My new Spitfire ;-)

[baz62]

Nearly forgot. I now own a MK IX Spitfire...........................model.
A diecast one from Corgi.
It represents the Spitfire flown by Canadian Squadron Leader 'Jack' Charles CO of 611 Squadron at the time of getting the 1000th kill of a squadron based at Biggin Hill. He actually shared this with one other namely 'Rene' Mouchotte CO of 340 Squadron. As three kills were made at around the same time noone could say for sure who got the 1000th one. So for the Press Squadron Leader Charles had his Spitfire prop blades marked 999 and 1000.
Its a very nice model although the markings(and the blurb on the box) indicate Charles as a Wing Commander as it wears the WingCo pennant on the port side.
Interesting too is that at the time Wing Commander 'Al' Deere was flying with the Canadians and confirmed one of the kills he made!

More info here: www.acesofww2.com/Canada/aces/charles.htm

[Dave Homewood]

Nice looking die cast model Baz. I have put this thread into the appropriate board for you.

[baz62]

Jan 3, 2010 15:20:15 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Nice looking die cast model Baz. I have put this thread into the appropriate board for you.

Thanks I wasn't sure about putting it in here since all I did was take it out of the box! The model also comes with U/C legs so you can display the Spit on her wheels.

[angelsonefive]

Hi baz62,

Lovely model.
Not trying to rain on your parade, but that Spitfire could not be the one that Jack Charles was flying when he scored the 1,000th Biggin Hill victory.
The simple reason being, that on the 15th of May, 1943 PT396 was not in existence.
PT396 was built at Castle Bromwich in late June '44 and delivered to 45 Maintenance Unit on the 1st of July that year.
The Spitfire that Charles did fly on the 15th of May '43 would not have had invasion stripes of course, and probably would have worn the 611 Sqdn ID code of ZY-.
Those quibbles of mine aside, your model is a fine representation of the noble Spitfire, and I know you will enjoy owning it.

[Dave Homewood]

Not the first innaccurate Corgi colour scheme. Did you see the RNZAF Corsair they did depicting Johnny Gibson's machine? Laughable colour-wise.

If this Spitfire was not operational till July 1944 wouldn't the top stripes have been removed by then?

[baz62]

Actually I was wondering about that myself so I did some research and he was actually an acting Wing Commander in August 1943 so the colour scheme is accurate as far as the pennant goes. However the 1000th kill and the Prop blades were done in chalk in May 1943 more than a year before D-Day and the Invasion stripes! So basically I think the markings are correct for just after D-Day but the prop blades would not have been marked as shown. Bit of a mish mash.

This website was my source:
www.acesofww2.com/Canada/aces/charles.htm

[angelsonefive]

Jan 3, 2010 19:37:59 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Not the first innaccurate Corgi colour scheme. Did you see the RNZAF Corsair they did depicting Johnny Gibson's machine? Laughable colour-wise.

If this Spitfire was not operational till July 1944 wouldn't the top stripes have been removed by then?

Dave,

Orders to paint the D-Day stripes on Allied aircraft were given on the eve of Operation Overlord, that is on the evening of the 5th of June '44.
The order to remove them came 10 weeks later, though many units seem to have retained the stripes on the undersides of their aircraft after that.

[Dave Homewood]

OK, thanks. I thought the order to remove had come earlier. My mistake.

[baz62]

Jan 3, 2010 18:09:19 GMT 12 angelsonefive said:

Hi baz62,

Lovely model.
Not trying to rain on your parade, but that Spitfire could not be the one that Jack Charles was flying when he scored the 1,000th Biggin Hill victory.
The simple reason being, that on the 15th of May, 1943 PT396 was not in existence.
PT396 was built at Castle Bromwich in late June '44 and delivered to 45 Maintenance Unit on the 1st of July that year.
The Spitfire that Charles did fly on the 15th of May '43 would not have had invasion stripes of course, and probably would have worn the 611 Sqdn ID code of ZY-.
Those quibbles of mine aside, your model is a fine representation of the noble Spitfire, and I know you will enjoy owning it.

Cheers,
Ray.

Thanks Ray. Yes I thought I smelt a rat when Dave mentioned the D-Day stripes and when I did a little research I found that he shot down the 1000th (shared) in 1943!!
They should have left the propblades bare and just left the blurb as part of his history!