Editorial

When the Second World War ended in Europe on May 8, 1945, Group Captain Aleksander Gabszewicz, the Commanding Officer of No. 131 (Polish) Wing, had been flying combat missions since the beginning of the war when Germany first invaded his home country on September 1, 1939. Shortly after Poland was overrun by the Germans, he and his remaining fellow airmen served with the reorganized Polish Air Force under RAF Command. Logging five years of battles was rare for an Allied pilot, and equally unique was the last airplane he flew: Spitfire TD240, the first low back bubble-canopy Mk XVI to be delivered to the Wing. Other features that set it apart were its clipped wings and the latest Packard Merlin 266 engine that was optimized for low-level ground-attack and fighter-bomber roles—the bulk of Gabszewicz’s missions at that time. It’s no surprise then that he pulled rank and grabbed one!

In our feature story “Spitfire with a Punch,” Squadron Leader Clive Rowley, MBE, RAF (Ret.), a former officer commanding the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, tells the incredible story behind the latest color scheme for the Flight’s Spitfire Mk XVI TE311, the same type Captain Gabszewicz flew! The story and photos are a world exclusive and as a matter of fact, John Dibbs shot the airplane just a few weeks before we shipped this magazine, so you are seeing these fantastic photos first. Special thanks need to go out to Clive and John for getting everything together in record time.

The rest of the issue contains quite a range of aircraft periods including another rarity, the Golden Age WACO “Super Sport” S3HD, also trumpeted as the King of WACOs; Ted Carlson’s take and usual killer photos on the Marines’ latest F-35 Lightning II fighter—a fifth generation lethal weapon; and one of the most iconic airplanes and ground-pounding workhorses of the Vietnam War, the F-105 Thunderchief, aka “Thud”!

Climb in and grab the stick!