Built as Spitfire F.Vc (Trop) MA863 in mid-1943, this aircraft was shipped to the RAAF in October 1943 and entered service as A58-246. After a crash landing at Lake Tarang, Victoria in August 1945 it was relegated to ground instructional use before disposal and farm storage. Long-term restoration began in 1975, not completed till 2000 after shipment to England in 1998. In March 2000 it was flown by C-5A to Wright Patterson for the USAFM and was initially displayed in RAF camouflage as 'XR-T' of 71 Sqdn. By 2006 it had been repainted as a machine of the 308th FS, USAAF Mediterranean Theatre

This Tropical Spitfire (note the huge cooling air intake) was built for Supermarine under license by Vickers-Armstrong in June 1943. It was shipped to Australia in September 1943, where it served with the RAAF as A58-246. It is on display at the National Museum of the USAF in Operation Torch (the invasion of North Africa in November 1942) markings as MA863 / HL-B 31st Fighter Group, 308th Fighter Squadron.