Spitfire Mk.I-a and Stuka at Chicago's Museum of Science Industry

[T Bolt]

Took the kids to The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago last weekend and took some great detail shots of the Spitfire Mk. I-A and an early model Stuka they have hanging from the ceiling there. The Spit supposedly fought in the Battle of Britton and looks like its wearing its original paint. Pretty rare I think. I didn't take a shot of the sign for the Stuka but I remember it was shot down in North Africa and the battle damage is still visible.
Hope the shots are helpful to someone.

 

[syscom3]

Great pics! Glad someone finally posted some pics from the museum.

 

[Wayne Little]

Excellent!

 

[lesofprimus]

Great stuff.....

Question tho: What were ur kids doin during the 2 1/2 hours it took u to take all those great shots???

 

[rochie]

nice pictures, i see the spit was changed from dark green/dark earth/sky paint scheme to the ocean grey/dark green/med sea grey one at some point in its service

 

[T Bolt]

nice pictures, i see the spit was changed from dark green/dark earth/sky paint scheme to the ocean grey/dark green/med sea grey one at some point in its service

Rochie made me doubt my comment about original paint scheme as I can remember taking pictures of the same spit years ago and thinking the bottom was "Sky". Dug out the old 35mm pics and found the paint hadn't changed, just the place in the museum the aircraft were hanging making for far better camera angles back then. I attached a few scans of the pics. Obviously it isn't the original paint on at Mk.1, but my guess is that in was re-painted later in the war, but like I said that's only a guess.

 

[timshatz]

Would rather have the Spit 1A than the Me109G that showed up on the forum this morning. Easier to fly.

 

[Gnomey]

Nice pics!

 

[DBII]

I have wanted to visit this museum for a long time. I thought the Stuka would be bigger. Thanks for the great photos.

DBII

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very nice!

 

[rochie]

sorry T bolt, didn't mean to cause you to question your info.
i was just remarking that the spitfire had a late war day fighter scheme painted on later in its service life, which is still original !

 

[Geedee]

Good set of useful pics there mate.

Interesting to note the kill markings on the Spittie are on the right hand side of the fuselage instead of the usual left hand side !. Bizarre !

 

[T Bolt]

You're right Gary, I hadn't realized that before. Maybe I was wrong about original paint. Either that or some guy at the museum way back when thought a spit didn't look right without a few kills on it.
Rochie: I 'am rather doubting my original paint statement as I only have my one impression to back it up. I Know that that I've seen that spit hanging there since the early 70s' and my thought was that back in the 50s' or 60s' attention to detail in repainting a museum exhibit wouldn't be that high.
There's a web site that has info in every USAAF aircraft. You type in the serial number and it shows some basic info in the aircraft. Is there anything like that someone knows about for British aircraft?

 

[rochie]

did a quick search and it seems P9306 was with 74 sqdrn during the BoB and was credited with at least two kills 1 bf 109 and 1 bf110 whilst being flown by two different pilots.
at work right now so cant search as far as i would like so will look further tomorow when i've got a day off, might be a good subject for the BoB group model build later this year !!!!

 

[T Bolt]

Thanks Rochie

 

[rochie]

Thanks Rochie

no probs mate will see what else i can dig up

Karl

 

[geneh]

In the late 1950's the Museum of Science and Industry was my favorite hangout. Only back there there were lots of WWII aircraft hanging from the ceiling. They even had a buzz bomb which really facinated me at the time.
Gene

 

[Geedee]

Also interesting to note that the Spit canopy is open in your scanned shots and the '87 has been 're-hung' in your recent pics. Good to see that the museum does actually look at its 'hung' exhibits every now and then.

 

[rochie]

here you go Glenn
History:
Ordered as part of contract B980383/39., Apr. 20, 1939.
Built by Supermarine Aviation at the Woolston works, Southampton, 1939.
- Merlin III fitted. No 119226.
- 508th Spitfire built.
- First flight at Eastleigh, Jan. 19, 1940.
Delivered to RAF as P9306.
- BOC: Jan 20, 1940.
- Allocated to 24 MU at RAF Turnhill, Jan. 24, 1940.
-- Placed in storage.
- Transferred to 4 MU at RAF Ruislip, Mar. 1940.
- Transferred to 6 MU at RAF Brize Norton, June 27, 1940.
- Transferred to 74 Sqn at RAF Hornchurch. Marked 'TRINIDAD'. Coded ZP-, July 6, 1940.
-- Claimed 1 ME109 destroyed and 1 damaged. Pilot Plt Of P.C.F Stevenson, July 10, 1940.
-- Claimed 1 BF110 destroyed near Harwich. Pilot Sgt Kirk. Coded ZP-H, Aug. 11, 1940.
-- Squadron moved to RAF Wittering, Aug. 14, 1940.
-- Squadron moved to RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey, Aug. 21, 1940.
-- Squadron moved to RAF Coltishall, Sept. 9, 1940.
- Transferred to 45 MU at RAF Kinloss for storage, Sept. 12, 1940.
- Transferred to 54 MU at RAF Cambridge for storage, Sept. 17, 1940.
-- Damaged. Transferred to 4 MU at RAF Ruislip for repairs, Sept. 29, 1940.
-- Squadron moved to RAF Biggin Hill.?, Oct. 15, 1940.
-- Claimed 3 more kills. Pilots P/of Cobdent and P/of St John.?, Nov.-Dec. 1940?.
- Transferred to 131 Sqn at Catterrick. Used as a training aircraft. Coded NX-, July 18, 1941.
-- Squadron moved to RAF Ternhill, Aug. 6, 1941.
-- Squadron moved to RAF Atcham, Sept. 27, 1941.
- Transferred to 52 OTU at Aston Down. Coded GK-, Oct. 22, 1941.
-- Damaged. Transferred to Westland Aircraft for repairs, Feb. 3, 1943.
- Transferred to 33 MU at RAF Lyneham for storage, Mar. 14, 1943.
- Transferred to 61 OTU at RAF Rednal. Coded UU-, May 4, 1943.
-- Damaged. Cat AK. Repaired on site, Sept. 20, 1943.
-- Returned to 61 OTU.
-- Withdrawn from active service.
Earmarked for major overhaul. Damaged before being collected, Jan. 1944.
- Transferred to 39 MU at RAF Colerne, 1944.
- Allocated to the Royal Navy Disposal Account, 1944.
- Transferred to 52 MU at RAF Cardiff for preparation for shipment, 1944.
- Shipped to Chicago, USA, Aug. 2, 1944.
-- Arrived at Chicago, Aug. 19, 1944.
Museum Of Science Industry, Chicago, IL, Nov. 10, 1944-2002.
- Handed over by Air Cde D.L.. Blackford.
- Displayed suspended from ceiling.

 

[T Bolt]

Wow Karl!! I can't believe you were able to dig all that up. I've got to try to build it now. I think I might have a Tamiya Mk.1 on a shelf somewhere, and I might be able to scrape together some decals for the codes. The real hard part will be cleaning off my model table as I haven't done any building in a couple of years and it has become the house storage area!