A Qantas captain and a fellow RAAF reservist have completed Spitfire conversion training with 100SQN at Temora, joining a small group qualified to fly the type in Australia.
Flight Lieutenant Lars Larson and Flight Lieutenant Kempton have become Australia's two newest Spitfire pilots after completing conversion training with the RAAF's Air Force Heritage Squadron (100SQN) at Temora.
Both are reservists who fly commercially. They will fly the two Temora-based Spitfires operated by 100SQN, which are among only a handful of the type still flying in Australia. For Larson, a Qantas captain transitioning to the Boeing 787, the Spitfire is a long way from the modern flight deck.
"The Spitfire is cables, it's rudders, it's fabric, it's timber, it's metal. It's a little bit of everything tied in together, with engines that produce an incredible amount of power ... it feels like a billy cart with a V8," he said.
He described the 80-year-old design as one that "is still a handful but a delight to fly around the sky".
Larson's connection to Temora goes back to the museum's earliest days, which makes flying the aircraft something close to a homecoming.
"It's something you almost grew up with, your whole career," he said. "It's such an iconic aircraft. It has so much history. It means so much, not only to the people and this nation, but myself personally."
Kempton, who grew up around historic aircraft, said the appeal went beyond performance.
"The best thing about heritage aircraft is the stories attached to the planes," he said. "Both in the memories of how they did fly and those who flew them, and then the connection with those on the ground moving forward."
Both pilots were guided through their conversion by Flight Lieutenant Stephen Death, who has flown Spitfires for more than 20 years. He said keeping that link to history alive depended on a steady pipeline of pilots.
"We need to keep training people," Death said. "You have to have an ongoing cycle where you've got mentors that can help people, so they become the mentors of the next generation."
100SQN was reformed as the Air Force Heritage Squadron in 2021 and operates airworthy warbirds from two locations: the Temora Historic Flight and the Point Cook Heritage Flight. The Temora aircraft were transferred from Temora Aviation Museum to the RAAF in 2019. Museum staff maintain them, and the pilots who fly them are inducted into the RAAF Reserve.
Another Spitfire is due to return to the air at Temora soon.