Airfix Plastic Model Kit

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc Flying Dray (1/24) A17001A

This special edition Airfix 1/24 scale kit celebrates one of the most unexpected morale-boosting missions of World War II—the ‘Flying Dray’. Following the D-Day landings, supplies in Normandy were scarce, and British Spitfire pilots took it upon themselves to lift spirits the best way they knew how—by delivering beer by air. Using modified bomb racks and slipper tanks, Spitfires transported casks of ale directly to the front.

Replicating this historical oddity in plastic, this limited edition kit features finely detailed resin accessories for the beer barrels and fittings, as well as a masking set for the clear parts. Also included is a commemorative pint glass etched with ‘ML208’, one of the Spitfires known to have participated in these deliveries.

• 1/24 scale plastic model kit
• Highly detailed resin parts:
  • 2 x beer barrels (with lids)
  • 2 x nose cones
  • 2 x bomb racks
  • 1 x slipper tank
• Includes canopy masking set
• Free Special edition pint glass
• Marking Options:
  • Scheme A: No. 302 (Polish) Squadron, France, August 1944
  • Scheme B: No. 611 Squadron, RAF Biggin Hill, England, December 1942
  • Scheme C: No. 73 Squadron, RAF Malta, September 1946

This model kit requires assembly and painting. Glue, paints and tools are not included and must be purchased separately.

History

The Supermarine Spitfire is one of the most iconic aircraft of the Second World War, celebrated for its elegance, agility, and combat effectiveness. The Mk.IXc variant entered service in 1942 as an urgent answer to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It combined the airframe of earlier Spitfires with the powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 engine, making it a formidable high-altitude fighter.

In the summer of 1944, as Allied forces advanced inland after the D-Day landings, an unusual chapter was added to the Spitfire’s legacy. Pilots, using their initiative and spare payload capacity, attached beer barrels to their aircraft and delivered ale directly to the front lines. These impromptu missions, nicknamed ‘Flying Drays’, played a unique role in keeping troop morale high during the grinding campaign in Normandy.

The ‘Flying Dray’ version of the Spitfire has since become a beloved anecdote in aviation lore, demonstrating not just technical brilliance, but a distinctly British sense of humour and camaraderie in the face of war.