End of an aviation era: Restored Spitfire is the last aircraft to be built at doomed home of Concorde
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A newly-restored classic World War II Spitfire has taken to the British skies for the first time since being found in a scrapyard a decade ago.
The iconic Second World War fighter plane has been restored by a businessman who spent £1m building it back up to its former glory after it was rescued from a South African scrapyard.
Yesterday the gleaming Spitfire took off from the soon-to-close Filton aerodrome outside Bristol for the first time since the 1940s.
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- WWII fighter plane flew again 10 years after it was found in South African junkyard
- Filton airfield will be closed by owner BAE on New Year's Eve after 100 years
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A newly-restored classic World War II Spitfire has taken to the British skies for the first time since being found in a scrapyard a decade ago.
The iconic Second World War fighter plane has been restored by a businessman who spent £1m building it back up to its former glory after it was rescued from a South African scrapyard.
Yesterday the gleaming Spitfire took off from the soon-to-close Filton aerodrome outside Bristol for the first time since the 1940s.
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Restored classic: The rebuilt Spitfire took to the skies above Bristol yesterday after a painstaking £1m renovation
Flying through British skies for the first time since the 1940s: The restored Spitfire over Bristol
Taking off: The gleaming aircraft attracted large crowds to Filton airfield near Bristol yesterday
The occasion was a poignant one as Filton aerodrome, is to be decommissioned by BAE after more than a century of aviation there, and will close on December 31.
BAE Systems, which said the site was no longer economically viable, is selling the airfield for housing and business development.
Crowds of aviation and history enthusiasts lined the A38 road which borders the airfield to watch the Spitfire take off, while BAE staff watched from beside the runway.
They were also there to see the last visit to the airfield from the Airbus A380 superjumbo, which was developed at Filton and is the world's largest commercial aircraft.
Exeter businessman Martin Phillips, 51, who owns the Spitfire, said the expensive and painstaking restoration project had been worth it.
He said: 'To see her take to the skies today has been extraordinary, and for it to happen at the same time as an A380's final visit to Filton, has made this a sad but historic day.
'I think it's a terrible shame that this famous old airfield is to close.'
Former Rolls-Royce engineer John Hart, who has worked as chief engineer on the Spitfire restoration for the last two-and-a-half years, said seeing the Spitfire and the A380 together on the runway that is also still overlooked by Concorde was 'quite a sight' for aviation enthusiasts.
He said: 'It's funny to think the last aeroplane to be put together here at Filton has turned out to be a Spitfire.'
Filton aerodrome, which has one of the longest and widest runways in the country, witnessed the first test flights of Concorde and was where American soldiers injured in D-Day were taken to before being treated at Bristol's Frenchay hospital.
The West Country's aviation industry grew up around the airfield, which developed an international reputation.
Devoted owner: Exeter businessman Martin Philips spent £1m restoring the Spitfire after it was found 10 years ago in a junkyard
Preparing for take-off: Aeroplane enthusiasts lined the runway to watch the WWII fighter plane take to the skies
Painstaking work: The Spitfire has a fully rebuilt Rolls-Royce Merlin engine
Race to finish: Engineers worked long hours to finish the Spitfire's restoration in time for it to fly from Filton yesterday
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vulcan bombers were stationed there, and the last Concorde to fly, Concorde 216, is parked there.
There are plans for an aviation museum on the site, hosting both Concorde and the Bristol Aero Collection of British-designed aeroplane memorabilia from the last century.
The final flights from Filton will take off on Friday, before the aerodrome is decommissioned.
End of an era: The Mark IX Spitfire was originally built in around 1943 and is the last plane to be completed at the airfield
Attention to detail: Here, Steve Atkin of Warbird Colour repaints the Spitfire in its original colours
Stripped back: The Spitfire was the last plane to be built at Filton, the home of British-built Concorde
Quite a paint job: Steve Atkin and Alec Kinane of Warbird Colour raced to finish repainting the classic plane
VIDEO A newly restored Supermarine Spitfire taking it's very first, and last flight out of Bristol Filton Airport
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