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Spy Spitfire over China – The PR Detachment of No. 81 Squadron at RAF Kai Tak 1951 – 1953


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It was one of those warm August afternoons some twenty years ago. I had just arrived from my local library with a bag full of “Aeroplane Monthly” magazines. I sat at the terrace with a cup of coffee and started to read. Soon I was flying high above the South China Sea with Flt Lt Edward C. Powles en-route to photograph Yulin harbor at Hainan Island. I hardly noticed the sudden afternoon rain shower; so fascinating was the story told by Flt Lt Powles.

When Airfix released their 1/48 scale Spitfire PR.XIX it was clear that I will build PS852, Powles’ favourite Spitfire. After an extensive research and build here is how she turned out. I painted my model with Humbrol 230 and a finishing coat of Humbrol 135. Because I used a paint brush, several coats were required.

PS852_1_zpsyrirxwbk.jpg

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PS852 was built at Southampton (Shacklady & Morgan) or at Eastleigh (Spitfiresite). It was a Type 390 with pressurized cockpit and RR Griffon 66 engine. Construction Number was (possibly) 6S.594676 (Spitfirsite). On 31st of October 1944 PS852 was taken in charge by PRU Benson. It was transferred to No. 541 Squadron on January 9th, 1945 and again to No. 542 Squadron on May 8th, 1945 (Shacklady & Morgan). After that the literature gives confusing data until 1950s. I couldn’t find any information when PS852 and its’ companion PS854 were transferred to the FEAF. Powles wrote that the two PR.XIXs were made available to him on December 31st, 1950 at RAF Seletar. That gives a hint that these two Spitfires were at MBFE’s (Maintenance Base Far East) custody.

In the early 1950s No. 81 Squadron had five Spitfire PR.XIXs at RAF Seletar (PS836, PS852, PS854, PS888 and PS890). According to photographs on RAF Seletar website they were painted PRU Blue overall with D –type roundels in four positions. Orders to paint all PR aircraft with PRU Blue were given in AP 2656A Vol.1 Sect. 6 para. 51 (issued in October 1944). Photographs of PS852 and PS854 confirms this camouflage.

ps852_4_zps4cc4qxvk.jpg

PS852 in it's original paint photographed in early 1950s at RAF Kai Tak (Copyright J.E. Steele).

A close up shows Flt Lt E.C. Powles sitting in the cockpit of a Spitfire PR.XIX (PS852 or PS854). Note the original wartime stenciling below the cockpit (Copyright E.C. Powles)

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I used stencils from Kitsworld's decal sheet. However they had to be modified heavily (some very, very careful cutting) because they were pretty inaccurate.

PS852_6_zpsrrfcnezh.jpg

For example take a look at the yellow "HOOD RELEASE" text. It should read "HOOD RELEASE ON TOP" but what can you do. Some extremely careful cutting was required when I corrected the oil capacity number to 9 and airspace to 3! I also added the "12 VOLTS" marking; PS852 and PS854 were the only Spitfires at RAF Kai Tak with 12 volts system. Those Mk. 24s of No. 80 Squadron had 24 volt systems. This is my wild guess as I haven't found photographic evidence to back this up.

Note also the dark grey exhaust stains that gives a hint that this aircraft has been flown at low altitudes with rich mixture setting and high power. Properly leaned and with correct cruise power set these stains should be light grey or almost white.

PS854_1951_zpsyc7x7c5n.jpg

Here is a photo of PS854. It is possible that Flt Lt Powles himself is sitting in the cockpit (Copyright E.C. Powles). As Powles wrote:

"When I was sitting in the cockpit of PR.XIX, with all my safety and survival equipment and with the seat in the lowest level, there was just half an inch between the top of my tropical cloth helmet and the canopy".

Note also how weathered the aircraft seems to be. Jim Kiker (see Hyperscale website for Jim's article on PR.XIX build) was lucky to interview Flt Lt Powles who told him that when he asked these two Spitfires to be repainted, no paint was available. According to Powles the other Spitfire was then painted with a mix of Roundel Blue and Post Office Red. Soon after that PRU Blue was suddenly available at RAF Kai Tak!

