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The Story Of Spitfire 944

Jason Hyatt No Comments Military Aviation

I cannot be any more emphatic, FighterSweep Fans: if you call yourself an aviation enthusiast, this is nearly fifteen minutes of video you’re going to want to watch–especially if you love the Spitfire as much as we do. If you don’t, I figure there’s probably something wrong with you!

I love studying military aviation history and have always enjoy learning new things, but this one kinda blew my mind. I honestly had no idea there were American pilots conducting unescorted photo-recce missions over Germany, flying Spitfire Mk XIs with U.S. markings. Annnnnnd….they were unarmed.

Just to let the badassery of the last sentence sink in, I am going to say it again: unescorted photo-recce missions over Germany…with absolutely no offensive or defensive weapons.

The video is one pilot’s reaction to his own emergency landing nearly 60 years ago. It’s a video he knew existed, but one he never had a chance to view.

Photo Courtesy of YouTube.

Photo Courtesy of YouTube.

The pilot is Lt. Col. John S. Blyth, Distinguished Flying Cross recipient.

Cheers to Major James R. Savage and the Savage family for capturing and maintaining the video, and putting together a touching documentary about Spitfire 944. We’re happy to have run across it.

(Featured photo courtesy of J.L. Flinchpaugh Publishing)

About the Author

Jason Hyatt is an aerospace industry professional with over 10 years of experience in the military and commercial aviation sectors. Born and raised in the Southwest United States, an area blessed with over 300 days of sunshine per year, he is fortunate to have been in and around aviation his entire life. After a brief stint as a semi-professional soccer player in the early 2000's, he realized his desire to live and work in aviation. While working for Boeing IDS (now BDS) in 2005, he first picked up a camera and started experimenting with aviation photography and photojournalism. As a freelance aviation photojournalist, he has been able to stay close to military aviation, his primary area of interest.

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