Aero Legends C-47B Dakota IV & Spitfire IX

Aero Legends Douglas C-47B Dakota IV, KP220 and Supermarine Spitfire IX, TD314 flying at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford for the Flying Finale Airshow 2023.
C-47B Dakota IV KP220 was completed at the Douglas Aircraft plant at Santa Monica, California, USA on 8 June 1945. It was given USAAF serial 44-77104, but on 9 June was flown to Montreal, Canada and transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF), becoming Dakota Mk.IV KP220. It was ferried to the United Kingdom (UK), arriving on 19 June and delivered to 435 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), coded 'OFM-R', based at Down Ampney on 1 December. 435 Squadron was part of 46 (Transport) Group, RAF.
In March 1946 435 Squadron returned to Canada, and KP220 was transferred to 46 Group's Air Officer Commanding (AOC), operating from Croydon.
On 27 March 1947 KP220 was transferred to 24 (Commonwealth) Squadron, coded 'ODA-H', at RAF Bassingbourn, used for short range VIP flights. Between 26 June 1948 and 30 September 1949 it took part in the Berlin Airlift with 24 Squadron.
It was retired from RAF service on 15 November 1950 and stored at 22 Maintenance Unit (MU), RAF Silloth, Cumbria.
It went onto the civilian register as G-ANAF on 17 Jun 1953 after purchase by B.K.S Aerocharter Ltd, which later became B.K.S. Air Transport Ltd and was named 'Jean Batten' after the famous aviatrix.
It was registered to Hunting Aero Surveys Ltd, which later became Hunting Surveys & Consultants Ltd, on 7 November 1958.
On 9 April 1973, it was preserved as KP220 by the East Anglian Aviation Society at Duxford. Ownership then went to West Country Aircraft Servicing Ltd at Exeter until 17 October 1977, when it was chartered by Air Atlantique Ltd, who later purchased her during July 1979. She was leased to British Caledonian Airways Ltd in December 1979, then bought by Air Luton Ltd in June 1985 and Topflight in February 1986.
She was chartered by RVL Aviation Ltd at Coventry, with whom she remained until 13 July 2007, when she was again chartered by Air Atlantique Ltd at Coventry.
She was then used for radar trials duties, fitted with a large under-fuselage radome as a test bed for the Searchwater 2000 MR Radar developed by Racal from 1988, for the BAE Nimrod. She was stored at Coventry from 2010, when the Bae Nimrod project was cancelled. In 2014 she was converted to spraying fit for pollution control and returned to RVL Aviation Ltd in a bright red and black livery, as a sea pollution control spraying aircraft, on 13 November 2015. She stayed with them until 29 April 2019, when she was bought by Heritage Air Services Ltd.
On 23 September 2019 she went to her current owners, Aero Legends Leasing Ltd at Headcorn, Kent, UK.
Spitfire TD314 was built at Castle Bromwich in late 1944 and fitted with a Merlin 70 as a High Level Fighter (HF Mk.IXe). She was one of the last high back Spitfires built, as the production line switched to low back aircraft in February 1945. She was delivered to 33 Maintenance Unit (MU) at Lyneham on 30th March 1945, transferring later that month to 30 MU before a further move to 6 MU where she was prepared for service with 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron at Chilbolton on the 24th June 1945. 183 squadron only kept its Spitfires for a short time before re-equipping with Tempests.
TD314 then moved to 234 (Madras Presidency) Squadron at RAF Bentwaters on 26th July 1945. It is in this squadrons colours that she is currently finished with the squadron codes of FX-P. Whilst with 234 Squadron it is possible that TD314 took part in the 1945 Battle of Britain flypast over London. When 234 squadron converted to Meteors, TD314 was transferred to 29 MU at RAF High Ercall for disposal, on the 27th February 1946.
In early 1948 TD314 was selected as one of 136 Spitfire IXs to be sold to the South African Air Force (SAAF) and she was sent to 47 MU at RAF Sealand, where she was packed for shipment. She left Birkenhead on the SS Clan Chattan on 23rd April and arrived at Cape Town on the 12th May 1948. Details of her use with the SAAF are not known but she was sold for scrap to the South African Metal & Machinery CO, Salt River, Cape Town, sometime during 1954. She remained in the scrap yard until recovered by Larry Barnett of Johannesburg in 1969. From there she passed through the hands of several owners before arriving in the UK via Canada in 2009.
She was acquired by Aero Legends in 2011 and restoration started at Biggin Hill, culminating in a first post restoration flight on the 7th December 2013. TD314 has been named “St. George” which is prominently displayed on the fuselage.
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Perfect aircraft. Both of them.