Page 12 - March 2018

effectively target and destroy attacking enemy aircraft.
She flew with 285 Squadron until late February,
1943, after which the Defiant returned to her
manufacturers for a major inspection. By May, 1943, The Canadian Aerospace Artists Association
N1671’s war was effectively over, and she moved to
No.10 MU at Hullavington for storage. By a stroke of Dedicated to the Advancement of Aerospace Art In
luck in September, 1944, someone at the British Canada
Air Ministry was far-sighted enough to order the
preservation of a few key airframes involved in the ASAA Call For Entries
Battle of Britain for eventual museum display.
This included three Spitfire Mk.Is, a brace of Hurricane The American Society of Aviation Artists has issued a
Call For Entries for the 2018 International Aerospace Art
Mk.Is, a Bf 109E, and even a Fiat CR.42. And so all of Exhibition to be held at the Palm Springs Air Museum,
the aircraft were dutifully disassembled and packed Palm Springs, California from Apr 22- July 31, 2018.
into storage crates. Defiant N1671 remained in her Selected works will be the best submitted by artists from
around the world. In addition to ASAA sponsored awards,
packing crate for the next two decades, the RAF
prizes sponsored by Boeing, ForeFeathers Enterprises, &
moving her from one storage site to another around Winsor-Newton will be awarded. This Exhibition is open
the UK. She finally emerged for public display in to ASAA members as well as non-members. To
1960 at RAF St.Athan, near Cardiff, Wales, although download a printable form, click here.
oddly painted in a day fighter scheme, and
mis-identified as ‘N1617’. Regardless, this Defiant had
beaten all the odds against her survival, and was the
last complete survivor of her breed.
For an in depth history of the airframe, please click
HERE to see the official RAF file on N1671.

Defiant N1671 is now on display within the War in the Air Hangar at RAF Museum
Cosford. In the background, you can see several other important fighter aircraft,
such as Battle of Britain veteran Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I K9942
(the oldest extant Spitfire), Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIc LF738
and Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 Wk.Nr.10639 ‘Black Six’. (RAF Museum photo)
Other than the mostly shredded remains from a
couple of wartime crashes, the only other credible
representation of the Defiant is a full-scale replica
which the Boulton Paul Association built from
scratch in the 1990s and early 2000s for the now sadly
disbanded Boulton Paul Heritage Museum on
site at the original Boulton Paul factory in
Wolverhampton. The replica is now on display at the
Kent Battle of Britain Museum in Hawkinge, Kent.