The graceful and majestic yet potent Supermarine Spitfire, designed by Reginald J. Mitchell, first flew on March 5th, 1936 and become operational in August 1938. Nineteen different Marks and 52 variations of Spitfire’s were produced between 1936 and 1948, totalling 22,759 (of which 2,408 were Seafires). The Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX, otherwise known as type …
Article by Phil Scallan. The Spitfire Mk XVI and why was SAAF 5518/TE213, an MK IX HFIX, often mistaken for one? The late production MK IX Spitfires are externally very similar to the MK XVI Spitfire. Still, those late production MK IX’s fitted with the Merlin266 built by the US Packard Motor Company were designated …
Article written by Keith Pratt outlining the reason for his interest in the Spitfire. My grandfather was a WW1 war hero (twice decorated). He died in 1937 before WWII whilst injecting himself with “Opium”, his long term treatment for pain relief due to mustard gas poisoning. This left Grannie seven children and when I add …
Proposed Colour Schemes for S/N 5518 Article by Willie (Buskruit) Burger – Velddrif, 1st June 2016 A fascinating look at the history of Spitfire 5518 through the years. Spitfire TE 213 came off the Castle Bromwich production line in May 1945; at the very end of the Second World War. It was placed in storage …
Despite having had no electricity or water for several months at the air force base due to infrastructure repairs, progress has been made. The Spitfire Fuselage: The fuselage is now stripped out except for the cabling and piping systems. Plans are in place to move forward, and one could add that we now have a …
Johnnie Johnson, leading World War II Fighter Ace, a veteran of the Korean War, visited the SAAF Museum at AFB Swartkop in February 1997. Johnnie Johnson attained the position of Air Vice Marshall before retiring from the Royal Air Force. As a pilot during WWII, he attained a confirmed 38 ‘kills’.
