Airfix have just announced a new 1:24 Scale kit of the ever-popular Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc!
This new edition replicates the unofficial 'Operation Cheers' missions in which ingenious airmen strapped beer barrels to Spitfires and dropped them off for parched troops across the channel - a true showing of British morale and grit.
This Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc kit in 1:24 scale includes parts required to truly replicate the beer carrying Spitfire ‘Flying Dray’. And each kit also includes a FREE Airfix Pint Glass too! Expected in stock August 2025.
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About the Kit
Included in this special release are high detail resin parts required to truly replicate the beer carrying Spitfires ‘Flying Drays’:
- 2 x Beer barrels, including lids barrel ends.
- 2 x Nose cones (Information available indicates that these were probably made from the rear end of a P-51 drop tank)
- 2 x Bomb racks
- 1 x Slipper tank
Also included in this release is an external canopy masking set for the clear parts and a special edition pint glass, dedicated to ML208, one of the aircraft known to have participated in these missions.
About the Missions
A few weeks after D-Day, a newspaper ran a story that reported that only watery cider and poisoned water was available to our boys on the front. Sadly, no spare transport aircraft were available to bring non-essential items to the forward landing grounds. As a result of this, Several of the Squadrons who were previously operating out of the airfields along the south-coast are thought to have taken part. After initially using long range fuel tanks, the next methodology utilised was to fly beer in a cask. A modification was carried out to enable the cask to be carried on the Spitfires’ bomb racks. Pilots with the RAF’s No. 131 (Polish) wing, claimed to have invented the idea of the “beer bomb”, using casks that had home-made nosecones fitted to make them more aerodynamic. “Beer Bombs” were adopted by the Canadians and USAF during the war.