Auction Sales, Christie's, Spitfire, WWII (WW II Plane!)

neveryetmelted.com ^ | 4/30/2015 | unknown

[rktman]

One of the first Spitfires ever made has gone up for sale for a staggering £2.5 million after spending 40 years buried in sand at the French beach it crashed on.

The iconic Mark 1 plane was among the first built in March 1940 as Britain scrambled to ready itself for the epic battle that took place in the skies just a few months later.

But Spitfire P9374 never made it to the Battle of Britain as it crash-landed in May 1940.

The fighter plane was being piloted by Flight Officer Peter Cazenove over Dunkirk when it was hit by a single bullet from a German Dornier bomber.

[rktman]

Link at end of article to Christie's detailing the recover and restoration. Pretty darn cool. or:

http://www.christies.com/spitfire/interactive/index.html

[rktman]

DOH! Active linky thingy.

http://www.christies.com/spitfire/interactive/index.html

[Celtic Conservative]

A later mark I, or one retrofitted with the 3 bladed, 2 speed prop. Early mark I’s came with wooden fixed-pitch props.

CC

[Joe 6-pack]

David Gilmour of Pink Floyd collected and flew vintage aircraft. Not sure if he does anymore. Perhaps he’ll place a bid...

[smokingfrog]

A beautiful English bird!

[tcrlaf]

The best thing that can happen to these things is a flying restoration. ON a visit to the USS Alabama Museum about a month ago, it saddened me to see a couple of unique WW2 aircraft just sitting.

There are so few of them anymore, and less every year. And they aren’t cheap to fly and maintain. But they need to be flying.

[GreyFriar]

See also these links to the story of Spitfire Mk I P9274

On restoring it: http://markonepartners.co.uk/restoring-mk-i-spitfire-p9374

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/goodwood-revival/8753919/A-rare-Spitfire-Mark-I-takes-to-the-skies-once-more.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2125276/Battle-Britain-Spitfire-Restored-40-years-3m.html

the Daily Mail had photograph of this Spitfire flying against a blue sky in an earlier edition that is now the ‘wallpaper’ on my laptop.

[GBA]

During this early morning sortie P9374 was hit by what is thought to have been a single bullet fired from a Dornier 17-Z bomber which holed the Spitfire’s coolant system. With an overheating engine, and with no realistic hope of returning across the English Channel, Cazenove made a wheels-up forced landing at low tide on the beach near Calais.

German soldiers sitting on the wreckage of Spitfire P9374, May, 1940.

Flight Officer Peter Cazenove

‘Tell mother I’ll be home for tea!’

[PAR35]

The iconic Mark 1 plane was among the first built in March 1940

Pretty meaningless statement. Who cares how many were built before or after it that month?

[ken5050]

Read for later

[zot]

Thanks for the links.

[IncPen]

ping to 3

[Steve0113]

bookmark

[Nailbiter]

thx