Leaving the beach at Walbeswick @ 16:00 today I was delighted to be treated to a five minute air display by a spitfire. It appeared to be displaying along the seafront at Southwold next door and looked like a Mk IX variant in an overall grey colour.
The most distinctive aspect was the national markings which were of a type I have never seen before and which stood out most markedly under the wings, The normal roundel appeared to be replaced by a square patch of 3 stripes, red, white and blue with the blue outermost. The red appeared to be of a lighter hue than the normal RAF red.
I've serached the net but can find no information on which spitfire it was or why it was displaying there. If anyone can enlighten me I would be most grateful.
Glyn
Which Spitfire
Moderators: Guru's, The Ministry
Glyn,
The only one that springs to my mind would be a T9 that came out of restoration last year painted as Irish Air Corps No. 161. This is a sort of greyish green and the underwing markings are green, white and gold (orange!), although with the orange outermost. They are in the form of stripes running from the leading edge to the aileron hinge. The aeroplane also has a dayglo spinner and, I believe, is based at Duxford.
No doubt there are others here who can enlighten you further, as well as rubbishing my attempts at third party identification!
Myles
The only one that springs to my mind would be a T9 that came out of restoration last year painted as Irish Air Corps No. 161. This is a sort of greyish green and the underwing markings are green, white and gold (orange!), although with the orange outermost. They are in the form of stripes running from the leading edge to the aileron hinge. The aeroplane also has a dayglo spinner and, I believe, is based at Duxford.
No doubt there are others here who can enlighten you further, as well as rubbishing my attempts at third party identification!
Myles
Well done Myles!
I've done some more searching and I'm convinved you are right. I was some distance from the display line and relying on the MkI eyeball and failing memory, but the underwing bars are very distinctive and stood out as such.
I don't recall it looking obviously like a two seater but as I say I was not as close as I would have liked to be.
Anyway, thanks for that info, now I wonder what it was doing there? :think:
I've done some more searching and I'm convinved you are right. I was some distance from the display line and relying on the MkI eyeball and failing memory, but the underwing bars are very distinctive and stood out as such.
I don't recall it looking obviously like a two seater but as I say I was not as close as I would have liked to be.
Anyway, thanks for that info, now I wonder what it was doing there? :think:
