Exciting Announcement for AirFest 2024!
We are thrilled to announce that a legendary aircraft will be gracing the skies at Naval Air Station Wildwood’s Aviation Museum’s AirFest 2024 – Military Aviation Museum’s Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXe!
*Photo credit: Richard Mallory Allnutt*
About the Spitfire Mk IXe
Designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor, the Spitfire became a symbol of British resistance during the Battle of Britain. Its impact on morale and combat performance earned it the title “The Airplane that Saved the World.” The museum’s Spitfire, known by her war-time serial number MJ730, is a veteran of over 100 combat missions.
Originally manufactured at Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory by Vickers-Armstrong, MJ730 was test-flown by Alex Henshaw on December 10, 1943, and then shipped to Casablanca aboard the S.S. Leeds City. MJ730 saw her first combat missions with No. 417 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, defending the Anzio Beachhead from a base at Marcianise, Italy. She later supported the invasion of Southern France with No. 154 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF), flying 95 combat missions from Poretta, Corsica. In October 1944, MJ730 joined No. 32 Squadron RAF based at Kalamaki, Greece, flying 12 missions over the Balkans before being reassigned to No. 94 Squadron, RAF at Sedes, Greece.
MJ730’s journey continued with transfers to the Italian Air Force and later into Israeli service. Remarkably, years later, she was found serving as playground equipment in Kibbutz Kabri near the Lebanese border. The aircraft was recovered for restoration in 1978.
Join us in celebrating this incredible piece of history at AirFest 2024!
