Welcome Guppy !

Thanks for the welcome Thought I'd nail down the visuals on DP845 through it's history. First off, not looking much at all like a Spit XII. Different spinner, full span, no gun wings, slotted flaps, rounded tail and early markings. This is her making her first appearance.

Next up is the mock up of the 6 cannon armament. Still basically the same as originally out of the hanger, although it now has a metal prop and the mock guns.

I corresponded for about a decade with Clive Gosling back in the 1980s. He talked about dropping in on Tangmere with this version and getting some amazed looks from the pilots there

Now more refined and I believe the prototype Spit XII designation. New paint, a Universal Wing, wide chord pointed rudder etc.

The images below show it's labeled the Spit XII. This is when it had the fixed tail wheel for a short time. My understanding from Clive Gosling, is it was only for a short while to test the difference in performance with the fixed vs retractable tail wheel

Finally some more from the October 43 sortie where Charles Brown and his camera did their thing. Clive Gosling piloting DP845
Back to retractable tail wheel, clipped wings now, Griffon VI of the Seafire XV and the larger spinner.

Next up is the mock up of the 6 cannon armament. Still basically the same as originally out of the hanger, although it now has a metal prop and the mock guns.

I corresponded for about a decade with Clive Gosling back in the 1980s. He talked about dropping in on Tangmere with this version and getting some amazed looks from the pilots there

Guppy355

Cool! Something I always wondered about that 6 cannon mock-up is if they actually fitted 6 guns or just barrel shrouds? If the former it'd be interesting to know how they fitted all those cannon and their ammo into the wing!

The cannons were just wooden mock ups of the cannon shrouds. The wing is the same as it was when it was first flown, so they are just for show. No internal mounting of guns in that wing.

Spitfire Mark XII (EB-D, serial number MB858) of No 41 Squadron, RAF visiting Raydon, home of the 357th Fighter Group.