As the Officer Commanding 81 (PR) Squadron detachment Flt Lt Powles flew 107 photo reconnaissance missions out of RAF Kai Tak. In February 1951 he was asked to photograph an airfield in mainland China. The job was a low level oblique line overlap. Powles wrote: " I was reluctant to use one of our Spitfires as they were painted PR Blue." This tells to a modeller that in February 1951 both Spitfires were still PRU blue.

A new order concerning aircraft camouflage -AMO A.217/51- came into force on April 19th, 1951. According to the document all PR aircraft were to be painted with PRU Blue and Medium Sea Grey. High gloss finish was required. Two different paint schemes were introduced.

Powles photographed the Yulin harbor on May 22nd, 1951. He asked the ground crew to clean PS852 carefully. After a flight time of 3 hours 30 minutes Powles made a Dead Stick Landing back at RAF Kai Tak. Another Dead Stick Landing followed on August 27th, when Powles photographed Haikou harbor. By the end of January 1952 Powles had completed 63 photographic reconnaissance missions and 36 high altitude weather observation flights.

On February 5th, 1952 Powles made his best known mission. He climbed to 51.500 ft with PS852 and was forced to made an emergency descent from that altitude. It took three minutes(!) to reach the altitude of 3000 ft! During the dive Powles was flying at M 0,96! PS852 was given a thorough check and was declared airworthy by the end of the month.

PS854_Aberdeen_zps8zujuutz.jpg

Powles took this shot of PS854 flying at 1800 ft near Aberdeen fishing village in Hong Kong using the Spitfires oblique camera (the Fiducials are visible in the original print). The pilot of PS854 was Sgt Ken Walker. According to Flt Lt Powles: "...shortly after PS854 was repainted". Sgt Walker arrived RAF Kai Tak in September 1952. So PS854 was repainted in early autumn 1952. The question is: when was PS852 repainted?

"Flight" magazine's photographer Norman Macmillan photographed PS852 and PS854 sometime between February 22nd and March 4th, 1953 at RAF Kai Tak. These pictures were published in "Flight" magazine in colour on May 29th, 1953.

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Another one showing just PS852 but taken at the same time:

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For comparison here is my PS890 of No. 81 Squadron in MSG/PRU Blue scheme. PS852 and PS854 had also fuselage sides and spinners painted with MSG.

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Powles confirmed to Jim Kiker that PS852 was painted with PRU Blue and MSG with red and white spinner when he flew his record breaking high altitude mission on February 5th, 1952. Two questions arise:

1. Was the spinner later again repainted with MSG?

2. Red and white spinner was the mark of HKAAF, why would No.81 Squadron had used it?

On December 18th, 1952 AMO A.685/52 came into force. It stated that all PR aircraft must be painted with High Speed Silver overall. Flt Lt Powles' "Tour" in the Far East was complete a few days before Macmillan pictured the two camouflaged Spitfires at RAF Kai Tak. So Powles never flew a silver coloured PS852 or PS854.

In the end the two Spitfires were painted with HSS with red/white spinners and transferred to Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force on March 23rd, 1954 (PS852) and on August 6th, 1954 (PS854). Here is PS852 in it's last paintwork:

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A detail shot showing the propeller:

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The most common Jablo propeller had it's blades made of compressed "Jablo Wood". These blades were marked with pink discs containing numeric information about the blades. Airfix gives yellow discs which were for the rare blades made out of birch(?) tree. Do not use those manufacturer's winged logos either as they were not used in the 1940s or 1950s. The blade leading edges were mostly reinforced with brass plates so do not use aluminium paint to mark wear unless you are certain about the propeller type used in your particular Spitfire. Note also that Griffon rotated counter clockwise when viewed from the cockpit.

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I am not sure about the underwing serials. According to the photographs they were rather small but I can't tell when they were painted on. PS854 carried them at least after repaint in the fall of 1952. Here is a photo of PS854 for comparison:

PS85X_zps9kom0jgu.jpg

Some modellers think that the serials were white but I think they were painted with gloss black. If they were white then also the last digit should be visible. Some versions of this photo suggests that the spinner was white. The spinners of the three other Spitfires at RAF Seletar were painted white just before their retirement from service.

The original "wartime"serials on the fuselage are interesting also: the last digits sat higher than the first ones. Take another look at this photo.

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This close up shows the corrected rocker cover bulges, some added hatches and landing gear down indicators. If you use Kitsworld's stencils remember that the fuel grade was 100/130 octane, not the fuel amount.

So my Dear Fellow Modeller:) You've read so far. Thank You for your time and hope to see you again!

Best Regards,

Antti

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Lovely looking models and great historical content too. 

I quite fancy doing one of the Hong Kong PR Spits in the MSG scheme with PRU Blue undersides and black anti glare panel.

Cheers

            Tony 

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Here are my main references for this study:

 

Aeroplane Monthly, August 1993, "High drama" by E.C. Powles

Aeroplane Monthly, November 1998, "Spy Spitfires over China" by E.C. Powles

Aeroplane Monthly, December 1998, "Spy Spitfires over China" by E.C. Powles

Scale Models, October 1978, "The early Griffon Spitfires", Peter Cooke

Aeroplane Monthly, April 2008, "Database - Photo-reconnaissance Spitfires"

Spitfire - the history, Shacklady & Morgan

Spitfiresite

British Aviation Colurs of World War two, John Tanner

Flight, several numbers, 1953

Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk. XIX, Zdenek Patek & Robert Theiner

Aircam Aviation series No. 8, Richard L. Ward & Ted Hooton

AP 1565T & W - P.N., April 1946, Crown Copyright

Hyperscale, "Modelling the Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk. XIX", Jim Kiker

RAF Seletar website, especially photographs by Fg Off Gidden

Many websites (Airliners etc.)

 

BR,

Antti

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Thank You F-32 and Dave:)

 

Indeed Dave, the MSG/PRU Blue scheme is interesting as it was not originally recommended. As Tony mentioned earlier it's very tempting. I remember seeing a topic about the underwing serials. Maybe it was here on Britmodeller or then it was on Key Publishing forum (or PPRUNE...). Someone had studied this particular photo and enhanced it. The serial is PS854.

 

BR,

Antti

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Hello Antti,

Nice kits and thank for sharing the photos.

Did you paint the interior partly in black or overall interior green.

Did'nt find any pics about it.

I'm making PS888, not very original, but I like the scheme.

Congratulations.

Corsaircorp

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1 hour ago, Antti_K said:

Thank You F-32 and Dave:)

 

Indeed Dave, the MSG/PRU Blue scheme is interesting as it was not originally recommended. As Tony mentioned earlier it's very tempting. I remember seeing a topic about the underwing serials. Maybe it was here on Britmodeller or then it was on Key Publishing forum (or PPRUNE...). Someone had studied this particular photo and enhanced it. The serial is PS854.

 

BR,

Antti

That might have been me.... swiss cheese brain these days. I think I took the view that it wasn't clear enough to decide, and the photos of 854 don't show it in the low demarcation scheme

Edited by Dave Fleming
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Hello corsaircorp,

 

and Thank You:) I painted the cockpit with Interior Grey Green overall. the instrument panel is black and the camera interval setting box in place of the gun sight is aluminium with orange and green lights and black knobs (as in the Spitfire PR.XIX in Swedish Air Force museum). Remember that only the two vertical cameras or one oblique camera can be installed at any one time contrary to the Airfix instructions. I followed that Swedish example also with blue-grey cameras and with black and white oxygen bottles.

 

There are two photographs of the cockpit in Aeroplane Monthly, August 1993 ("High drama" by E.C. Powles) showing overall interior grey green cockpit. These photos are not from the "Pilot's Notes"; it is possible that they were taken by Powles himself. After all his basic trade in the RAF was photographer.

 

BR,

Antti

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One further thought - the Flight picture was published in B+W, and I think shows better than the colour one that appeared in Aeroplane Monthly that PS854 is in the darker PRU (?) blue scheme in that photo - another point that leads me to beleive that only PS852 was painted in the low demarcation scheme

 

 

https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953 - 0670.html

 

 

The pic of PS854 over Aberdeen is the fly in this theory - unless it was either taken later than Feb 53, or shows an aircraft in overall PRU blue with an anti-glare panel. I have a suspicion the really dark shot of PS854 is the one painted in blue/red mix.

Edited by Dave Fleming
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3 minutes ago, Antti_K said:

Hello corsaircorp,

 

and Thank You:) I painted the cockpit with Interior Grey Green overall. the instrument panel is black and the camera interval setting box in place of the gun sight is aluminium with orange and green lights and black knobs (as in the Spitfire PR.XIX in Swedish Air Force museum). Remember that only the two vertical cameras or one oblique camera can be installed at any one time contrary to the Airfix instructions. I followed that Swedish example also with blue-grey cameras and with black and white oxygen bottles.

 

There are two photographs of the cockpit in Aeroplane Monthly, August 1993 ("High drama" by E.C. Powles) showing overall interior grey green cockpit. These photos are not from the "Pilot's Notes"; it is possible that they were taken by Powles himself. After all his basic trade in the RAF was photographer.

 

BR,

Antti

Many thanks Antti,

The oblique camera from the airfix is already reaffected to another Spit.

Will make its way into an ICM Mk IX.

I will in my Aeroplane collection, or ask a friend for the August 1993.

I thank you again.

Sincerely.

Corasircorp

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Hello Dave,

 

I used the exact same pages of "Flight" that can be found in the link You posted. I mentioned earlier "...were published in colour..." because there is a note in that magazine on page 658 that says: "Story continues after colour illustrations". I simply thought that they have scanned the original pages in Black and White to create smaller on-line files. I haven't seen the original magazine.

 

In the colour version published later on "Aerplane Monthly" the two Spitfires look very similar in colour which makes me to think that they actually had similar paintwork.

 

Here is a photo that suggests that PS854 actually was painted in the two colour scheme.

PS854_1_zpsqoab3ln7.jpg

The "enhanced" version of this photo shows the last serial digit and it looks like "4".

 

It is also interesting that I couldn't find correct size numerals for the underwing serials. They are a little bit too small in my model. You can see in the photo that two "more" figures could be inserted between the pitot tube and the letter "P". In my model there is more space available. On the other hand the last digit is placed between the long underwing bulge and the landing gear bay.

 

PS852_10_zpsxyohsys1.jpg

 

As can be seen the number "2" completely fills the space between the bulge and landing gear bay. No way I can replace it with bigger decal. Hummm...

 

BR,

Antti

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Hi Antti and all,

 

Nice build of the PR XIX you have there, and it's good to see so much background information on the markings of an old friend, PS852.  I'd like to add a few of small points if I may.  First, it is true that for a couple of days one of the two PRXIX's at Kai Tek was painted with a mix of blue and red, making an interesting purple shade.  Note, however, that Mr. Powles had requested a repaint as both a/c were rather tatty by that time but no PRU Blue was available.  Needless to say that the station commander nearly had a fit when he saw it and the appropriate paint was swiftly procured, which was after all was what Flt Lt. Powles wanted.  Next, it is quite correct to note that the spinners on these a/c were painted white and red; on the other hand, my information is that the spinners were all white at the time of Mr. Powles' record dive incident.  That is why my old build was painted in that fashion.

 

Although my memory may be faulty I think all, or nearly all, of the secret flights that were performed were done at high altitude.  This was done to make detection and intercept a difficult task for the Chinese airmen.

 

As is so often the case, the trickiest part of building a specific aircraft is figuring out the exact time and place.  I was fortunate enough to speak with Mr. Powles and create a model that reflected a specific day in his service in Hong Kong.  A remarkable man in many ways!

 

Cheers, Jim

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Welcome aboard Jim, it's nice to have You here:)

 

Your posting at Hyperscale has been an inspiration for me. So this proves that PS852 was repainted with MSG/PRU Blue in late 1951 / early 1952. PS854 then was repainted in the two colour scheme maybe during the summer / early autumn 1952.

 

So here is a "Time Line" for PS852 and PS854:

- February 1951, both aircraft PRU Blue overall

- February 5th, 1952, PS852 in two colour scheme with white spinner

- September 1952, PS854 photographed in two colour scheme with black anti-glare panel

- February / March 1953; both aircraft pictured in the two colour scheme with black anti-glare panels

 

"Open" questions:

- When were the spinners repainted with MSG?

- Were the spinners painted with white and red when the aircraft belonged to the RAF?

- When were the underwing serials applied?

- Was PS852 actually painted PRU Blue overall with black anti-glare panel? (or was this just artistic freedom?)

 

It seems that my next project will be either PS852 or PS854 in MSG / PRU Blue scheme...;)

 

Best Regards,

Antti

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Hi Antti,

 

I tip my hat to you and those who have helped gather the available information and set up the timeline of markings; I do not think I will have much to add to that.  Meantime, I am sure you have seen this site before:  http://www.spyflight.co.uk/spit.htm  .  I went looking and on that site I was reminded that Flt Lt Powles did fly a few low level sorties, but generally used a borrowed FR XVIII; it was available and better suited to the low level requirements.

 

As to your open questions, I can only make a few educated guesses so take them as just that.  We will need more photographic evidence than is currently available to nail it all down.  My "take," then, is this.  I would suspect that PS852 and PS 854 were likely marked in the same way so that they both progressed through the series of markings you have identified (and I would think at about the same time as well).  I think that the spinners were repainted in MSG at the same time as the MSG/PRU Blue repainting was done.

 

The all white spinner must have come at some later date, perhaps in the spring of 1952.  Since the red and white spinners are known to have been in place after they passed out of RAF hands, that would put the red addition beginning sometime in 1954.  As for the black anti-glare panel on PS852 in the overall PRU Blue, I've not seen other Spits or other PRU Blue a/c with that black panel in period pictures; so I would doubt that but I would have no problem being proven wrong.  Also, I note that the black anti-glare panel on PS852 and PS854 when they were in the MSG/PRU Blue scheme has a higher demarcation line on the fuselage than when they sported the red and white spinners.

 

Regarding the underwing serials, I have no specific knowledge for the date, but I do note that PR type a/c in England got large underwing serials in black in the immediate post-war time frame, and there are pictures of PR Spits showing smaller black underwing serials as early as 1948.  My own conclusion is that the aircraft serving in the Far East would likely have had the same in the 1950-1953 time frame.  Hey, we need a real Boffin here, not just an amateur!  :-)

 

And I have to admit, the MSG/PRU Blue scheme on PS852/4 with the black antiglare panel and white spinner from mid 1952 is my favorite scheme on the Spitfire!

 

Hope this helps, Jim

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Hello Jim!

 

Thank You for these notes:) You've made some very precise observations. For example the differences between colour demarcation lines in silver and in MSG / PRU Blue schemes. To be honest I didn't give much attention to the anti-glare panels. But this helps us whenever "new" photos appear.

 

It was my educated guess as well that underwing serials were already carried in PRU Blue overall schemes; just like in the UK. Unfortunately Fg Off Giddens' early photos of No. 81 Squadron's Spitfires are far too dark to reveal any underwing details. I remember reading (but where) a post on some website where the author said that he painted underwing serials to PS888 in Singapore... Unfortunately he didn't give further details.

 

My first thoughts concerning that dramatic painting of PS852 in a nearly vertical dive (Aeroplane Monthly, August 1993) were that the colours were based on "bad" interpretation of a photograph of PS854. Some twenty years ago I thought that these aircraft were PRU Blue overall with black anti-glare panels.

 

BR,

Antti

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10 hours ago, Antti_K said:

Hello Dave,

 

I used the exact same pages of "Flight" that can be found in the link You posted. I mentioned earlier "...were published in colour..." because there is a note in that magazine on page 658 that says: "Story continues after colour illustrations". I simply thought that they have scanned the original pages in Black and White to create smaller on-line files. I haven't seen the original magazine.

 

In the colour version published later on "Aerplane Monthly" the two Spitfires look very similar in colour which makes me to think that they actually had similar paintwork.

 

 

Antti

 

I know a library that has a complete set, a research trip may be in order. We'll have to agree to disagree on the latter point.

 

In the silver scheme, the serials were further outboard.

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Thank You Dave, excellent info:)

 

Some extra bits to be added in the "PS852 Colour and Markings Timeline". Please do visit that library if that is not too much trouble for You. It would be very interesting to hear about your findings.

 

I haven't really given a thought what happened between 1953 and 1954; Powles and Walker returned to Singapore in early 1953 but the two Spitfires were handed to the HKAAF months later in 1954. Which unit operated these aircraft until the hand over?

 

BR,

Antti

 

 

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Very neat build and thank you for posting all the photos and other interesting tidbits.  I've long wanted to build Power's field repainted violet Spitfire ever since Jonathan/Wally told me about it at a show years ago.  Maybe this is the year...

 

Jim

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Thank You Jim:)

 

It took years to collect all the books, photos and bits of information and now I have collected some more in a matter of hours! Sometimes I wonder how we ever managed to build any models without Google.

 

This is definitely The Year to build violet Spitfires:lol:

 

Best Regards,

Antti

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