ML417 flies again from Duxford with revised appearance
Supermarine Spitfire LFIX ML417, last operated in the UK by The Fighter Collection during 2001, took to the air at IWM Duxford on 20 June. Now owned by Comanche Fighters and registered N2TF, it was the first time the fighter had flown in Britain since being exported to the USA in December 2001.
ML417 has taken on a slightly different appearance. While it still wears its original No 443 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force markings — as sported during 1944, during which time it was active on D-Day and scored two Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 kills, as well as claiming one probable and severely damaging a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 — the clipped wingtips have been replaced with elliptical ones, while a narrower-chord rudder has been fitted.
Having served in the Indian Air Force as a two-seat MkIX Trainer, ML417 was converted back to single-seat standard during its restoration to flying condition by Personal Plane Services for what became The Fighter Collection. This concluded in February 1984, after which the Spitfire spent 17 years on TFC’s strength. On its return to Duxford — where it has been worked on in the Aircraft Restoration Company’s facilities — ML417 becomes the fourth Comanche Fighters Spitfire currently based at the Cambridgeshire airfield, the others being MkIs X4650 and AR213, and MkV JG891.
