The worlds only flying Seafire XVII returns home to Somerset.

Story and photo courtesy of Navy Wings.

Seafire SX336: A West Country icon returns home

There was a special sense of homecoming at RNAS Yeovilton this summer when Seafire SX336 returned to the Navy Wings collection following an extended period away at Old Warden.

Built by Westland Aircraft at Yeovil in 1946, SX336 has a particularly strong connection with the area. Today, she is the only flying Seafire XVII in the world, making her a rare survivor of one of the Royal Navy’s most significant carrier-borne fighter aircraft. Her return to Yeovilton was therefore more than simply the completion of an engineering project, it was the return of a piece of local and naval aviation history to the place where her story began.

From Spitfire to Seafire

The Seafire was the Royal Navy’s carrier-based development of the famous Supermarine Spitfire. Although the Spitfire had been designed as a land-based fighter, its performance and potential made it an obvious candidate for adaptation to naval operations.

The result was the Seafire, modified for the demanding environment of aircraft carriers. Naval versions incorporated features including strengthened airframes, arrester hooks and other equipment required for carrier operations.

Seafires saw extensive service with the Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War, operating from aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Pacific theatres. They were used for fleet defence, reconnaissance and ground attack, and took part in some of the Royal Navy’s major operations.

SX336 belongs to the Seafire XVII variant, which was developed late in the Seafire’s wartime story and incorporated a strengthened structure and a bubble canopy, together with the powerful Rolls-Royce Griffon engine.

By the time SX336 was completed by Westland in 1946, the Second World War was over. Nevertheless, she became part of the post-war story of the Fleet Air Arm and represents an important link with the generation of naval aviators who flew Seafires from Britain’s aircraft carriers.

A Yeovil-built aircraft returns to Yeovilton

The connection between SX336 and Somerset is unusually strong. She was built by Westland at Yeovil in April 1946, only around 15 miles from RNAS Yeovilton. Westland had played a major role in British military aviation for decades, and the company’s Yeovil works became synonymous with naval aircraft and helicopters.

For Navy Wings, bringing SX336 back to Yeovilton therefore has a particular significance. The air station remains one of the UK’s principal centres for Fleet Air Arm aviation, while the Navy Wings hangar provides a fitting home for aircraft that help tell the story of naval aviation.

SX336 left Yeovilton at the end of 2023 after her original engine was approaching the end of its service life. She subsequently went to Kennet Aviation at Old Warden, where work began to return her to flight. A suitable replacement was eventually found in the form of a fully refurbished Rolls-Royce Griffon VI engine. The return-to-flight programme was a complex undertaking, involving specialist engineering, inspection and testing before SX336 could take to the air once again.

There were inevitable challenges along the way, but the project reached its goal with SX336 successfully returning to the skies.

Navy Wings is hugely grateful to the team at Kennet Aviation for their expertise, professionalism and support throughout the project. Returning a historic aircraft to flight is a significant undertaking, requiring specialist knowledge and painstaking attention to detail. Now, after her time away, SX336 is home again at RNAS Yeovilton.

Preserving a living connection to naval aviation

For Navy Wings, aircraft such as SX336 are more than historic artefacts.

Navy Wings is a publicly funded charity that maintains and flies nationally important historic naval aircraft. Its collection forms a living history of the Fleet Air Arm, allowing people to see, hear and experience aircraft that would otherwise exist only in photographs, museums and history books.

Alongside SX336, the collection includes the world’s oldest surviving airworthy Fairey Swordfish, the famous carrier-based torpedo bomber; Sea Fury, Harvard and Chipmunk aircraft; and the Wasp helicopter, which represents a much more recent chapter in naval aviation.

Keeping these aircraft flying is a demanding task. Each aircraft requires specialist engineering, maintenance, skilled pilots and a continuous programme of fundraising and support. The aim is not simply to preserve the aircraft, but to preserve the stories of the people who designed, built, maintained and flew them.

SX336 is a particularly powerful example of that connection. Built in Yeovil in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, operated as part of the wider Fleet Air Arm story and now maintained and flown from Yeovilton, she connects generations of naval aviation in one remarkable airframe.

The return of Seafire SX336 is a significant moment for Navy Wings, but it is also a moment that resonates far beyond the organisation.

For Yeovil and the surrounding area, she is a reminder of the region’s long association with British military aviation and the skilled people who built aircraft here. For RNAS Yeovilton, she provides a tangible link with the Fleet Air Arm’s past. And for everyone who sees her fly, she offers something increasingly rare: the opportunity to experience a genuine piece of naval aviation history in the air.

After her journey away, Seafire SX336 is home once again. And, fittingly, the skies over Somerset and beyond can once again hear the sound of a Griffon-powered Seafire.

Welcome home, SX336