AB910 Flies Again: The Spitfire That Flew on D-Day Returns to the Air
After more than two years on the ground, Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb AB910 flew again on January 28, 2025, completing its post-maintenance air test from Biggin Hill. The 84-year-old aircraft, one of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s most historically significant airframes, returned to the sky wearing the D-Day markings of 402 Squadron, City of Winnipeg, Royal Canadian Air Force. The same scheme it carried over the Normandy beachheads on June 6, 1944.
A Wartime Record Few Aircraft Can Match
AB910 was built at Supermarine’s Castle Bromwich factory in July 1941 and entered operational service the following month with 222 Squadron at RAF North Weald. It flew 12 combat missions before sustaining damage, was repaired, and continued fighting. With 133 Squadron it completed 29 sorties, including four engagements during the Dieppe Raid in 1942, one of the costliest Allied operations of the war. It later flew coastal patrols from Scotland before returning south to fly with Canadian squadrons.
In January 1944, AB910 joined 402 Squadron RCAF at RAF Digby. Five months later it was over Normandy on D-Day, flying patrols above the beachheads as Allied forces fought their way ashore. The aircraft that now flies airshow displays over England once flew combat air patrol over the most consequential military operation in modern history.
After the War
AB910’s postwar life was as eventful as its wartime service. Between 1946 and 1955 it flew under the civil registration G-AISU, operated by Group Captain Allan Wheeler as a personal aircraft and air racer. After sustaining further damage it passed to Vickers-Armstrong before the RAF acquired it in 1965 for the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. It has served with the BBMF ever since, marking 61 years with the organization in 2026.
The Maintenance Program
The most recent maintenance period, conducted by The Spitfire Company at Biggin Hill, extended well beyond its original timeline due to unforeseen challenges. The aircraft had been grounded since October 2023. The work focused on ensuring AB910 remains airworthy for years to come, a task that becomes more demanding with every decade an 84-year-old airframe continues to fly.
BBMF Fighter Leader Squadron Leader Andy Preece MBE flew the post-maintenance air test. The sortie identified a small number of additional items requiring attention, and unsuitable weather conditions have since prevented AB910’s return flight to its home base at RAF Coningsby. Once conditions allow, the Spitfire will make the journey home in its newly applied, historically accurate D-Day finish.
A Spitfire that flew combat missions over Dieppe, patrolled the Normandy coast on D-Day, and has now been flying continuously for 84 years is not simply a preserved artifact. It is an airworthy piece of the war itself, and it is back in the air.
