Kiwi Battle of Britain aircraft

[Dave Homewood]

Very nice indeed.

[planecrazy]

Like the all blue scheme reminds me of the prototype Spitfire and the photo
recognisance versions. Can you tell us more on the scheme and the pilot Keith
Lawrence please?

Thank you.........

[markrogers]

Very well done!

[kiwichappers]

Although the 'sky blue' scheme for P7499 is speculative there is evidence that tips the balance from a maybe to likely. 421 Flight was formed with Hurricanes from 66 squadron hence the the unusual L- Z flight code. They were established to report on the high flying Bf109 Jabo raids in the later stages of the Battle of Britain. In October 1940 421 Flight received some specially adapted Mk.IIa Spitfires with the more powerful Merlin XII, tear drop reconnaissance canopy, the latest radio sets and armament reduced to only the inner most machine gun of each wing.

Two consecutively numbered Spitfires P7498 and P7499 delivered to the flight, the former is reliably reported to have been finished in a single colour, most likely the elusive early WW 2 sky blue. It is thought both these aircraft were similarly finished and since all the other Battle of Britain Spitfires Keith flew that I'm making are dark green and dark earth the overall sky blue finish feels like a credible interesting variation.

There is a summary of Keith Lawrence's RAF career on Wikipedia, look here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Lawrence_(RAF_officer) This entry is credible as it has been checked and edited by Keith and his son Geoff.