The Silver Spitfire at Sonegaon Air Force Station near Nagpur.

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 5

Over 74 years after a squadron of the Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF), named after Bombay, came to India, a vintage aircraft that had served with the outfit during the Second World War has arrived in India as part of a 43,000-km circumnavigation expedition, bringing alive a historic link between the Indian Air Force and the RAF.

It has also revived nostalgia among aviators of what was perhaps the most iconic fighter of that era.

The aircraft, a Supermarine Spitfire fighter that was widely used during and after the war, touched down at Jodhpur airbase today after having traversed through Kolkata and Nagpur, where the flying machine and its crew are being hosted by the IAF.

Christened the ‘Silver Spitfire’ due to its gleaming all aluminum-toned airframe, this particular aircraft bearing the number MJ271 had entered RAF service in 1943. Though it served with various RAF units, it had, for a brief period, formed part of RAF’s No. 132 ‘Bombay’ Squadron that had come to the city in January 1945 and then moved on to Celyon (now Sri Lanka).

During its military service, the aircraft had flown a total of 51 combat missions. After having donned service colours, including that of the Netherlands, for over 70 years before being “de-militarised” and having its guns removed, it was restored to its present configuration with the call-sign G-IRTY. Touted as the longest flight expedition, launched in the 75th year of the D-Day landings at Normandy during WW-II, the spitfire, flown by Steve Brook and Matt Jones, will fly to 29 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America in its attempt to bring together nations in which the aircraft had flown.

It is after about 30 years that a Spitfire has taken to the skies in India. The erstwhile Royal Indian Air Force and thereafter the IAF operated this aircraft from 1943 to 1959 in the fighter and reconnaissance roles with 15 squadrons. The Spitfire also saw action during the defence of the Kashmir Valley in 1947.

The last flight of the Spitfire in India was at the Air Force Day parade in 1989 by an aircraft from the IAF’s Vintage Flight based at Palam Air Force Station in Delhi, which maintains several old aircraft in flying condition. Bearing tail number NH-631, this aircraft is presently on display at the IAF Museum there and the Air Force is looking at restoring it to make it airworthy for flying displays. Its sister aircraft that was among a lot sold as scrap by the Indian government is now flying in private hands in the US.

In February 2003, a near-intact Spitfire that had crashed in May 1947 was recovered from a river bed near the Ambala airbase during digging work. The airframe was reconstructed and it has been on static display at the base.