As of today the aviation world has one Supermarine Type 300 Spitfire Mk. I in airworthy condition again. AR213 (G-AIST) has completed its first flight after four-years restoration to the original Mk. I configuration. She made two fights today at High Wycombe, yet unpainted, with Jonathon Whaley at the controls.

Pictures are available here or in this forum post at Key Publishing Aviation Forum.

AR213 was one of the last production Mk. Is. Built by Westland, it was delivered to 12 Maintenance Unit in July 1941. It didn’t see combat, but directly relegated to trainer role with 57 and 53 OTUs. After the end of World War II, it was struck off charge and spent many years in storage at Old Warden before being restored to flying condition for filming of the Battle of Britain movie in 1967. Henceforth it used to make regular appearances at airshows, but was grounded in 2003 pending restoration.

The attached video shows AR213′s first post-restoration engine runs which took place on the 28th of June 2007. Wrrooom!