Bidspirit auction | WW2 RARE Battle of Britain

WW2 RARE Battle of Britain pilot Flt Lt Roddick L Smith 151 sqn signed RAF cover. Sir Sydney Camm Historic Aviators cover HA7 1978, flown by Hunter and also signed by the pilot M Snelling AFC. R Smith Flight Commander 412 Sqn RCAF, Flight Commander 126 Sqn RAF, Squadron Commander 401 Sqn RCAF. One of Canada's most skilful Spitfire pilots, his victory total included a shared victory over an Me262 jet fighter. Born in 1922, he joined the RCAF and was sent to Scotland for training on the Spitfire Mk. I. He was posted to Malta with No. 126 Sqn, where his older brother was already serving. His brother was killed in action during their time in Malta, and Roderick himself was forced to bail out of his burning aircraft. On D-Day, he flew over the Normandy beaches as Flight Commander of No. 412 Sqn RCAF. He returned to Canada in December 1944 and retired the next year. Sadly, Roderick Smith died on 16th April 2002. Michael Henry Bruce Snelling AFC (born 1941) is a former British fighter pilot, test pilot and airline pilot. He was the pilot that tested the Harrier and Sea Harrier with the ski-jump take-off method in 1977 and 1978, later adopted by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. The testing began on 5 August 1977 with Harrier XV281. In August 1978 he became the second person to fly the Sea Harrier when he took XZ450 for its sixth flight at Dunsfold. [3] The aircraft itself had been first flown on 20 August 1978. On 13 November 1978 he was the first person to land a Sea Harrier at sea in the Moray Firth on HMS Hermes. The ship was anchored whilst the trials took place. In 1980 he was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air. Harrier GR5 ZD322 of No 233 Operational Conversion Unit RAF (RAF Wittering) in July 1989. He was the first person to fly the Harrier GR5 (ZD318) on 30 April 1985 at Dunsfold Aerodrome. The GR5 would enter RAF service in July 1987, and was designated as the British Aerospace Harrier II. It was the version of the Harrier that would remain in service until its retirement in 2010. It had a larger composite wing and flap system giving greater range and payload than the previous Harrier. On 19 May 1986 he was the first person to fly the single-seat British Aerospace Hawk 200 fighter plane on a flight of 1 hour 20 minutes from Dunsfold. He was a main test pilot on the Sea Harrier. Good condition. Part of Single Vendor collection. We combine postage on multiple winning lots and can ship worldwide.