#1446 Spitfire and Hurricane
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Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1446 - Hurricane IIc, LF363 and Spitfire IIa, P7350.
Hurricane LF363 was built at the Hawker factory at Langley near Slough. It first flew in January 1944 and is amongst the last Hurricanes to enter service with the RAF. LF363 became a founding aircraft of the Historic Aircraft Flight, the forerunner of the BBMF, when it was formed in 1957. For the 2017 display season LF363 is painted with new temporary code letters commemorating two of the surviving Battle of Britain Spitfire pilots, known as 'The Few': On the left-hand/port side the code letters 'GN-F' are the code letters worn by the 249 Squadron Hurricanes flown by Tom Neil during the Battle of Britain, P3616 and V7313. Tom flew V7313 on 61 sorties between 1st September and 17th October 1940. Tom was credited with a wartime total of 12 confirmed 'kills' plus 4 shared. He was awarded a DFC and Bar, and an AFC. The 'SD-A' code letters on LF363's right-hand/starboard side are the code letters of one of the 501 Squadron Hurricanes flown by Paul Farnes during the Battle of Britain. He flew this aircraft, P2760, from the official start of the battle on 10th July 1940 to 14th September. Paul was credited with a wartime total of 8 'kills' (including 2 shared) 2 'probables' and 11 damaged and was awarded the DFM.
Spitfire Mk IIa P7350 was the fourteenth of 11,939 Spitfires ordered and built at the Castle Bromwich ‘Shadow’ factory. The making of the movie 'Battle of Britain' saw Spitfire P7350 emerge from 20 years of dormancy when it was selected to fly in the film. After filming for the movie was complete, P7350 was allocated to the Battle of Britain Flight, being flown to the Flight's base at Coltishall by Squadron Leader Tim Mills on 5 November 1968. The only airworthy Spitfire from the Battle of Britain, a much admired survivor and precious artifact of British aviation history and of the RAF’s wartime heritage. For the 2017 display season P7350 will be painted with new temporary code letters commemorating two of the surviving Battle of Britain Spitfire pilots, some of 'The Few': On the left-hand/port side, the code letters 'QJ-G' are those of Geoffrey Wellum’s second 92 Squadron Spitfire. Geoffrey was one of the youngest pilots in the Battle of Britain, aged just 19 when he first went into combat in 1940. He was officially credited with three enemy aircraft destroyed, four 'probables' and several damaged during the Battle. The code letters 'QV-E' worn on P7350's right-hand/starboard side commemorate the 19 Squadron Spitfire flown by Ken Wilkinson.