Tr.8 Spitfire

Following my kit of a Spit in civil service, I picked up another kit to build, this time of a Tr.8 two-seater.

Decided to build and paint it in the colours of the 1949 G-AIDN version.

It turns out this Spitfire (MT818) has a long and varied history. Built in 1944, it was converted to a two-seater training plane in 1946, and was also used for air racing between 1947 and 1959. For more information, see here.

And this Spit still flies today! Last year, it got a completely new livery, with USAAF markings, and is now known as Lady Ellen III.

'Aces High' Spitfire

This blog post is about a rather unusual Spitfire. One which never flew, and basically never really existed .... 

Curious? Read on!

The heavy metal band Iron Maiden brought out the single Aces High in 1984. The song is about the experience of an RAF pilot in the Battle of Britain, and the artwork of the single shows the band's mascots, Eddie the Head, in the cockpit of a Spitfire.

During live performances of the song, a large model of a Spitfire is often suspended over the podium. 

Turns out there is a 1/72 model of this 'Aces High' Spitfire! Of course I had to add that one to my collection, even though it's a lot more expensive than the other models in the collection so far ... 

Note that the identification markings are imaginary; there never was a Spitfire with registration P2210 or squadron code FT-L in the RAF.

And, of course, this blog post wouldn't be complete without a video of the Iron Maiden's Aces High song: