Spitfire IX Pair MH434 & MH415 - Duxford Battle of Britain Airshow 2023

A paired aerobatic display by Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXb's, MH434 flown by Brian Smith and MH415, flown by Brian's son, Nick Smith, at Duxford on the first day of the Duxford Battle of Britain Airshow 2023.
MH415:-
Built at Castle Bromwich as a LF Mk.IXB it was delivered to 129 (Mysore) Squadron, RAF Hornchurch in August 1943. During October it was transferred to 222 (Natal) Squadron, also at Hornchurch.
It went to the Air Fighting Development Unit, RAF Wittering on 2/01/1944, staying until late September, when it was transferred to 129 Squadron. On 24/9/1943, it had a Fw190 victory north-west of Amiens in France while being flown by F/O Desmond Ruchwaldy, during a mission to escort 12 Mitchell bombers detailed to attack the Amiens Marshalling Yards. It flew in combat with 129 and 222 Squadrons, covering 55 missions. In January 1945 it was modified and went to 6 Maintenance Unit (MU), RAF Brize Norton for storage. On 6/02/1945 it was overhauled and in late May went to 9 MU, RAF Cosford for storage.
In August 1946 it was one of 26 Spitfires sold to the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). In May 1947 it was shipped to the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and given the Dutch serial H-108, changing to H-65 and serving with 322 Squadron in Java. It was returned to Holland when the Dutch withdrew, stored at Rotterdam, overhauled by Fokker NV and sold to the Belgian Air Force (BAF) in April 1943, where it was given serial SM-40 until retirement in 1956.
in June 1956 it went to Belgian company COGEA at Ostend, for target towing, registered OO-ARD. In 1961 it was in the movie 'The Longest Day', painted in 340 (Ile de France) Squadron codes, 'GW-B'. In September 1961 it appeared in the RAF Battle of Britain Air Display at Biggin Hill after it had been bought by Rousseau Aviation, Dinhard, France.
In 1966 it was bought by Gp.Cpt. Hamish Mahaddie, for the movie production, 'The Battle of Britain'. Registered G-AVDJ, it was delivered to the film unit at RAF Henlow in early 1967, where it was stored until 29/11/1967. Ownership transferred to Spitfire Productions on 24/01/1968. A 90 gallon drop tank was fitted and it was flown to Tablada Air Base, Spain. It flew back to England, via RAF Manston on 11/05/1968, with other aircraft involved in the film. On 14 May it arrived at RAF North Weald and was later also used at Debden, Duxford and Hawkinge. During August it and others were flown to Montpellier, France for better filming weather.
At the finish of filming one of the pilots, Wilson 'Connie' Edwards, accepted MH415 and some other aircraft in lieu of payment and MH415 was shipped to Houston, Texas arriving in January 1969. It was registered N415MH and repainted in RAF 222 Squadron colours, coded 'ZD-E'.

MH434 was ordered and built over the same period at Castle Bromwich.
Early in August 1943 its first flight was by Alex Henshaw, Chief Test Pilot for Supermarine.
By 19 August it was in with RAF 222 Squadron. It was allocated to Flt Lt Henry Lardner-Burke, DFC. On 27/8/1943 over the St Omer area of France, while escorting B-17 bombers, Lardner-Burke, in MH434, shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw190 and damaged a second. On 5/09/1943 he shot down another Fw190 over Nieuwpoort, Belgium, and on the 8/9/1943 had a half share downing a Messerschmitt Bf109 over north France.

In early 1944 it was transferred to 350 Squadron, Hornchurch, before returning to 222 Squadron in March. It was assigned to Flt Sgt Alfred ‘Bill’ Burge. He flew 12 missions in MH434 before the Squadron’s Mk IX's were exchanged. Later, MH434 went to 84 Group Support Unit and then on to 349 Squadron. After over 80 missions MH434 stood down in March 1945.

On 19 /02/1947 it was also sold to the RNLAF, accompanying MH415 on the same shipment to Indonesia, where it was given codes H-105, later changing to H-68, with 322 Squadron RNLAF. A 'belly landing' due to hydraulic failure on 7/05/1949, grounded her. After repair and with the Dutch withdrawal, it was shipped to Holland, overhauled and flew again on 10/03/1953, before sale to the Belgian Air Force, coded SM-41.

On 26/03/1956 it also was sold to COGEA, as OO-ARA on the Belgian civil register, based at Ostend for target-towing, until 3/7/1963 when it was bought and moved to Britain by airline pilot Tim Davies, registered G-ASJV.

November 1967 saw it go to Spitfire Productions with Gp. Cpt. Mahaddie for the film 'Battle of Britain'. On 2/02/1972 it was sold to Sir Adrian Swire, Cathay Pacific Airways chairman, and put into a 1944 camouflage scheme with his initials AC-S, as squadron codes. It had many film and TV appearances, including 'A Bridge Too Far.'
In April 1983 it was auctioned for £260,000, to Nalfire Aviation Ltd, a consortium led by Ray Hanna , becoming one of the Old Flying Machine Company's founding aircraft. It was repainted in its old RAF 222 Squadron markings as 'ZD-B', in which it continues to fly save for occasional changes for film work.

Video and Audio content is
Copyright © High Flight