LA-198 was built by Vickers-Supermarine in Marston in 1944 and had some action in England before coming to RAF Abbotsinch in 1946. She had engine issues, described as a “prang on the runway” in the log book & required extensive repairs and was ultimately retired from active service in November 1953. After a stint in the film The Battle of Britain, she was in storage & gradually deteriorated but was brought back to pristine condition at The Museum Of Flight in East Fortune in the early 2000s, before coming to Kelvingrove Art Gallery in 2006.
Spitfires were essentially a thin aluminium shell with an engine, offering little in the way of protection from enemy fire. Pilots, some as young as 18, only had steel plating behind their seats to shield them from bullets. If they needed to abandon their aircraft the canopy had to be manually popped open, preferably while flying upside down to make use of gravity for a speedy exit! To aid escape the plane was fitted with a crowbar to jimmy open the canopy, should it become jammed shut.
LA-198 stands as a vivid memorial to those daring Second World War pilots and brings thoughts and prayers to all those fighting just now in Ukraine 🇺🇦
