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The greatest airplane story EVAR

Anybody who has even the slightest tinge of affection for the WW2-era piston-engine classics is going to LOVE this one.

On 26 May 1940, No 19 Squadron Leader Geoffrey Stephenson left RAF Duxford airfield in Spitfire N3200, piloting the aircraft on its first and only mission. Before the Battle of Britain, Duxford’s Spitfires were recruited in the defence of Operation Dynamo.

Dynamo was the emergency evacuation of the British Expeditionary Forces from the French port of Dunkirk by the Royal Navy, and had air cover from all available Royal Air Force aircraft – including Spitfire N3200.

Now, 82 years on, the recovered aircraft stands proudly at IWM Duxford, just a short walk from the very same hangar where the No 19 Squadron’s Spitfires were kept during World War Two. Spitfire N3200 has also been fully restored to flying condition, and is set to take flight once again at Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show on 10 and 11 September 2022.

But what happened to Spitfire N3200 in May 1940, and how did it return to its home at Duxford?

The Brylcreem Boys of No 19 Squadron were tasked with a crucial mission in the renowned Miracle of Dunkirk: flying CAS as close-pressed hordes of British, Belgian, and French footsloggers were plucked from the beach and ferried across the Channel to safety. And then…

After shooting down a Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber, Stephenson was himself shot down, crash-landing on a beach at Sangatte, near Calais. He was captured, remaining a prisoner for the rest of the war.

While Stephenson spent the war imprisoned, including a stint at the notorious Colditz Castle, Spitfire N3200 sank slowly into the sand.

Which is when events took a REALLY interesting turn.

Over 45 years later in 1986, Spitfire N3200 emerged from the sand on a French beach. Strong currents had revealed the crashed aircraft, and so began the process of excavating the wreck, which although largely intact, not much could be salvaged.

The Spitfire’s pilot, Geoffrey Stephenson, survived the war but was not able to see his aircraft dragged from the beach. He was tragically killed in America in 1954 during a test flight.

In 2000, Dr Thomas Kaplan and Simon Marsh commissioned Historic Flying Limited to restore Spitfire N3200 to its former glory. Only 4 years later, the aircraft returned to the skies.

As you can see, glory is most definitely the mot juste for this war-eagle reborn.

Spitfire!

Beautiful, no? And with such a unique story to tell, too.

(Via WeirdDave)

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4 thoughts on “The greatest airplane story EVAR

  1. Very nice. Great to see and old warbird brought back to life.

    If anyone ever has the opportunity be sure to go to the Royal Air Force Museum in Cosford. There is also one near London, but I haven’t been to that one and can’t vouch for it. But it’s probably pretty good.

    I can spend many hours in those places.

    1. Me and you both, buddy. Ever been to the Oshkosh museum, perchance? That one’s amazing. The band stopped by there on a day off years ago, if I remember right on an afternoon when they weren’t actually open to the public. The skeleton crew that was working to get things all spiffed up for their giant airshow the following week pretty much gave us the run of the place anyway, bless their hearts. It was nothing short of awesome. Walking all through the perfectly-restored Ford Trimotor, from the cockpit to aft passenger seating near the tail, was well worth stopping for all by itself.

      1. I’ve had plans to visit during the big EAA bash that occurs every year, and it always gets stymied. And that goes back to my very early 20’s. I had** the plans for the Rutan Long EZE and was planning to build one. Just a couple years ago I bought* a commercial ticket to the closest city, then reserved a car. And couldn’t go. Pic of a gaggle of EZE’s.

        So, I’m envious. And I’m not getting any younger.

        Nat Puffer, the developer of the Cozy, a canard aircraft based on the Rutan Long EZE just passed away very recently. A real pioneer in the the field of experimental aircraft.

        *Using my mileage, not cash, so no great loss

        **edit, “had” is the wrong word as I still have the plans. My USAF retired friend keeps encouraging me, but I fear that at near 70 that is not going to happen 🙂 Of course he’s a few years older and has built an EZE and a Cozy. Having flown them, they are the neatest private planes going. Not just the look of the future, they just fly like a dream.

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