Pilot September 2017

68 | Pilot September 2017 http://www.pilotweb.aero

Old Timers | A round-up of historic aircraft display and restoration

Battle

of Britain

Memorial

Flight

at 60

On 11 July at RAF Coningsby the RAF Battle
of Britain Memorial Flight, motto ‘Lest we
forget’, celebrated the sixtieth anniversary
of its formation. Established as the Historic
Aircraft Flight at RAF Biggin Hill with three
Spitfire PR XIXs (PM631, PS853 and PS915)
and Hurricane LF363, its name was changed
to the Battle of Britain Flight six months
later and was officially named the Battle of
Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) on 1 June

1969. The Flight made numerous base
      moves before arriving at Coningsby on 1
      March 1976. Likewise, for various reasons,
      the marks and number of Spitfires flown by
      the BBMF has changed over the six decades.
      However, two of the original Griffon-engined
      Mk XIXs PM631 and PS915 are currently on
      strength along with Spitfire IIa P7350
      (November 1968), Vb AB910 (September
      1965), LF IXc MK356 (November 1997) and
      LF XVIe TE311 (January 2001). Hurricane IIC
      PZ865 ‘Last of the many’ was presented to
      the Flight by Hawker Siddeley in March 1972.
      On 20 November 1973 Lancaster PA474
      was officially transferred to the BBMF from
      RAF Waddington, where it had been

refurbished and looked after by station

personnel. Another multi-engined heavy, the

former RAE Dakota ZA947, joined the Flight

some twenty years later. It is used for crew

training as well as being a popular display

aircraft in its own right. Like the other BBMF

aircraft, Chipmunks WK518 (since 1983) and

WG486 (since 1995) that are used for pilot

training and communications are the last

examples of the type in RAF service. These

BBMF ‘Thompson formation’ performing at RIAT