WHAT MAKES SPITFIRE MH434 SO SPECIAL? KEN ELLIS FINDS OUT
Stu Goldspink flying one of the UK airshow scene’s most popular warbirds, Supermarine Spitfire IX MH434.
ALL DARREN HARBAR UNLESS NOTED
Spitfire IX G-ASJV at Elstree in September 1963. It wears the civil air ensign on the fin and, just below the windscreen, the black outline of a wildebeest – the badge of 222 Squadron.
KEC-ROY BONSER
It 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.
