Spitfire from Manchester returnes home

 

Nineteen years after it first flew into the Air and Space Hall of the Museum of Science and Industry, the Spitfire Fighter Reconnaissance aircraft is being returned to the Royal Air Force Museum London for a special exhibition.
The aircraft will go on show later this month as part of an exhibition on aerial photography – Britain from Above.

The aircraft has been on display since 1995 in the museum’s popular Air and Space Hall on loan from the RAF Museum. It has now been painstakingly and carefully dismantled over the last four days ahead of its next journey from Manchester to North London. It is hoped its departure on Sunday morning will prove less traumatic than its arrival when Manchester motorists were subjected to much chaos between the hours of 3.00pm and 7.00pm as the aircraft made its way to its temporary new home at
the Museum of Science and Industry.

The new role for the aircraft is a fantastic opportunity for one of the museum’s much cherished exhibits to tell the important story of aerial photography. Spitfires are most famous for their role in the Battle of Britain in 1940. But after the war, 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron used the Spitfire FRXIVe for photographic reconnaissance.

This variant had a clipped wing to provide more stability during the low altitude flight necessary for taking photos. Based at RAF Ringway (now Manchester Airport), the aircraft was operated by 613 Squadron from 1946 to 1948.

Britain From Above, opens at the RAF Museum, London on 22 February 2014 – 31 March 2015
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