Signed Spitfire scrambles to lift nation's spirits

摘要

Some 80 years ago the sight and sound of Merlin-powered fighters scrambling from RAF Duxford airbase lifted the spirits of those living though the dark days of the Battle of Britain when, for the person in the street, the country was in wartime lockdown, Nazi invasion could occur at anytime and no one had any idea when this would go on for. Today, a single blue Spitfire, with 'Thank U NHS' painted on the underside, is also bringing a spark of joy to those on the front line of the fight against Covid-19 by performing flypasts of Britain's hospitals. It is also flying with a rapidly growing number of handwritten names of the lost loved ones, friends, doctors, nurses and essential workers in aid of NHS Charities Together. The initiative is the brainchild of warbird pilot, engineer and owner of Duxford's Aircraft Restoration Company (ARCo), John Romain. A legendary figure in the vintage aircraft display and restoration circuit, Romain was hooked on aviation from an early age from watching the 1969 film, The Battle of Britain, filmed at Duxford in a time when, oddly, there were few Spitfires and almost no Hurricanes flying.