The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Spitfire Mk IIa, P7350, the oldest airworthy Spitfire in the world and the only one still flying that actually fought in the Battle of Britain, has been repainted to represent a Spitfire which was flown by a survivor of ‘The Few’. Geoffrey Wellum was one of the youngest fighter pilots to participate in the Battle and he did so with one of the RAF’s most famous fighter squadrons, No 92 Squadron, a unit that won renown throughout Fighter Command for its panache and vigour. During the latter stages of the Battle of Britain 92 Squadron flew from RAF Biggin Hill. The Squadron was the first into action on September 15, 1940 now known as Battle of Britain Day.

The aircraft will be flown by Sqn Ldr Ian "Smithy" Smith OC BBMF. Smithy joined the RAF in 1983 and has been flying ever since, amassing 6,000 hours in the air. His first operational posting was to Chinook helicopters based in Germany, withtours in Northern Ireland and the Falkland Islands. Following a tour as a flying instructor at Linton-on-Ouse he was posted to No 41(F) Squadron flying Jaguars at RAF Coltishall and took part in operations over Iraq and Bosnia. A tour as a Red Arrows pilot was followed by a year in Saudi Arabia as Team Manager for the then embryonic Saudi Hawks Aerobatic Team. Returning to the Jaguar Force, he saw the aircraft out of service at RAF Coningsby and was then posted to RAF Cranwell where he instructed on the Grob Tutor, and commanded No 16(R) Elementary Flying Training Squadron. 'Smithy' has flown with the BBMF for the past 4 years as a volunteer fighter pilot, pre-selected to take over as OC BBMF at the end of 2009. This system, which will now continue into the future, ensures that each new OC BBMF gains the neccessary experience before taking command of the Flight for a 3-year tour. The Officer Commanding is responsible for overseeing all the operations, administration and engineering functions on the Flight, and for the overall planning and management of the extensive display programme undertaken by BBMF every year. He also holds the post of Fighter Leader, responsible for training the BBMF fighter pilots each year and for conducting air tests on the BBMF fighter aircraft.