6B/159 Squadron - The Spitfire - Photo Heavy

Valisk_61

Yep, there were certainly 1a's that had no underwing roundels.

Edit: Sorry for the off-topic, I found a photo I took of one of my favourite exhibits at Duxford... A recreation of a Command Centre. They have audio playing, synchronised with the Squadron status board that recreates an incoming raid on the airfield. It's really well done - it gave me goosebumps.

DoctorEvil

Great pics. Thanks for sharing. Beautiful aircraft.
Interestingly, I note that there's no roundel on the underside of the wing in one photo. Will have to check period photos or film footage to confirm if that was the case back in the day.

Omegafanman

A good spot and as mentioned above that is true to the period. It also has no individual aircraft ID. In the pic below RF is the Squadron but D is the specific aircraft. N3200 probably had less than a days flying time on the engine before it was shot down - it was not at the squadron long enough to have an ID allocated. They were desperate times and it was a numbers game as well as skill, technology and planning. There were 24 types of Spitfire so this Mk1a is at the very start of that evolution. It shows what a brilliant flying platform Reginald Mitchell created.

Valisk_61

Brilliant pics! That 1a is a beautiful specimen. Looking forward to seeing your next aircraft post.

I make the annual pilgrimage to Flying Legends every year to meet up with friends from the flight sim community from all over the world. I love Duxford. There's just so much stuff to discover.

And obviously, there's this particular establishment that is a must visit too 😀

Flatfoot

What a great experience to be up close and personal with such an artifact. The fact that they were able to rebuild and recreate that airplane from the uncovered hulk is nothing short of amazing.

The early split color underside camouflage “white and night” was a characteristic of the very early Spitfires, some of which served in the battle of France. Any existing aircraft and all new ones were repainted with a full span sky colored underside, along with prominent roundels as the summer of 1940 / Battle of Britain progressed. The fuselage roundel with the large yellow outer ring was characteristic of that period too.

I’ve been a Free Flight scale modeler since I was a kid, and I still am active building and flying these rubber powered “stick and tissue” ships. The model below was built from a set of plans drawn by Doug McHard, who I understand worked for Rolls Royce for much of his career. He had the ability to maximally capture the subtle shape of the Spitfire in a relative minimum number of balsa sticks. Pictured below is my Mk. 1A, doing its thing. It is a tribute to the ship flown by Eric Locke, the highest scoring RAF ace during the Battle of Britain. He was lost in a later mark Spitfire in 1941.

DoctorEvil

Found this one image. A bit hard to see but it does confirm what you're saying.

Flatfoot

What a great experience to be up close and personal with such an artifact. The fact that they were able to rebuild and recreate that airplane from the uncovered hulk is nothing short of amazing.

The early split color underside camouflage “white and night” was a characteristic of the very early Spitfires, some of which served in the battle of France. Any existing aircraft and all new ones were repainted with a full span sky colored underside, along with prominent roundels as the summer of 1940 / Battle of Britain progressed. The fuselage roundel with the large yellow outer ring was characteristic of that period too.

I’ve been a Free Flight scale modeler since I was a kid, and I still am active building and flying these rubber powered “stick and tissue” ships. The model below was built from a set of plans drawn by Doug McHard, who I understand worked for Rolls Royce for much of his career. He had the ability to maximally capture the subtle shape of the Spitfire in a relative minimum number of balsa sticks. Pictured below is my Mk. 1A, doing its thing. It is a tribute to the ship flown by Eric Locke, the highest scoring RAF ace during the Battle of Britain. He was lost in a later mark Spitfire in 1941.

DoctorEvil

That model looks so realistic I thought for a second that it was a real Spitfire. Well done!