New old livery for Spitfire MV293

Early December 2023, Spitfire FR Mk. XIVe MV293 (6S/649205) was repainted at Sywell Aerodrome in the original colourscheme it wore when it was flown by the Indian Air Force. It was delivered to the IAF as MV293, code ‘Z’ on 31 December 1947. After its service life the Spit was used as instructional airframe T-20 by the IAF Technical College, Jalahalli AB.

The famous Doug Arnold of Warbirds of Great Britain Ltd recovered the plane in India and shipped it to the UK. It arrived in Blackbushe in December 1978 and its restoration was taken up there. The registration G-BGHB was reserved but not taken up, it became G-SPIT in March 1979.

Arnold sold the project to Stephen Grey in October 1985 but it took The Fighter Collection some seven years before G-SPIT was finished. It made its first post restoration flight on 14 August 1992 as silver MV293/’OI-C’. In 2000 the silver colours were painted over with the camouflage of the Spitfire flown by British fighter ace James ‘Johnnie’ Johnson: ‘MV268/JE-J’.

In July 2016 the plane was registered to Anglia Aircraft Restorations Ltd. which operated it until May 2022. Fighter Aviation Engineering Ltd then became the Spit’s new owner.

After its repaint, G-SPIT returned to Duxford where it is one of the eyecatchers in a thematic exhibition called ‘Spies in the skies’. Being a Griffon engine powered late version, MV293 is a true representative of the final piston engine Fighter-Reconnaissance (FR) Spitfire.

Photo: Nigel Harrison