MH434
60 FLYPAST August 2018
THE PERFECT
SPITFIRESPITFIRESPITFIRESPITFIRE
I
t was one of several on his list
for the day, each needed to be
subjected to the same rigorous
assessment before it was released
ready for combat. Outside the giant
factory at Castle Bromwich,
Birmingham, on
August 7, 1943,
Vickers
test
pilot
Alex Henshaw put the throttle
forward on Supermarine Spitfire
Mk.IX MH434 and took it aloft.
Six days later, it was delivered to 222
Squadron at Hornchurch, Essex.
Seventy-five years later, MH434
is still going strong and is much-
loved. It has been the flagship of the
Duxford-based Old Flying Machine
Company (OFMC) since 1983.
Some corks are bound to be popped
to celebrate this milestone later in
the year.
When MH434 became a British
civilian in 1963 it was part of a
dwindling population of suchveterans. The term
‘warbird’ was not in wide
circulation. Today, there are far
more Spitfires airworthy and more
destined to take to the skies.
There are older variants flying
and others that are also 75 this year,
but it is undeniable that MH434
has a special place in the hearts of
pilots and enthusiasts. Let’s see what
this incredible machine means to
some of the many who have been
associated with it.WARTIME PILOT
Now 99 and living in Australia,
New Zealander Alfred William ‘Bill’
Burge flew MH434 in 1943-1944
and it made a lasting impression on
him. During 2012, he conducted
a lively email correspondence withOFMC about his
wartime career.
In his absorbing writing was
a caveat, he did not wish to detail
combat, believing that it was an
experience to be endured, but not
shared. He summarised his Spitfire
experience as “several defensive
sorties” and 124 offensive operations:
“into Adolf ’s patch of sky”.
After basic training on Tiger
Moths in New Zealand, Bill
sailed to Canada where he gained
his ‘wings’. In Britain he was
familiarised with the crowded
airspace and procedures at 17
(Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit,
Watton, Norfolk, on Miles Masters
before moving to Aston Down,
Gloucestershire, for combat training
on Spitfire Is and IIs with 52
Operational Conversion Unit.
His first frontline posting was
to 64 Squadron, commanded by
Australian Sqn Ldr Tony Gaze. The
unit, the first to take delivery ofSPITFIRESPITFIRESPITFIRE
Top right
Spitfi re IX G-ASJV at
Elstree in September- It wears the civil air
ensign on the fi n and, just
below the windscreen,
the black outline of a
wildebeest – the badge
of 222 Squadron. KEC-ROY
BONSER
Above
Stu Goldspink fl ying one
of the UK airshow scene’s
most popular warbirds,
Supermarine Spitfi re IX
MH434. ALL DARREN HARBAR
UNLESS NOTED