Spitfire SL633 sold to Australia

Vickers Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk.IXe SL633 (CBAF IX.571) has been sold to a new owner in Australia. The fighter, registered as N633VS is currently still owned by John Sessions with the Historic Flight Foundation and based at Felts Field, Spokane (WA).

It suffered a landing accident on 7 July 2023, during which SL633 sustained damage to the propeller, landing gear and underside of the aircraft. Considering the degree of damage repairs would surely have been possible but Sessions obviously decided to sell the plane ‘as is’.

This could well be the result of Sessions’ financial/legal troubles. The Historic Flight Foundation museum closed in August of this year. This nonprofit Historic Flight Foundation is one of six entities owned by Sessions that were named in a lawsuit brought by a bank, this summer.

Spitfire SL633 is a historic machine that has served with the Royal Air Force, the Czechoslovakian Air Force, the fledgling Israeli Air Force, and finally the Burmese Air Force. It wears the markings of the Czechoslovakian Air Force as JT-10 of the 4th Air Regiment.

Photo Gert Jan Mentink