Stewart Dawson taking off in the Comanche Mk.Ia to join the Balbo finale of Flying Legends 2013. On the previous day, he had to return early as the cooling of the Merlin 35 became a concern. Originally this 54 Squadron Mk.Ia had a Merlin III.
Introduced by the RAF in mid-1940, the new 100-octane fuel increased the Spitfire's speed by 25 mph at sea level and by 34 mph at 10,000 feet. The black hole just above the leading edge wing root is the hand cranking point for turning the engine manually.
N3200 returning from a short test flight on the thursday prior to Flying Legends 2018 as seen from the 'Tank Bank' near the Land Warfare Hall at the western end of the airfield.
On 26 May 1940 the RAF sent all available aircraft to protect the Dunkirk evacuations. S/L Stephenson led his squadron on a patrol over the beaches when he was shot down. N3200 lay buried in the sands near Sangatte for over 50 years.
In July 2015, the Kaplan family donated Spitfire Ia N3200 to the Imperial War Museum. On the 26th of May, 1940, when the 19 Squadron aircraft crash landed on the beach near Sangatte, France, no individual letter had been applied.