Israeli Air Force 20-46. Owned by Ali Ismet Ozturk, MSO Air & Space Museum, Sivrihisar, Turkey. Turkey operated Mk. IXs from 1947 to 1954. Call sign as YV.85 as a tribute to Turkish Air Force's "Yavuz" (YV) Spitfire Fleet based out of Merzifon. (Flypast)

 (Mike Freer - Touchdown-aviation Photos)

(Bob Adams Photo)

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. IXe (Serial No. TE566), in storage at Kemble, Gloucestershire.

(Tim Felce Photo)

(Carlos Menendez Photo)

(Tim Felce Photos)

(Ronnie Macdonald Photo)

(Peter Bakema Photo)

(Alan Wilson Photo)

Supermarine Spitfire HF Mk. IXe (Serial No. TA805), Reg. No. G-PMNF, FX-M, 234 Squadron, Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, Biggin Hill, Kent.  Airworthy. Flies from the former RAF station at Biggin Hill. After the war, it was used by the South African Air Force, recovered from a scrap yard, and returned to England in the early 1990s. It wears 234 Squadron markings FX-M. (Wikipedia)

(Alan Wilson Photo)

Supermarine Spitfire HF Mk. IXe (Serial No. TD314), coded FX-P, 234 Squadron, Reg. No. G-CGYJ, Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, Biggin Hill, Kent. Airworthy. Operated by Aero Legends and maintained by the Aircraft Restoration Company (ARCo) at Duxford. This Spitfire was built as one of the last high-back Spitfires built in late 1944. It saw service in the RAF with 183 Squadron and 234 Squadron before it was delivered to the SAAF. It ended up in a scrapyard in South Africa in 1954 and was later rescued in 1969. After multiple owners over many years it ended up in Canada in 2009, which was where Aero Legends acquired it in 2011 and restored it to airworthy condition, with its first post-restoration flight on 7 December 2013. (Wikipedia)