On 7 April, Supermarine Spitfire IX TE517/G-RYIX made its maiden post-restoration flight at Biggin Hill with test pilot Dan Griffith at the controls, becoming the 15th Spitfire to take to the air following rebuild by The Spitfire Company in its facilities at the Kent airport and former fighter station.
Registered to 517 Ltd at Sulby, Isle of Man, the fighter wears the markings it originally bore when delivered to No 313 (Czechoslovak) Squadron at Manston, Kent on 20 August 1945. Following a post-war career with both the Czechoslovak and Israeli air forces, TE517 was recovered from a children’s playground on a kibbutz in western Galilee in 1977 by one of the first British warbird collectors, racing driver and pilot Robs Lamplough. After passing through the hands of several other collectors, the partially restored fuselage of TE517 arrived at Biggin Hill in October 2012 for Peter Monk, the final rebuild to fly commencing during 2020.
