'Spitfire in Blue' - Spitfire PR XI, PL983

The Aircraft Restoration Company's (ARCo) Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk.XI, PL983, G-PRXI, with ARCo's chief engineer, Martin Overall, at the controls at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford during their Summer Airshow on 19th June 2022.

Supermarine Spitfire PL983 is a Photo Reconnaissance (PR) variant of Reginald Mitchell's famous World War 2 fighter design. Photo Reconnaissance Spitfires carried no weaponry, relying for protection upon their speed, height, surprise and the pilots flying skills.

PL983 was built at Reading by Vickers-Armstrong's chats Hill and Aldermaston Works. It was delivered to 6 Maintenance Unit (MU) Royal Air Force (RAF) at Brize Norton on 31/10/44 and issued to No.1 Pilot's Pool (PRHQ) at Benson on 24/11/44 and transferred to 34 Wing, 2nd Tactical Air Force on 5/1/45, moving on to 4 Squadron, where it sustained battle damage on 22/2/45, and then to 2 Squadron on 6/9/45. It returned to 6 MU on 12/1/46, then went to 39 MU, Colerne on 15/7/46, back to 6 MU on 29/7/46 and then to 33 MU at Lyneham.

On 22/7/47 it was contract loaned back to Vickers Armstrong, Eastleigh for onward loan to the United States Air Attaché, Livingston Lord Satterthwaite. With the American civil registration NC74138 it was officially handed over on 27/1/48 and flown by the ex Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) pilot, Lettice Curtis from Eastleigh to Hendon, to join the U.S. Embassy Flight. Lettice Curtis flew it for an air race again on 15/8/48, to take first place in the Wiltshire Flying Club's Thruxton Air Races, and on 28/8/48 when it was 5th in the Lymph International Air Races and broke the Women's National 100km closed-circuit speed record.
Lettice Curtis' original signature appears next to the cockpit on the outer port side.

It was returned to Vickers-Armstrong Ltd and in 1950 ferried to the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden with registration G-15-109, where it was placed on external static display. A restoration to flying condition was started by a volunteer team at Duxford on 30/8/75, but the collection sold the unfinished aeroplane at Chritie's Duxford auction in April 1983.

Purchased for £110,000 by wartime French pilot Roland Fraissinet, it became the first Spitfire to be restored by Trent Aero Engineering and made its first flight in July 1984 at East Midlands Airport.

Sold on 20/6/88 to collector, Doug Arnold, it featured in the TV series ‘Piece of Cake’ but saw little air display use. Following his death in November 1992, PL983 was placed in dismantled storage until being re-assembled at North Weald prior to sale to Justin Fleming in 1999. Operated by Martin Sargeant, it was overhauled and re-flown, but sadly met with an accident at Rouen in France during June 2001. The severely damaged Spitfire was purchased by the Aircraft Restoration Company and moved to Duxford in 2003.

PL983 became the in-house project of Historic Flying Limited (HFL) and work began on the restoration in 2006. As an in-house project the restoration often had to take a back seat to customers work.

The fuselage was sent to Airframe Assemblies on the Isle of Wight while the wings were constructed by HFL. The exact Rolls Royce Merlin 70 engine which powered PL983 during the war was obtained and overhauled. The Merlin 70 has a different supercharger gearing compared to the Merlin 60, to improve the aircraft’s performance at higher altitudes. A reconnaissance wrap around clear view windscreen has been fitted to replace the armoured version fitted to the fighter variants. Following the pioneering fitment of a mock camera instillation on the Rolls Royce Spitfire PS983, HFL have also put the same lens assembly fitment into the side camera hatch on PL983.

On completion of its latest restoration, PL983 first flew again on the 18th of May, 2018.

Since 2020 the aircraft has been decorated with the phrase 'Thank U NHS' on its underside and has the names of numerous people connected with the National Health Service (NHS) on its fuselage, who have been nominated for their contribution in helping others during the Covid Pandemic . There is room for 80,000 names which are still being added for a small 'sponsorship fee' (see below). All funds raised are being given to NHS Charities.

For more information about the history of PL983 see - https://www.aircraftrestorationcompan...
AND ESPECIALLY -
https://vintageaviationecho.com/spitf...

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