© Darren Harbar
Hurricane Mk IIC LF363
Hurricane LF363 was built at the Hawker factory at Langley near Slough . It first flew in January 1944 and is amongst the last Hurricanes to enter service with the RAF . The aircraft served with No 63 Squadron at Turnhouse , No 309 ( Polish ) Squadron at Drem , where it was used on shipping protection patrols off the east coast of Scotland , and No 26 Squadron with which it flew naval artillery spotting and reconnaissance sorties before the end of the War . LF363 was then stored in the open air at Langley , waiting to be scrapped . Fortunately , it was rescued in mid-1949 , largely through the intervention of Air Vice Marshal Stanley Vincent CB , DFC , AFC . After arranging for LF363 to be made airworthy , Stanley Vincent himself led the Battle of Britain flypast over London in the aircraft in September 1949 . Between 1949 and 1956 , LF363 was held and maintained , rather unofficially , by a series of frontline squadrons and Station Flights , being flown on ceremonial occasions and appearing in various films . After a major re-fit at Hawkers , LF363 became a founding aircraft of the Historic Aircraft Flight , the forerunner of the BBMF , when it was formed in 1957 .
LF363 suffered a major accident on 11th September 1991 when , as a result of an engine failure , it crashed on the runway at RAF Wittering . The aircraft was seriously damaged by the impact and the ensuing fierce fire ; fortunately the BBMF pilot escaped with a broken ankle and minor burns . Subsequently , LF363 was re-built by Historic Flying Ltd between 1994 and 1998 and then re-joined the BBMF after 7 years out of action . LF363 is now painted to represent the September 1940 colour scheme of Hurricane Mk1 V6665 , ‘ RF-J ’, of 303 Kosciusko ( Polish ) Squadron .