An example of the U.K. Royal Air Force’s most iconic fighter, the Spitfire, flew in a series of air-to-air formations around the United Kingdom over the last two weeks, part of the 90th anniversary celebrations for the aircraft, which became legendary on account of its service in World War II. The nine-leg flight around the United Kingdom was completed Friday.
The Spitfire in question, a two-seater, was painted blue to represent the first prototype, K5054. The original K5054 first flew on March 5, 1936, and was piloted by Capt. Joseph “Mutt” Summers. It took off from Eastleigh Aerodrome, now Southampton Airport.
Popular history records that Summers uttered the words “I don’t want anything touched” when he climbed down from the cockpit. If he did say those words, it was almost certainly an instruction to the ground crew to leave the plane as it was before he took it up for his next test sortie. But the legend stuck.
Regardless, so promising was the new fighter that the Air Ministry placed a production order less than three months later, with trials still incomplete.
Eventually, more than 20,000 production examples would be built, and the Spitfire would be considered among the best all-round fighters of World War II, in which it played a key role from start to finish. The Royal Air Force didn’t fly its last operational Spitfire sortie until 1954, in Malaya.
The blue Spitfire seen in the accompanying images is actually a Mk IX, BS410, which crashed in May 1943, was recovered and rebuilt in the 2000s, and was converted into a two-seater, allowing for a passenger. It is currently privately owned.
Starting on April 7, the K5054-lookalike Spitfire joined up in the air with a host of modern types.
For the first flight, the Royal Air Force’s most advanced fighter, the F-35B Lightning, flew in formation with the Spitfire. This came just a matter of weeks after British F-35Bs shot down their first enemy aircraft — hostile drones over Jordan, during the conflict in the Middle East.
The formation flight involved two frontline F-35Bs from RAF Marham and two preserved Spitfires.
The other Spitfire, a Mk Vb, AB910, also saw combat in World War II, including covering the D-Day landings in Normandy. It is now part of the storied Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF).
For the first leg of its flight, the K5054-lookalike Spitfire flew from its birthplace of Southampton Airport to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, still a major fighter hub.
While the Spitfire and F-35 could hardly be more different in terms of performance and technologies, both have served the Royal Air Force as its premier frontline fighter. Like its forebear, the F-35B is also now proven in aerial combat, albeit against drones.
On March 6 this year, the Royal Air Force announced that an F-35B pilot had carried out the aircraft’s first combat shootdown in British hands, intercepting and destroying two hostile drones during an operation over Jordan the same week.
“The pilot, flying alongside two Typhoons from RAF Akrotiri, detected the drones on radar and engaged them with two ASRAAM missiles,” the Royal Air Force said in its statement. The pilot, although assigned to No. 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, was serving with the Royal Navy, reflecting the joint nature of the U.K. F-35B force.
The incident followed a separate attack in which a small, low‑speed drone struck RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus after evading base defenses, which were subsequently much enhanced.
Flight two, out of RAF Coningsby, on April 8, saw the Spitfire fly alongside Royal Air Force Red Arrows Hawks and a Phenom T1 trainer.
The third flight, out of RAF Leuchars, on April 9, involved a Royal Air Force P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
Flight four, on April 10, brought the Spitfire to Scotland, where it flew out of RAF Lossiemouth with a pair of Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters.
Remaining in Scotland, the fifth flight, on April 13, out of Prestwick Airport, teamed the Spitfire with a Royal Air Force Hawk T2 trainer.
Flight six, on April 14, out of RAF Valley, Wales, involved the Spitfire and two current Royal Air Force training types: a Texan T1 turboprop and a Jupiter HT1 helicopter.
Flight seven, on April 15, out of MOD St Athan, provided a formation with two QinetiQ Pilatus PC-21 trainers.
Flight eight, on April 16, out of MOD St Mawgan, involved a Royal Air Force A400M transport.
For the ninth and final flight, on April 17, the Spitfire departed Exeter Airport and met up alongside the BBMF’s Dakota as it flew back to Southampton Airport.
While not unique, the Royal Air Force doesn’t regularly pair current and historic fighters for displays in the way the U.S. Air Force does with its Heritage Flight. This puts together formations of modern jets flying with fighters from the World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War eras, such as the P-51 Mustang and F-86 Sabre.
This makes the series of Spitfire flights all the more special. On each of these flights, one lucky (and deep-pocketed) passenger was in the backseat of the Spitfire, having bid for the chance to do so. The money earned will go to support service-related charities.
For the rest of us, we can enjoy some of the spectacular imagery captured as this special Spitfire completed its countrywide odyssey.