Aviation News Editor Jamie Ewan reports from Imperial War Museum Duxford’s unique salute to chronicle the development of the indomitable Supermarine Spitfire
The Imperial War Museum (IWM) at the historic Cambridgeshire airfield of Duxford has opened its doors on a new exhibition showcasing the largest gathering of Supermarine Spitfires under one roof in modern times.
Often called “the home of the Spitfire”, Duxford was the base where the first examples to enter RAF service with 19 Squadron were delivered in 1938. Since then, the stories of both Duxford and the Spitfire have become entwined and on December 27, 2021 a new chapter was written when this latest exhibition was unveiled. Today, Duxford hosts the greatest range of different Spitfire marks anywhere in the world and until February 20, 2022, ‘Spitfire: Evolution of an Icon‘ boasts “the largest display of these historic aeroplanes.”
Eleven of the 12 Spitfires on show in Duxford’s AirSpace hangar. Clockwise from bottom left, they are Mk.I N3200 and AR213, Mk.Vbs BM597 and EP120, Mk.Vc JG891, Mk.IXb MH434, Mk.VIIIc MV154, T Mk.IX PV202, PR Mk.XI PL983, Mk.XIVe RN201 and FR Mk.XIVe MV293 – all of which are airworthy
All images KEY-Jamie Ewan
Having been kept out of public view for nearly a decade, The Fighter Collection’s Spitfire MK.22 project – PK624 – is just one of the highlights of the ‘Spitfire: Evolution of an Icon’ exhibition
