In 1945, SM969 was one of only 300 Mk XVIIIe’s built at RAF Keevil by Vickers Armstrong Ltd. Spitfire parts were delivered to Keevil where they were assembled and test flown. SM969 was delivered to Karachi, India, by sea in January 1946. 18 months later it returned to Britain. It was sold to the Indian Air Force in 1949 and registered as HS877.
In 1978, Doug Arnold of Warbirds of Great Britain Ltd, bought the aircraft from the Indian Government and it was rebuilt at Blackbush and registered as G-BRAF. Its first post restoration flight was on the 12th October 1985. From 1992, SM969 was stored but in April 2006 has been acquired by The Fighter Collection at Duxford with a view to restoring it once again to flying condition.
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