Grace Spitfire Display - Monday
For Monday only, Carolyn Grace in her Spitfire, will perform a spectacular 10 minute aerial display, weather permitting. Time, approximately 1.00 pm.
The Grace Spitfire ML 407 was built at Castle Bromwich in early 1944 as a single seat LF Mark IX fighter equipped with one .5-inch Browning machine gun and one 20mm cannon per wing and served in the front line of battle throughout the last twelve months of World War II. This Spitfire, which recently appeared on national TV in the acclaimed series ‘Spitfire Ace’, has a remarkable wartime history.
ML407 was delivered on the 29th April 1944 by the acclaimed woman pilot, Jackie Moggridge of the ATA to 485 (New Zealand Squadron) at Selsey for Flying Officer Johnnie Houlton DFC. ML407 went straight into action. On D-Day Johnnie Houlton in ML407 (code OU-V) was given Ministry accreditation for having shot down the first enemy aircraft a Junkers 88 over the Normandy beach head and a ½ share in a second JU 88 spotted in the same area and it is painted in the full D-Day scheme today.
ML 407 did a total of 176 operational sorties, a large number being ground attack, amassing over 200 combat hours whilst in the 2nd Tactical Air Force (TAF) going from 485 New Zealand Squadron to 341 Free French, 308 Polish, 349 Belgian, 345 Free French, 332 Norwegian Squadrons returning to 485 New Zealand Squadron at the cessation of hostilities with a total score of 3 ¼ enemy aircraft destroyed and one damaged.
In 1951 Vickers Armstrongs at Southampton was commissioned by the Irish Army Air Corps to convert 20 Spitfires to the trainer configuration - ML 407 was one of these - serving with the Irish Army Air Corps as 162 until 1960 with a total time of 763 hours flown for the IAAC. ML407 then went into storage.
Nick Grace found this Spitfire in a museum in Scotland in 1979 and he set about his meticulous 5 year rebuild with the Spitfire taking to the air again in 1985 in Nick’s most capable hands. Nick was killed in a car accident in 1988. He had been displaying their Spitfire for 3 years. His widow Carolyn decided to learn to fly their Spitfire to keep it operational with a Grace in the cockpit in memory of Nick and in recognition of his outstanding achievement in restoring part of this Country’s heritage back to operation.
Carolyn who is flying today is an Australian having been bought up on a property 120 miles south of Sydney. She achieved her PPL in 1978 with the majority of her flying being done in her Stampe biplane. It was from the Stampe that she progressed on to the Spitfire in July 1990 under the skilful tuition of Peter Kynsey who has trained her to achieve her aerobatic and formation display authorisation. Olivia and Richard Grace now 22 and 20 years old are learning to fly in order to carry on their father’s work as their mother Carolyn has.
