Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX - Seattle, WA - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

Located at the Museum of Flight are a large number of static aircraft on display. One of them is a Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX. The Museum of Flight website contains a page devoted to this aircraft and it reads:

Spawned from Supermarine's race planes of the 1920s and 1930s, the Spitfire's designer Reginald Mitchell always scoffed at the fighter's nickname but he was overjoyed with its amazing performance.

At the time of its first flight in 1936, the Spitfire was one of the world's fastest military airplanes. Just four years later, dashing and distinctive elliptical-winged Spits tangled with marauding German fighters and bombers during the Battle of Britain.

Never a long-range machine, the Spitfire was nonetheless ideal for scrambling into the air at a moment's notice to defend the British Isles from attack. Spits were even used to intercept and destroy speedy V-1 "Buzz Bombs" launched from mainland Europe. The trusty fighter had a long life with the Royal Air Force -- in service at the beginning of World War II and still patrolling the skies on V-E (Victory in Europe) day and beyond.

The Museum's Spitfire was built at Castle Bromwich in early 1944. Assigned to a fighting squadron by May, this Spitfire was flown in support of the D-Day Invasion on June 6, 1944. After World War II, this plane served with the Royal Netherlands and Belgian Air Forces.

In 1961, the Spit was used in the filming the movie The Longest Day and was later owned by TV actor Cliff Robertson.

A nearby placard also highlights this Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX in more detail and reads:

The legendary Spitfire was born from a tradition of winning racing designs created by the British firm, Supermarine Aviation Works. The Spitfure prototype first flew on March 5, 1936. By summer 1940, Spitfires were dueling over Great Britain's home soil with the vanguard of Germany's Luftwaffe, the agile Messerschmitt Bf 109E. The "Spit" served the RAF in Europe, North Africa, and Asia throughout World War II; some 22,742 were produced in 48 variations.

This Spitfire LF Mk.IX, which flew ground-support missions during Operation Overlord, the Allies' invasion of France on D-Day, was originally built with a Merlin 66 engine in early 1944. After the war, it served both the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Belgium Air Force during which time the engine was replaced with e Merlin 76. For the 1962 film The Longest Day, it helped recreate the D-Day invasion when it returned to Normandy, the place of its real-life debut. It came to the U.S. in 1964 and was owned by the actor Cliff Robertson for a time.

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX Tail Number: (S/N): CBAF-1X-1886; Registration No. N521R Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Museum of Flight - Personal Courage Wing - 1st Floor inside / outside: inside Other Information:: Not listed Access restrictions: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

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