Roseland Spitfire displayed in Windsor

By Eric Dumigan | July 20, 2018

The Michael Potter Aircraft Collection MK.IX Spitfire and P-40 Kittyhawk will be on display all weekend at the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association, located at the Windsor International Airport.

At 13:30 on July 19, the distinctive sound of a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine was heard over Windsor, Ont., as pilot Dave Hadfield arrived from Gatineau, Que., in a recently restored Second World War Supermarine Spitfire IX. The Spitfire, along with a Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk from the Michael Potter Aircraft Collection, will be on display all weekend at the museum.

Windsor is the first leg of a 5,000-mile journey for Dave Hadfield and the Spitfire. From Windsor, Hadfield will fly the fighter to Oshkosh, Wis., for the world’s largest airshow. The Spitfire will be part of a celebration for the Royal Air Force’s 100th anniversary. From there, Hadfield will head to Western Canada, returning the Spitfire to the Comox Air Force Museum where the original restoration of the fighter began in 1999.

The Spitfire MK.IX, TE294 is dedicated to Flt. Lt. Arnold “Rosey” Roseland of RCAF 442 Squadron. Roseland flew 65 sorties in Spitfire MK.IX, MK304, Y2 K. On July 13, 1944, Roseland died when he attempted to bail from his damaged Spitfire after a fight with a group of German Messerschmitts over Normandy. Roseland was just 28 years old.

The Canadian Historical Aircraft Association is located in a former British Commonwealth Air Training Plan hangar that housed No.7 Elementary Flying Training School during the Second World War. The association flies several historic aircraft, including a Harvard, Chipmunk and Stearman. It is also restoring the City of Windsor Avro Lancaster and a de Havilland Mosquito.

The hangar will be open all weekend for people to visit the fighters.