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Supermarine Spitfire T.9 TE308 'Grey Nurse' - Biggin Hill Heritage HangarAs one of the most successful fighter aircraft of the Second World War and one which was produced in huge numbers, it can be a little surprising to learn that the Supermarine Spitfire was not produced in a two seat training variant during the war, meaning that pilots converting to this awesome machine would be making their first flight in the Spitfire as their first solo. The Vickers Supermarine company did propose the development of a two seat variant of the Spitfire to Air Ministry officials as far back as 1941, but as there was no official support for the project at the time, they simply returned to further development of single engined fighters.

Note any reference to MSRP MAP above in description are to be ignored. They represent USA $ pricing and are not valid for Canadian prices.

Junkers Ju-52/3M Air Ambulance - Stalingrad EvacuationOrdered to stay and hold their positions by Hitler, the encircled German 6th Army at Stalingrad were informed that the Luftwaffe were about to establish an Air Bridge to keep them supplied with the food, ammunition and general supplies needed to allow around 300,000 German troops to keep fighting. In the depth of a Soviet winter and woefully unprepared for such an undertaking, Luftwaffe crews quickly learned that if Soviet aircraft didn’t shoot them down during the flight in, they were just as likely to be destroyed on the ground, striking one of the many snow covered shell craters that littered Pitomnik airfield, or being hit by mortar or artillery fire from Soviet forces who were fighting their way ever closer.If they did land safely, inexperienced ground crews lengthened the time aircraft stayed in this ‘hell hole’ and when they did eventually leave, their aircraft would be laden with injured troops, desperate to escape the Stalingrad cauldron. With Luftwaffe supply efforts never coming anywhere close to delivering even the minimum quantities required by the beleaguered German troops in the Stalingrad region, Pitomnik airfield soon resembled something of an airfield graveyard, with burnt out and destroyed transport aircraft lining the edge of the runway, serving as something of a macabre aviation guard of honour for the aircrews which were still engaged in this increasingly desperate supply operation.

Note any reference to MSRP MAP above in description are to be ignored. They represent USA $ pricing and are not valid for Canadian prices.

Messerschmitt Me109G-6 Trop - Maggiore Antonio VizzottoRegia Aeronautica, 150 Gruppo, Sicily, July 1943 Just as the famous Fokker Eindecker had previously done during the Great War, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 would re-define aerial warfare and was an aircraft which was intended to dominate the sky. An aircraft which incorporated all the latest technological developments the aviation world had to offer, this project may have advanced as a lightweight monoplane fighter, but possessed the one attribute all hunting aeroplanes needed, and that was great speed. Produced in response to a Reich Aviation Ministry requirement for an advanced single-seat fighter aircraft, the design submitted by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke was radical in the extreme, diminutive and lightweight in construction and utilising the most powerful in-line aero engines in development in Germany at that time.Taking much of its design inspiration from the successful Messerschmitt Bf108 Taifun four-seat sports touring aircraft which preceded it, the Bf 109 was a relatively small, yet powerful monoplane fighter, one which was incredibly fast, heavily armed and highly manoeuvrable. At a time when the world's major air forces were mainly equipped with biplane designs for their front line fighter force, you might think that German pilots were desperate to get their hands on an aircraft which was so advanced that it was at the very forefront of world aviation, but that didn't initially prove to be the case. As they were used to slower, highly manoeuvrable aircraft with open cockpits, the enclosed cockpit of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 must have been more than a little claustrophobic for them, however, they soon warmed to the many impressive qualities of this aviation phenomenon, an aircraft which would allow them to dominate the skies. Interestingly, due to the advanced nature of the design and the fact that the new German built powerplants were not ready, the prototype aircraft was actually powered by a British Rolls Royce Kestrel engine, something of a strange dichotomy for a fighter which would go on to become the scourge of the Royal Air Force.Proving successful during flight trials with competing rival aircraft from other famous German aircr

Note any reference to MSRP MAP above in description are to be ignored. They represent USA $ pricing and are not valid for Canadian prices.