Pilot reunited with Spitfire he baled out of in 1943

[Colin1]

Nice piece
stolen from a colleague's newspaper at work

 

[RabidAlien]

Great story!

 

[Shinpachi]

An Old man reunits his old plane.
I can't read this kind of good story with no tears.
Fantastic and thanks for sharing, Colin1

 

[Gnomey]

Good story, thanks for sharing.

 

[v2]

Great story, THX. More pics here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ilot-reunited-Spitfire-shot-65-years-ago.html

 

[Colin1]

Great story, THX. More pics here: World War II fighter pilot is reunited with the Spitfire he was shot down in 65 years ago | Mail Online

Interesting read
this point was interesting 'don't bother shooting from more than 250ft away, you'll only dent him', roughly 80 yards or 75 metres - that's close! The 20mm cannons carried by the Mk IX were very reliable in service, and if it was a Mk IXe that's a couple of .50s for good measure.

 

[syscom3]

Great read.

 

[diddyriddick]

A fascinating tale. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very nice!

That must have been an incredible feeling for him.

 

[GrauGeist]

Great find, Colin, thanks for posting it!

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

Great read.
Since the pilot is now 90 it is almost unbelievable that he was found for the story.


Wheelsup

 

[Wayne Little]

Great work Colin!

 

[Flyboy2]

Good stuff

 

[Pong]

Nice story, thanks for sharing.

 

[snafud1]

That's great to see.

 

[antoni]

The correct spelling is Kuryłłowicz (and should not be confused with Kuryłowicz which is a different name). He was shot down 13th May 1943 on Ramrod 71. According to the book 315 Squadon it was coded PK*A at that time. BS410, then coded PK*E, was the Spitfire in which Francis Gabreski made his first operational sortie with 315 Squadron, Circus 252 on 21st January 1943. The wartime (black-and-white) photograph of Gabreski was probably taken on that date after the sortie.

THere is very little of the original Spitfire in the restoration and it is being built as a two-seater.

 

[Messy1]

I am wondering what shape the plane was in before the restoration was started. It would be interesting to see the before and after pics.

 

[antoni]

It crashed from 25,000 to 20,000 ft.