Supermarine Spitfire Mk IA

Supermarine Spitfire Mk IA    L1004   LO-Q   602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron,
Flt  Lt   Alexander ‘Sandy’ Johnstone,  Drem, June 1940

Flt  Lt  ‘Sandy’ Johnstone was flying L1004 when on the night of 25/26 June 1940 he shot down a Heinkel He.111H-3 of 3./KG.26 near Dunbar in Scotland, and again on 30 June when he shared in the destruction of a Ju.88 of 1./KG.51. In July he was promoted to lead the squadron, and in August 1940 he took them down to Westhampnett in Sussex at the height of the Battle of Britain. He was still the CO of 602 when they returned to Scotland in January 1941 for a rest period at Prestwick, leaving the squadron in April on promotion. His final tally was seven confirmed kills and four shared, one probable and six damaged with one shared. He remained in the RAF after the war, returning to Scotland in 1965 as an Air Vice Marshal for his final posting as AOC. 18 Group and Air Officer, Scotland.. L1004 first flew on 5 June 1939, joining 602 on 12 September After a year on active service L1004 was transferred to 58 Operational Training Unit, and in mid-1941 was converted to a Mark V by Scottish Aviation. It continued to lead an eventful life; with the installation of cameras by Heston Aircraft Ltd. in 1942 it became the second prototype PR Mark XIII, with four machine guns for lower level operations the first of the PR versions to carry armament. It carried out the trials for this mark at Boscombe Down before going to Vickers at South Marston in May 1943 to be rebuilt as the Seafire III prototype. It was transferred to the Royal Navy in March 1944 and was finally struck off charge in March 1945.

Scale 1:72    Wingspan 6.25″ (156 mm)
Base size 6.37″ (162 mm) square (No. 4)
Weight not including base 6.75 ozs (190 grams)    Limited edition of 25 only
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