NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE
6 FLYPAST May 2015U S S p i t fi r e
‘coming home’ for summer‘coming home’ for summer
John Sessions’ Historic Flight
Foundation, based at Paine
Field near Seattle, is shipping
Supermarine Spitfi re IXe SL
(N633VS) from the US to the UK
to appear at several shows this
summer.The displays listed begin with
Duxford’s Flying Legends and RIAT at
Fairford in July, and should include
an appearance at Humberside in
August. It is also scheduled to visit
the Goodwood Revival and other
events in September.The Spitfi re, coded JT-10,
wears its original post-war
Czechoslovakian Air Force scheme.
Based at Plana in 1946, it was the
personal mount of Karel Posta.
After later service in Israel and
Burma, it was restored at Duxfordby Historic Flying Limited, and left
for the US in 2010. It made its fi rst
post-restoration fl ight from Paine
Field in the capable hands of John
Romain in October of that year.
http://www.historicfl ight.org
MIKE SHREEVESpitfi re IXe SL633 ‘JT-10’ fl ying in the US. MIKE SHREEVEMemorial Flight
Spitfi re returns to
Coningsby
The RAF Battle of Britain Memorial
Flight’s Supermarine Spitfi re Mk.Vb
AB910 returned to its base at
Coningsby, Lincs, on February 27
following an extensive refurbishment
and repaint at Duxford’s Aircraft
Restoration Company.
The Spitfi re now fl ies in the colours
of BM327 ‘SH-F’, a fi ghter fl own in
1944 by 64 Squadron’s Flt Lt Tony
Cooper. Now aged 99, Tony was one
of the unit’s fl ight commanders at
the time of D-Day. He named hisaircraft Peter John I after his son.
Following its overhaul at Duxford,
where it had been since October 2012,
AB910 made a successful test fl ight on
February 9 this year. The BBMF’s Sqn
Ldr Dunc Mason was at the controls
for the fi ghter’s return fl ight to
Coningsby. Though representative of
BM327 it continues to carry the AB
serial on the tail band. Douglas Dakota
ZA947 also made its fi rst engine runs
of the year on February 27.
http://www.raf.mod.uk/bbmf
Sqn Ldr Dunc Mason taxying Supermarine
Spitfi re Vb AB910 at Coningsby on February
2 7. KEVIN MAPENew markings
f o r fl y i n g
Bronco
The Bronco Demo Team has recently
applied special Royal Bavarian Air
Force titles to the forward fuselage
of its Rockwell OV-10B Bronco 99+
(G-ONAA), along with a Bavarian fl ag
on the external fuel tank.
The aircraft wore similar
markings when based near Munich
on deployment with the German
Army. The team celebrates its fi fth
anniversary in 2015, a year that will
also mark 50 years since the fi rst
fl ight of the Bronco on July 16, 1965.
The Bronco Demo Team was created
in 2010 by a group of enthusiasts,
with the main goal being to maintainat least one fl ying example of the
‘breed’.
The team currently operates the
ex-German Air Force OV-10B from
its base in Belgium, while another
example is undergoing restoration
and is expected to fl y later this year.
The machine will appear at a UK
Bronco Fan Day scheduled to take
place at Cotswold Airport, Glos, on
May 2. This event is being held in co-
operation with Cotswold Airport, which
is hosting its Spring Fly-In on the
same day, the Bristol Britannia XM
Preservation Society and the Fly2Help
charity. http://www.broncodemoteam.comRockwell OV-10B Bronco 99+18 fl ying in new
Royal Bavarian Air Force markings. BDT6-7_News_fpSBB.indd 6 18/03/2015 11: