VENTURA 1/72-SCALE SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE PR Mk.19 WW2 RAF THAI AF PHOTO-RECONNAISSANCE KIT V0501

LIKE NEW OPEN UNBUILT PLASTIC MODEL KIT – INVENTORIED 100% COMPLETE.

Includes Original Instructions & Decals.

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***IF YOU DESIRE TO PURCHASE MULTIPLE KITS AT THE SAME TIME – I WILL COMBINE INTO A SINGLE SHIPMENT AND ADJUST THE INVOICE TO REFLECT THE MOST ECONOMICAL POSTAGE CHARGE FOR ALL ITEMS SHIPPED TOGETHER***

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Additional Information from Internet Encyclopedia

The Mk XIX was the last and most successful photographic reconnaissance variant of the Spitfire. It combined features of the Mk XI with the Griffon engine of the Mk XIV. After the first 25 (type 389s) were produced, later aircraft were also fitted with the pressurised cabin of the Mk X and the fuel capacity was increased to 256 gallons, three-and-a-half times that of the original Spitfire This version was the type 390.

The first Mk XIXs entered service in May 1944, and by the end of the war the type had virtually replaced the earlier Mk XI. A total of 225 were built with production ceasing in early 1946, but they were used in front line RAF service until April 1954.

In 1951, Hainan Island (People's Republic of China) was targeted at the behest of US Naval Intelligence for RAF overflights, using Spitfire PR Mk 19s based at Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong. The last operational sortie by a Mk 19 was in 1963 when one was used in battle trials against an English Electric Lightning to determine how best a Lightning should engage piston-engined aircraft. This information was needed in case RAF Lightnings might have to engage P-51 Mustangs in the Indonesian conflict of the time.