FlyPast – August 2018

August 2018 FLYPAST 69

MH434

“In the space of a second, three of
the Spitfires were hit. I immediately
led the flight away from this area. I
carefully flew under and around the
other three to ascertain what damage
they had suffered and we headed
back towards England. All three
landed OK.
“My aircraft was the only one
not hit. Because of this, I copped a
lot of rude ragging. Comments to
newcomer pilots were made like:
‘If you want to get blooded, just go
over with Bill, he knows where all
the flak is!’”
By late 1944, Bill was posted
initially to 126 Squadron and
then returned to 64 Squadron [at
Horsham St Faith, Norfolk] as a

flight commander. There he: “...
flew the Mustang III as escort for the
‘heavies’ on their long-range daylight
bombing missions. These were up to
six hours’ duration – all very tiring. I
completed 18 of these before Adolf ’s
minions threw in the towel
[May 1945].
“I expected to be repatriated to
NZ within a few months. However
apparently the RAF had not quite
finished with me. In 1946 when the
CO of 64 Squadron was demobbed,
as the senior flight commander I had
the command dropped into my lap.
“This proved to be a difficult time,
as we were being re-equipped with
the de Havilland Hornet. When that
was completed, I was posted back
to the Air Fighting Development
Squadron [AFDU had been
renamed in October 1944] then
based at West Raynham, Norfolk. I
eventually got back to NZ in 1947.”

SCHOOLBOY VOW

Having researched Adrian Swire

(Sir Adrian from 1982), owner

and pilot of MH434 from 1969 to

1983 and still a major element in

its operation, the author was guilty

of presumption. His eldest son is

Merlin Bingham Swire but he was

not named after the Rolls-Royce

V12. Adrian pointed out that I was

not alone in making this erroneous

link; Merlin Swire was named after

one of his father’s favourite birds

of prey.

Among his many business

appointments, Adrian is best known

for his time at the helm of the Hong

Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific.

His affinity with the Spitfire

goes back to his boyhood: “I was

brought up in Essex just beyond

the North Weald runway and aged

eight was a close observer of the

Battle of Britain: crashed aeroplanes

everywhere, dogfights, bombs, even

the drama of two dead Germans in

our garden who had baled out from

their Me 110 too late.”

This was probably the collision

of a pair of Bf 110s from

Zerstörergeschwader 2 during

combat with Hurricanes of 310

Squadron on September 3, 1940.

“At the heart of this was, of course,

the heroic Spitfire and I made an

unlikely vow that one day I would

fly one. So it was a schoolboy

love affair.

“The opportunity came to acquire

a ‘Spit’ after the Battle of Britain film

and one or two were being disposed

of, including MH434. I bought her,

from memory for about £12,000.

“I thereafter flew her on just under

100 separate occasions for fun, plus

positioning flights and occasionally

in formation but never for displays

as I did not feel qualified to give

safe demonstrations.

“I first flew her on November 1,

1968. Despite having about 500
      hours’ flying time and limited
      hours on anything apart from light
      aircraft, it was no problem. My final
      flight was on August 21, 1982, at
      which point I was not piloting this
      unique historic aircraft enough to be
      in responsible practice.”
      Keen to have MH434 flown in
      front of as wide an audienceas
      possible, it was Adrian who
      introduced Sqn Ldr Ray Hanna AFC*

to MH434. This was a bond that

remained up to Ray’s death, aged 77,

in 2005.

Adrian described the origins of the

association: “Ray, who I had always

admired as leader of the Red Arrows,

was fed up with a desk job, left the

RAF and was looking for an opening

to do display flying.

“I gave him a flight in MH434

and he was hooked. The rest is

history. He made his public mark on

MH434 in his breathtaking displays

at the annual Biggin Hill airshow.

“Later, I helped him to join Cathay

Pacific. As we all know Ray was

unique, both as a pilot and as a man.”

FATHER AND SON

We do not have the space to

adequately encapsulate Ray and

his son, Mark. A tribute to these

exceptional pilots from FlyPast’s

Steve Beebee follows.

“The opportunity came to acquire

a ‘Spit’ after the Battle of Britain

film and one or two were being

disposed of, including MH434. I

bought her, from memory for

about £12,000”

Left centre

Gun ports on the leading

edge.

Left

The front undercarriage.

Below left

Its elongated cannon

leave no doubt as to the

fi ghter’s potency in war.