PK-18 Spitfire Mk. IX.

This plane, which was originally designed as a private venture, was the brainchild of R.J. Mitchell whose earlier S6 and S6B Seaplanes had won the SCHNEIDER Trophy for Britain. During its production life, some 40 variants of the Spitfire were made.

The Mk. IX depicted was intended as an interim type until the Mk. VIII became available, and was basically a Mk. Vc airframe using a Merlin 60 engine. This gave a top speed of 402 m.p.h.

A total of 5,600 Mk. IX's were produced and it became the most widely used variant of the Spitfire design. The Mk. IX entered service in July 1941 with 64 Squadron.