The Spitfire TR9 G-ILDA was built by Vickers Armstrong in 1944. It was an AH Mark 9, delivered to 33MU on the 23rd Oct 1944. Its serial number was SM 520.

SM 520 was sold to the South African Air Force in 1948 (its SAAF history is unknown). It was discovered in a scrap yard in Cape Town in the 1970s, and purchased by Charles Church. Mr Church started to restore SM520. When he died in 1989, it was sold to Alan Dunkerley, who resold it to Paul Portelli in June 2002.

Restoration
Classic Aero Engineering Ltd. (CAE) was contracted to restore SM 520 to its original Vickers specification. Led by Bruce Ellis, the CAE team began by overhauling all the parts required to undertake the restoration. At the same time (over 2 years) the fuselage was converted from a MK 9 to a MK TR9 spec by Airframe Assemblies. Bruce Ellis spent many weeks at RAF Hendon Museum obtaining and researching every known drawing of the TR9; since a considerable amount of very detailed work had to be carried out by CAE to ensure the Airframe Assemblies fuselage and wings matched the original Vickers specification, this proved crucial. The aircraft is a complete zero timed restoration from ground up. At Dursley, Gloucestershire, meanwhile, Retro Track & Air overhauled and zero timed the mighty Rolls Royce Merlin266 engine. It was Hoffman that supplied the four bladed zero time propeller (through their agents Skycraft Ltd in the UK).

The Aircraft Airworthiness Notice and all modification details are currently with UK Civil Aviation Authority, to whose ‘Permit to Fly’ certification standards the aircraft is being restored. Engine runs commence during October 2007; the restoration will be completed by December 2007. It is anticipated that the CAA permit will be issued in March/April 2008.

Spitfire history
The Spitfire fighter plane evolved from the world speed record setting Supermarine seaplanes of the 1920s and early 1930s. The prototype Spitfire was built in 1936. A low drag, all metal, stressed-skin monoplane, the fighter was so advanced that production problems severely delayed delivery of the new fighter to RAF squadrons.

It seems that it was all worth it: the end result was a real pilot's aeroplane! Her cockpit was roomy and visibility was good. She was easy to fly and forgiving: a fighter (almost) without vices. The first production version Spitfire was the Mk. 1, which entered squadron service in mid-1938. This was succeeded by the Spitfire Mk. 1A, which was powered by the famous Rolls Royce V-12 Merlin 2 engine. The Merlin produced a massive 1,230 horse power; it drove a twin blade wooden propeller, giving the fighter a top straight and level speed of about 360 m.p.h., and a best climb rate of 2,530 ft/min. By the time of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a three-bladed constant speed propeller had been fitted; this further improved climb and acceleration.