“With their superior speed, the Mirages soon closed and Mehmood fi red his guns twice at close range, hitting the

Indian Hunter’s port wing . . .”

French-built Mirage delta jet fi ghters make their mark in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War Page 20

G A V I

N C O N R O Y P H OT O G R A P H S

ABOVE & TOP Gene DeMarco in B.E.2f A1325. The “f” designation was given to existing B.E.2cs that had been modifi ed to B.E.2e standard with unequal-span wings and a new tail. RIGHT Stuart Tantrum fl ying Avro 504K ZK-ACU.

Spitfi re Tr.9 sold

Spitfi re Tr.9 sold

2-SEATER KNOCKED DOWN FOR £1·58M

2-SEATER KNOCKED DOWN FOR £1·58M

BRITISH ADVENTURER STEVE Brooks outbid all comers to acquire Supermarine Spitfi re Tr.9 G-ILDA/SM520 at the Bonhams auction, held at RAF Museum Hendon on April 20. After hovering for some time at £1,550,000 between three bidders — one of whom was from a well-known USA-based foundation — the hammer dropped to Brooks at £1,580,000, just above the pre-sale lower estimate fi gure of £1·5m. When Bonhams buyer’s premium and VAT is added, the price totals £1,739,500. The fi ghter trainer made its fi rst postrestoration fl ight at Thruxton on October 17, 2008 (see News December 2008 Aeroplane), and will now remain in Britain.

USA-based foundation — the hammer dropped to Brooks at

. ARNOLD

PETER R

AEROPLANE JUNE 2009

R I

C H A R D P A V E R

ABOVE LEFT Steve Brooks in front of Hendon’s plastic Spitfi re IX after the auction. ABOVE The Tr.9 over Hampshire in March. Watch out for a feature on it soon.

5