A Spitfire that emigrated...

[Christopher]

I know that there are folk here who remember this one, now airworthy in Australia. From Facebook:

Quote: <Spitfire Saturday with our latest Spitfire restoration by @vintagefighterrestorations . This Spitfire was built in 1943 at Castle Bromwich UK. The aircraft, now RAF serialed MH603 was delivered to 39 Maintenance Unit (MU) on 15-10-43. It then passed on to 405 Repair and Salvage Unit (ARF) at Croydon on 25/10/43. The aircraft commenced operational service with 331(Norwegian) Squadron on 3/1/44 and served operationally coded ”FN-B”, flown by Capt. Bjorn Bjornstad, then moved to 274 Squadron RAF coded as ‘JJ-K’ on 2-6-44 where it was flown by W/O.S.G.Barker . The Spitfire is noted as going to Fighter Leaders School FLS Millfield on 21/8/44 and then to the Central Fighter Establishment (CFE) Tangmere on 1/6/45. Following its operational service the aircraft passed through a number of training and maintenance units. Post war, in 1949, the aircraft was sold to the South African Air Force and following retirement in 1955 passed on to South African Metal & Machinery Co, Salt River, Cape Town as scrap until the remains were recovered by the South African Air Force museum and stored at Snake Valley.
In 1989 the aircraft was recorded back in the UK with Steve Atkins of Rye, Sussex, and then with John Sykes, Oxford, UK. In 1993 the Spitfire is reported as being in the USA with Joe Scogna/ Vintage Air, Yardley PA. From 1993 until 2008 the aircraft was a project at Fort Collins CO and in 2008 it was acquired by Provenance Fighter Sales and sold to Pay’s in 2009. Check it out in person at @hunterwarbirds> End of quote.

I'm sure you can find the pictures at hunterwarbirds and I have seen video of this aircraft in flight, the last few days...

[lampiesJR]

She is for sale now as well.

https://www.platinumfighters.com/invent ... itfire-ix/

[snoopy]

I wonder what the SAAF Museum exchanged it for if it ended up in Sussex UK in 1989. At the end of the bush war.

[Christopher]

It was never owned by the SAAF Museum, but by South African Metal & Machinery Co in Salt River, Cape Town. I still remember her up on the pole outside the scrap yard.

Atlas and the SAAF Museum put a huge amount of resources into getting her to flying status. Next thing we knew, she was packed up and crated out of SA without a word being said.

The SAAF Museum building at Ysterplaat had a special room renamed after Larry Barnett, the owner of SA Scrap.

[snoopy]

Quote from elsewhere - where its for sale for just under US$ 5 million.

MH603 has required a lot of new material in its restoration, as the project began as a collection of battered components recovered from the famous South African scrap yard that a number of other Spitfires have re-emerged from in recent years.

SAAF sold her for scrap to Harold Barnett’s South African Metal & Machinery Company in Salt River, Cape Town during 1955.

In 1977, the South African Air Force Museum acquired her hacked apart remains (along with the battered carcasses of nearly a dozen other Spitfires) and stored them for future sale/trade at their facility in the Snake Valley. Steve Atkins purchased MH603’s remains in 1989 and moved them back to the UK for storage in Rye, Sussex. Soon after, Atkins sold the aircraft to John Sykes.

So someone must have told Atkins where she was, and someone must have made a price to sell it....where did the money go?

If the SAAF Museum according to their story acquired it - it was a SAAF Museum asset.

[Deanw]

The Salt River Spitfire (MA793/5601 Evelyn) was never owned by the SAAF when she was made airworthy, hence the ill-feeling when she was shipped overseas.

[snoopy]

The Salt River Spitfire was never owned by the SAAF when she was made airworthy, hence the ill-feeling when she was shipped overseas.

SAAF or SAAF Museum?

There is no mention that MH603 was sold as airworthy, quite the opposite. Its remains was purchased in 1989 according to the present seller...
From who was it purchased? Atlas? SAAF Museum? Who had authority to sell it ? And somewhere there must be a sales/disposal agreement on file.

thats where these stories go into a vague grey area, none can answer for sure... This is not MA793/5601 "Evelyn"

MH603 is Sn CBAF 5589.

[alpha-mike-tango]

It was never owned by the SAAF Museum, but by South African Metal & Machinery Co in Salt River, Cape Town. I still remember her up on the pole outside the scrap yard.

Atlas and the SAAF Museum put a huge amount of resources into getting her to flying status. Next thing we knew, she was packed up and crated out of SA without a word being said.

The SAAF Museum building at Ysterplaat had a special room renamed after Larry Barnett, the owner of SA Scrap.

The owner of SA Metal & Machinery was ex WW2 SAAF 2 Sqn pilot Harold Barnett, not Larry Barnett - no relation.

[alpha-mike-tango]

The Salt River Spitfire (MA793/5601 Evelyn) was never owned by the SAAF when she was made airworthy, hence the ill-feeling when she was shipped overseas.

"Evelyn" did not come from the Salt River scrapyard but the Meerhof Children's Hospital at Hartebeespoort Dam

[alpha-mike-tango]

I wonder what the SAAF Museum exchanged it for if it ended up in Sussex UK in 1989. At the end of the bush war.

As I understand it, the various remains were sold to generate funds for the rebuild of TE213 "5553/AX-K" back to flying condition.

Off the top off my head I think there are a good five Spitfires around the world whose remains were recovered from SA Metal & Machinery and underwent massive rebuilds - including BR601, RR232, SM520, TD314 and TE294. ML255 is a static rebuild in Portugal.

[alpha-mike-tango]

It was never owned by the SAAF Museum, but by South African Metal & Machinery Co in Salt River, Cape Town. I still remember her up on the pole outside the scrap yard.

Atlas and the SAAF Museum put a huge amount of resources into getting her to flying status. Next thing we knew, she was packed up and crated out of SA without a word being said.

The SAAF Museum building at Ysterplaat had a special room renamed after Larry Barnett, the owner of SA Scrap.

The Spitfire on the pole at SA Metal & Machinery was BR601. Larry Barnett borrowed it as a pattern for the Evelyn rebuild and the SAAF Museum refurbished it for static display in exchange for the Sikiosky S51. After Harold Barnett's death the Spitfire was auctioned off in England and rebuilt back to flying condition.

[Christopher]

@lampies: thanks so much for posting that link to Platinum aircraft sales or whatever they call themselves. They have the most mouth-watering aircraft for sale: several Grumman seaplanes; lovely-looking Boeing Stearman; <four> Spitfires, no less (!); Hurricane; Hispano Bouchon; 2xP-51D with two more projects; Hawker Fury with another as a project; Focke-Wulf FW190 and even a McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom if you fancy one! They have a Twin Beech C-45; Beech T-34 trainer and a Shorts Toucano (with TPE-331, which aircraft I really fancy!)

If you didn't follow lampies' link: go and have a look-see (really)!

Loooong ago, I arrived solo one evening at Rand for a night-stop (can't remember why or details) and was looking for a ride into the city. Some pleasant gent saw me by the steps outside the terminal, offered me a lift and it turned out to be Larry Barnett himself. I think he was still undertaking the work on the Spitfire at the time; but it might have been finished...only time I ever met him.

[Amystivens]

Good to know, thanks for sharing! I don’t have much knowledge about it yet, but I’m still in my second year of college, so there’s plenty of time to learn. My main focus right now is staying on top of my studies while also keeping my mental health in check. Hopefully, I’ll graduate successfully—whether with the help of https://academized.com/write-my-thesis or by managing everything on my own. Either way, I’m staying positive and trying to find the right balance between hard work and self-care