Aviation Center Australia

This scale replica Spitfire is highly accurate, and is singled out by its novel markings and paint scheme. The standard camouflage scheme has been painted over with the special black and white stripes that were used to identify Allied aircraft during the Normandy campaign. 

About this title:
234 Squadron of the RAF had the distinctive motto of, "We spit fire and death". Highly appropriate for a squadron that flew Spitfires during WWII! This fighter squadron fought in the Battle of Britain, and with its Spitfires, it covered the Allied invasion beaches in Normandy.

The Mark V Spitfire was essentially a Mk. I or II fuselage strengthened to accommodate a Merlin 45 engine, and it was the most widely produced Spitfire variant of the war. Meanwhile, the "Vb" designation referred to a fighter with four .303 machine guns and two 20mm cannons.

An excellent release, this mighty Spitfire showcases one of the aircraft that brilliantly led the defense of Malta in 1942.

About Takali 1942:
British submarines and planes operating from the island fortress of Malta had sent thousands of tons of Axis ships to the bottom of the Mediterranean. Axis air forces were employed to neutralize the island's defences to make way for an invasion under the code name Operation HERKULES. The Axis aerial attacks reached severe levels after 21 March 1942. Outnumbered and short of supplies, the island's British defenders clung on, with a series of deliveries of new Spitfires coming at critical times. In the end it was the Spitfires who saved the day and turned the tide, with the German offensive faltering after mid-May. In total, 500 Axis planes were destroyed or severely damaged, most of these accounted for by the remarkable Spitfire.

About the Spitfire:
The Supermarine Spitfire was a single seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in World War II. It saw service during the whole of World War II, in all theatres of war, and in many different variants. More than 20,300 of all variants were built, and Spitfires remained in service well into the 1950s.

In total there were 24 marks of Spitfire and many sub-variants within each mark.

About the Spitfire Mk. Vb:
Late in 1940 the Mk. II started meeting a new German aircraft in combat. Essentially a cleaned up version of the Bf 109E that Spitfires and Hurricanes had bested the year before in the Battle of Britain, the new Franz (Friedrich) model was superior to the Mk. II Spitfire in many respects.

The Mk. V was nothing more than a Mk. II with the newer Merlin 45 series engine. This engine delivered slightly more takeoff power at 1,440 hp (1074 kW), but greatly increased the power available at higher altitudes due to a new two-speed supercharger design. While it was no Mk. IV, the Mk. V was able to hold its own with the 109Fs it was meeting.

The Mk. V proved so useful that it would go on to be the most produced version by far, with 94 Mk. VAs (eight-gun), 3,923 Mk. VBs (cannon) and 2,447 Mk.VCs

This Spitfire bears the distinctive two-tone camouflage scheme and RAF markings of a plane based in Sicily in 1943.

About the 601st Squadron:
The 601 Squadron of the RAF was equipped with Spitfires in March of 1942, shortly before it shipped out to the Middle East. This squadron was based in Malta, then North Africa, on to Sicily and finally to Italy as they supported the advance of the Allied armies.

About the Spitfire Mk V:
The Mk. V was nothing more than a Mk. II with the newer Merlin 45 series engine. This engine delivered slightly more takeoff power at 1,440 hp (1074 kW), but greatly increased the power available at higher altitudes due to a new two-speed supercharger design. While it was no Mk. IV, the Mk. V was able to hold its own with the 109Fs it was meeting.