Supermarine Spitfire MkIX – MH434

To many, the most famous of all the Spitfires still airworthy today, MH434 had quite the service history. Built in 1943 and starting her service with 222 Squadron, a brief period with 350 squadron and then back to 222 squadron, she was stood down in 1945 after 80 operational sorties. Next purchased by the Royal Netherlands Air Force with 322 Squuadron, she served on strafing and bombing missions in Java before a crash landed forced her into storage and repair. The Belgium Air Force was next for their turn with MH434 in the Advanced Pilot School before MH434 movie roles started coming in with appearanced in Operation Crossbow and A Bridge Too Far. In April 1983 she was bought at auction by Ray Hanna and became the founding aircraft of the Old Flying Machine Company. Put back into her original 222 Squadron markings, she went on to star in more movies and is a frequent flyer at UK Airshows.