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| James Elwyn
Storey and his Spitfire |
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| James Elwyn Storey, in white overalls, with his brother Jack and LV-NMZ at Moron airport, Buenos Aires, Argentina shortly after the epic flight. | ||||||
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Throughout
the history of photography
many individuals have risked their lives, driven by a need to tell a
story or by a desire to capture that elusive image destined to become
an icon. But some photographers risk their lives for something a little
more mundane – to keep their business afloat. One such photographer was
James Elwyn Storey.
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Born in
Argentina on July 13th 1915 to
British parents, Jim and his older brother Jack eventually became
pilots in the RAF during WWII. Jack was a test pilot and Jim spent the
later years of WWII as a reconnaissance pilot in 519, 542 and 543
squadrons. After the war Jim and Jack returned to Argentina, Jim
working as a traffic controller for British South American Airways
(BSAA) and Jack as managing director of Hale Hamilton and Co. of Buenos
Aires.
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Shortly
thereafter they established an
aerial photography business, mostly done with handheld cameras leaning
out of the cockpit of a civilian plane. They then managed to obtain a
government contract to do aerial mapping and so were in need of a more
specialized aircraft. They settled on a Spitfire PRXI - a type Jim had
flown during his time with the RAF. The PRXI was essentially a Mark IX
fighter stripped of all armament and fitted with cameras. Jim returned
to England in the spring of 1947 and purchased his Spitfire from the
Ministry of Supply, RAF registration PL972. The intent was to ship her
to Argentina by boat. Then came word from Jack that if the plane was
not back in Argentina quickly they may loose the contract. Jim decided
to fly his Spitfire to Argentina. Vickers-Supermarine equipped her with
extra external fuel tanks under the fuselage and wings, repainted her
in classic PR blue and applied her new Argentine civil registration of
LV-NMZ. The Argentine oil company Shell-Mex provided assistance with
fuel. On April 29, 1947 Jim started his journey from Bournemouth,
England to Gibraltar. Next on to Dakar, Senegal. From Dakar across the
Atlantic to Natal, Brazil. Then to Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre,
Montivideo, then finally Buenos Aires, Argentina. This monumental trip
set 2 records, one for the heaviest fuel load ever carried by a
Spitfire (428 imperial gallons) and one for the longest flight for a
Spitfire (1850 miles on the Dakar to Natal leg).
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Shortly
after arriving in Argentina Jim
was called upon by the Argentine government to assist in the search of
the civilian BSAA passenger aircraft “Star Dust” that had gone missing
over the Andes on a flight from Buenos Aires to Santiago, Chile. Jim
spent two weeks taking aerial photos of the peaks and valleys of the
Andes along the route travelled by Star Dust. Efforts to find her
failed and for years her last morse code message of STENDEC
has remained a mystery. The wreckage was finally found in 2000. It was
fitting that Jim assisted in the search as he knew the captain of the
lost aircraft and during Jim’s Dakar to Natal flight, not having any
radio direction finding equipment, Jim flew along side “Star Glitter”,
another BSAA passanger aircraft, for the entire leg.
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Soon the
Argentine government canceled
the contract and in July of 1948 Jim was forced to sell his Spitfire to
the Argentine Air Force. Used as a trainer and for towing missile
targets, she was eventually crashed and sold for scrap. It was several
years after the crash that Jim heard of the demise of his beloved
Spitfire.
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| Jim, sporting a classic RAF moustache, seated in the cockpit of LV-NMZ. His Spitfire was powered by a 12 cylinder, 27 liter, 1700 horsepower Rolls-Royce Merlin 70 | ||||||
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Over a
few
drinks at Restaurente Noll in
the little town of Vera Cruz, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Jim told me of
his Spitfire days. It was 1990, and Vera Cruz is a 2 hour car ride from
the city of Porto Alegre where Jim had made a pit-stop 43 years
earlier. As he ended his story there was a quiet pause as Jim’s
thoughts drifted back to 1947 and I saw a tear in his eye.
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Jim died at his home
in England in 1994
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