'Grace Spitfire' gets Invasion stripes

To prepare Spitfire ML407 (G-LFIX) for the coming D-Day commemorations, it has been recently adorned with Invasion stripes on both fuselage and wings. It made its first flight in the new outfit from Sywell on 8 March. The two-seat Spitfire is maintained and was painted by Air Leasing, based at said aerodrome.

The registration G-LFIX refers to the fact that the fighter was laid down as an LF Mk.IX single seater. It was flown by several Allied RAF squadrons from late 1944 until the end of the war. In 1950 ML407 was converted into a trainer, designated Spitfire IXT and delivered to the Irish Air Corps as IAC162. Declared surplus in 1968, the plane was acquired by the Strathallan Collection.

In 1979, ML407 was salvaged by the late Nick Grace and restored to flying condition. After his tragic death in 1988, his wife Carolyn decided she would learn to fly the Spitfire, as a lasting memory to her husband. Since then ML407 is commonly known as the 'The Grace Spitfire'.

After some 900 hours on ML407 Carolyn Grace retired in 2017. In December 2022, through an amazing twist of fate, Carolyn died in a carcrash just like her husband, 34 years earlier.

Photos: Nigel Harrison