Vickers-Supermarine 361 Spitfire LF IXe/PL344/TL-B/(N644TB)

26th October 2007

Vickers-Supermarine 361 Spitfire LF IXe/PL344/TL-B/(N644TB)

Having rolled off the Vickers-Armstrong production line at Castle Bromwich in early 1944, PL344 was delivered to 8 MU at Little Rissington on 1 Jul 44. It then moved to General Aircraft Ltd on 19 Jun 44 before being issued to 602 Sqn on 12 Aug 44. It then moved to 442 Sqn RCAF on 28 Sep 44 operating out of St. Croix-sur-mer in Normandy. On 26 Dec 44 it suffered a Cat B accident and following repair then moved to 401 Sqn on 19 Apr 45 operating out of air bases in Germany. After delivery to 88Gp HQ on 16 Sep 45, PL344 then moved to 129 Sqn where it sustained a Cat C accident in a wheels up landing at Eindhoven on 6 May 46 and moved to 151 Repair Unit at Wevelgem airfield near Brussels. Here it was declared Cat C on 10 Dec 46 and struck off charge.

PL334 ended up at the Anthony Fokker Technical Academy in Holland where over the years, the majority of the airframe was dismantled and dispersed. In 1985, Charles Church (Spitfires) Ltd acquired the hulk for rebuilding and on 18 May 88 was registered as G-IXCC and on 11 Mar 91 flew again. PL344 was sold to the Weeks Air Museum, Miami, and in 1992 went to PPS at Booker for further improvements. Took to the air again on 17 Oct 00 as PL344 coded Y2-P of 442 Sqn RCAF. On 15 Feb 01, PL344 over ran the runway at Wycombe Air Park and minor damage was caused to the nose after tipping up. Up for sale in America, PL344 was bought by Tom Blair in Oct 02 and registered as N644TB.

Arrived at ARCo, Duxford on 12 Jan 07. Following an overhaul and improvements PL344 took to the air again on 24 Oct 07.