{"id":13263,"date":"2026-04-13T16:13:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T16:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/13263\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T16:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T16:13:19","slug":"incredible-pictures-show-spitfire-as-it-passes-over-merseyside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/13263\/","title":{"rendered":"Incredible pictures show Spitfire as it passes over Merseyside"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The legendary warplane is celebrating 90 years since the first Spitfire flight<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Incredible pictures show the Spitfire passing Formby \" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-13-at-105723jpeg.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Incredible pictures show the Spitfire passing Formby \" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Incredible pictures show the Spitfire passing Formby (Image: Liverpool Echo \/ Colin Lane)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Incredible pictures show a Spitfire which flew over Merseyside this morning, Monday, April 13. The legendary warplane passed over the region on its way from Scotland to <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/north-wales\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Anglesey<\/a> to mark 90 years since the first <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/history\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Spitfire <\/a>flight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The flight, part of a lap of Great Britain to celebrate the<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/history\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\"> 90th anniversary<\/a> of the Spitfire&#8217;s first test flight in 1936, took off from Glasgow Prestwick Airport on the west coast of Scotland at 10am. The flight to <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/north-wales\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">RAF Valley<\/a> in <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/north-wales\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Anglesey<\/a> was expected to take an hour and 15 minutes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Maps showed the plane would pass over <a aria-label=\"SeftonLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/sefton\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Sefton<\/a>, Liverpool and the <a aria-label=\"WirralLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/wirral\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Wirral<\/a> before turning along the North Wales coast towards RAF Valley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The Spitfire, a genuine model that was flown in <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/history\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">WWII<\/a>, flew by with two RAF Hawk jets, and our photographer captured some brilliant shots of it as it passed <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/formby\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Formby<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It has been given a turquoise paint job to replicate the original prototype. The prototype for the plane that became the Spitfire was first flown by Captain Joseph &#8220;Mutt&#8221; Summers on March 5, 1936. On landing, Summers is reported to have said: &#8220;Don\u2019t change a thing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The Spitfire is midway through its journey around the UK, having taken off from Southampton Airport on April 7. The plane flew along the south coast and then north, flying close to east London and across Essex before turning toward RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Our photographer captured these incredible shots from Formby beach\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-13-at-105737jpeg.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Our photographer captured these incredible shots from Formby beach\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Our photographer captured these incredible shots from Formby beach(Image: Liverpool Echo \/ Colin Lane)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It headed north along the east coast to Scotland, landing in Fife and then Lossiemouth in the Highlands before spending Saturday night at Prestwick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">After passing over Merseyside and landing at RAF Valley, the legendary fighter will follow the Welsh coast to MOD St Athan in South Wales, with stops at RAF St Magwan in Cornwall and Exeter Airport before landing back at Southampton Airport.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The Spitfire 90th anniversary circumnavigation of Great Britain is a joint initiative by the RAF, led by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and Spitfires.com.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you by signing up to our<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/data.reachplc.com\/212764146160855\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"> daily and breaking newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Sign up to our breaking news newsletter<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/data.reachplc.com\/212764146160855\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"> here<\/a>. Follow us on<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/twitter\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"> X<\/a><a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LivEchonews\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"> @LivECHONews<\/a> or on<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/liverpoolecho.co.uk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"> Bluesky @liverpoolecho.co.uk<\/a> &#8211; official Liverpool ECHO accounts &#8211;<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"> real news in real time<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">We&#8217;re also on<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theliverpoolecho\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"> Facebook\/theliverpoolecho<\/a> &#8211; your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Liverpool ECHO.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Join the Liverpool ECHO Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community to receive the latest news straight to your phone<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/news\/liverpool-news\/join-liverpool-echos-whatsapp-community-26664885\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"> by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The legendary warplane is celebrating 90 years since the first Spitfire flight Incredible pictures show the Spitfire passing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6200,126,2756,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-13263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-formby","9":"tag-in-the-news","10":"tag-liverpool","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116398287028894322","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}