Page 32 Daily Mail, Thursday, August 1, 2019
Y
ou don’t have to be an aviation
expert to spot that immortal shape
a mile away — or recognise an engine
sound that can still reduce grown
men to tears. But even lifelong
Spitfire enthusiasts have never seen
anything quite like the specimen in which
I am sitting.
Because this Spitfire Mk IX has no camouflage or
squadron markings. Aside from the union flag under
the tail and the call sign — G-IRTY — this
immaculate old war-bird is naked, polished like a
newly minted coin.
The official record will note that this aircraft is
MJ 271, veteran of more than 50 missions over enemy
territory in the last two years of World War II.
Henceforth, however, it will be remembered as ‘the
Silver Spitfire’.
Even more remarkable than its livery (or lack of
one) is what it is about to attempt. For at the grand
old age of 76, this aircraft is about to become the first
Spitfire to fly right round the world.
Next Monday, ‘G-IRTY’ will take off from Good-
wood in Sussex with an escort of RAF Typhoons
and head for Scotland, the
Faroes and thence over the
Atlantic on a tour of the
globe covering 30 countries
and 27,000 miles.
It would have been a
considerable challenge had
anyone tried it in 1943, when
this plane came off the
Vickers Supermarine produc-
tion line in Castle Bromwich
and went straight into action
against the enemy.
To attempt this sort of jour-
ney more than seven decades
later, though, seems bonkers.
For having survived a
wartime crash-landing, MJ 271
spent most of its existence in
a museum, before finally being
restored to airworthy condi-
tion in the past few weeks.
Yet the two pilots who will
undertake this record-
breaking mission cannot wait
to start.
‘We are not going to be in a
rush and we are going to enjoy
it,’ says Steve Boultbee Brooks,
58, the oxford-based property
developer who has spent a
sizeable chunk of his personal fortune on
acquiring and restoring two Spitfires. He
has also set up a flying academy for
people who want to experience the thrill of
flying one.S
TEVE already holds an aviation
record as the first person to fly a
helicopter from pole to pole and
has no qualms about crossing
oceans in a plane that has hardly changed
since the day it shot up a Junkers W 34
over Holland.
‘We are only going to fly in daylight and in
nice weather,’ Steve adds, when we meet
for tea in London. ‘And if we get delayed,
we get delayed.’
While speed is not of the essence, recog-
nition certainly is. The point of the exer-
cise is to show off a historic piece of British
engineering to the world, though there is
to be nothing jingoistic about this trip.
Hence the decision to strip the plane of
all its military markings and fly it in what
might be called its birthday suit. Even the
sponsor is impeccably neutral — IWC
watches, of Switzerland.
‘The plane had been sitting in a Dutch
museum for years until that merged witht of RAF Typhoonsg l - t a ys,
y
aHOW I SEE IT
by Robert
Hardman
SILV E
DAZZLING
another museum. Eventually, it was offered
to us and so we started thinking what we
might do with it. That’s when we had the
idea of flying round the world,’ says Matt
Jones, 46, from Devon, a professional pilot
who co-founded the Boultbee Flight
Academy with Steve.
Their initial idea was to convert the
single-seater to a two-seater configuration
for the journey but they both decided that
this would diminish the authenticity of the
plane. So they will take turns, with one
man at the controls while the other flies
alongside in a modern support plane which
will act as a travelling workshop-cum-res-
cue aircraft in the event of an incident.
There is no Spitfire ejector seat and
the only way out — as in wartime —
is to remove the cockpit canopy and
either climb out or fall out attached to
a parachute.
Very early on, the two men hit on thenotion of a silver Spitfire for
several reasons.
First, the aircraft was in pretty
good condition — with the engine intact
— and therefore only needed restoration
work, not rebuilding.
‘We wanted to show it off exactly as it
was, dents and all,’ says Matt. ‘If you cover
an aircraft in modern paint, it tends to
look brand new and we didn’t want that.’
Since announcing the project, they have
been inundated with invitations from
embassies and air shows. ‘It’s funny but
even after all these years, people all over
the world are still thrilled to see a Spitfire
— and quite a few countries owe it their
freedom, too,’ says Steve.
Prince Albert of Monaco has asked them
to fly over his palace in Monte Carlo. The
King of Bahrain wants them to drop in.
They have also been invited to join the
Red Arrows in a fly-past over the Canadian
Parliament in ottawa.
When a u.S. Air Force fighter squadron in
Nevada learned that the Spitfire was due
to be passing through their patch, amessage arrived at the project’s Goodwood
HQ. ‘They said if we didn’t stop in Las
Vegas and say hello, we’d be shot down!’
laughs Matt.
There is also a strong diplomatic
argument for the Silver Spitfire.
Flying over some foreign territories in an
unfamiliar plane with camouflage
paintwork and military markings can be
risky, especially if there are trigger-happy
militias down below. Every gunport has
been sealed up for the same reason. This
Spitfire must be seen to come in peace.
The silver exterior is also a tribute to a
great pilot who died last year.
In 2015, Matt took part in a special fly-
past to commemorate the 75th anniver-
sary of the Battle of Britain. He was
supposed to be flying the Boultbee
Academy’s two-seater Spitfire with Prince
Harry in the back. However, following a
last-minute problem with another aircraft,
the Prince gave up his seat to Wing Com-
mander Tom Neil, a Battle of Britain ace,
twice decorated with the Distinguished
Flying Cross and the first man to land a‘Even on an overcast morning, you want to
reach for your sunglasses when you see her’
V1