Supermarine Mk XIX Spitfire owned by Rolls Royce flying at the 2015 Royal International Air Tattoo
Spitfire, PS853, is an unarmed, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, one of a batch of 79 Mk XIXs built at Supermarine, Southampton. The Mk XIX was powered by the 2,050 hp Griffon 65 or 66 and represents the pinnacle of the Spitfire’s development in terms of speed and altitude capability with a top speed of 446mph (730 km/h) and a ceiling of 42,000ft (12,800 m). PS853 was delivered to the Central Photographic Reconnaissance Unit at RAF Benson on 13 January 1945, before moving to Belgium and Holland. The aircraft was engaged on active service with 16 Squadron up until the end of the war and participated in “Operation Crossbow” to detect V1 and V2 launch sites. At the end of the war it remained on duty in Germany until March 1946 when it returned to the UK and was placed in storage. In 1950, PS853 was one of several Mk XIX Spitfires assigned to conduct meteorological research, known as the Temperature and Humidity of the Upper Air Masses (THUM) Flight. PS853 performed the last ever THUM sortie on 10 June 1957. Along with sister XIXs PM631 and PS915, PS853 retired into ceremonial and display duties to form the RAF’s Historic Aircraft Flight, the forerunner of today’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF). It spent less than a year with the HAF before being transferred to other duties. In 1963 PS853 was selected for a very special mission where it was used in combat trials with an English Electric Lightning at RAF Binbrook. After completing these trials PS853 was returned to the BBMF in 1964 where it remained until 1995. In 1996, Rolls-Royce bought PS853 to replace the original Rolls-Royce Spitfire XIV, G-ALGT. The aircraft was re-registered as G-RRGN; the RR for obvious reasons and the GN after the drawing number prefix allocated to Griffon engine parts. The aircraft is painted as 'C' of No. 16 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 2nd Tactical Air Force, being the identity PS853 wore during its wartime service.
Size: 4458px × 2972px
Location: RAF Fairford Gloucestershire,UK
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2, aircraft, fighter, mk, photographic, raf, reconnaissance, spitfire, supermarine, war, world, xix
