During the Nazi occupation, like many other fellow Czech pilots, Dolezal fled to Poland and later to France. When the World War Two broke out, he became a member of L`Arme de l`Air. The majority of Czech fighter pilots in France served under Dolezal flew Morane Saulner MS-406. During the French campaign he shot down 4 German fighter planes, 3 of them confirmed kills and 1 probable. He was honored with the Croix dr Guerre.

On June 16th, 1940, when France capitulated, Dolezal with other pilots flew to Africa and then further to Liverpool, where he spent time in quarantine at the Cholmondeley camp. After his stay in the camp he was automatically admitted to RAF as Pilot Officer (P/O) (Earlier in France he was promoted to first lieutenant. After spending time in the air depots he was transferred to Duxford, where the 310th Czechoslovakian air command wing was created. Due to large number of pilots, he was finally moved to the 19th Wing.

During the service at the 19th Wing, Dolezal shot down 4 Luftwaffe aircrafts and damaged one. In the struggle with a Messerschmitt Bf-109 his knee was injured. After recovering from his injury, Dolezal he sat again into his Spitfire.

When he returned to the 310th, he was immediately appointed as the wing commander and simultaneously promoted to Flight Lieutenant (F/Lt). Later, he became a commander and was promoted to Squadron Leader (S/Ldr). During his service at 310th Wing, Dolezal shot down 2 aircrafts and damaged 2 other. On Sept 1st, 1942, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (D.F.C.) for excellent service.

After completing his operation duties, he became a co-comander of Churstaton, where the 312th and 313th Wings just stayed.

He started his second operational tour as Wing Comander (W/Cdr). He took command of the second Czechoslovakian Wing when the comander Karel Mrazek left. In this office, he also achieved his last victory - he again damaged German aircraft. On June 17th, 1944, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) for his excellent commanding skills.

After finishing his second operational tour, he finally left operating service and was appointted Czech liaison officer. Later, he worked as a Czechoslovakian air force inspector in London. In 1944 he moved to the U.S., where he studied at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. After completing his studies, he went back to London where he continued to work as a Czechoslovakian air force inspector. At the beginning of 1945 Dolezal was promoted to major and on March 3rd, 1945 he left the RAF and started to work at Ministry of national defense in London.

He was one of the first RAF pilots (as a member of pentamerous army delegation) to returned to homeland after the WWII. Then he worked at Air Force Headquarters at Ministry of defense. During the service flight from Prague to Zlin he lost his life tragically in an accident in a training plane -Sibel Si 204. It was on Oct 4th, 1945 when the plane crashed near Bucovice na Morave.

A funeral of Frantisek Dolezal was on Oct 12th, 1945.

His medals

4 times The Czechoslovakian army cross
3 times Czechoslovakian medal for bravery
Czechoslovakian medal for merit
Croix de Guerre
Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Flying Cross
The 1939 - 1945 Star
Air Crew Europe Star
Defence Medal
War Medal

Achieved victories:
10 certainly
4 damaged
2 probably shot down


The plane

Plane known as a Supermarine Spitfire was designed by the famous builder Redginald Mitchell. A prototype, as we know it today, was completed on Feb 18th, 1936 and its first flight was on March 5th, that same year. This prototype had an RR Merlin C engine and was powered by wooden twin-leaved propeller. The British air force initially ordered 310 planes, but due to the very complicated manufacturing process, they got the first delivery only in 1938. Small modifications were made, engine horse-power was increased and the Spitfire got also three-bladed, two-position, metal propellers. The first version of Spitfire was called Mark I., MkI. for short. The plane was armed with 8 machine guns Browning 7.7 mm, but it wasn't enough for fight with very well equipped Messerschmitt Bf-109's. Therefore a new prototype of Spitfire was made. It carried two 20 mm Hispano cannon and more powerful engine RR Merlin, the prototype was called MK. V. b. and it proved to be pivotal in the battle for Great Britain. Czech pilots were quite familiar with these machines and they value them highly, especially for their agility and speed. These planes were designed to almost reach the speed of sound when they dive.

Technical description:

It is a single seater made of duralumin with a landing gear retracted to the ends of the wings. The plane was powered by three-bladed, two-position, metal propeller and Merlin engine by Rolls Royce.

Technical parameters:

Type: one-man interceptor plane
Drive: in-line V-engine Rolls-Royce Merlin 45
Engine output: 1103 kW (1500k)
Max. speed: 594 km/h at an altitude of 5945m
Flying range: 1827 km
Ceiling: 10 000 m
Weight: 2 267 kg
Armory: 4 machine guns Browning 7.7 mm with 350 cartridges for one gun and two great guns Hispano 20 mm with 60 cartridges for gun
Dimensions:

Wingspread: 11.23 m
Length: 9.12 m
Height: 3.02 m
Wing surface: 22.48 m²
3923 copies of Mk. V. b. version were built.


Construction:

Used components:

Kit: Tamiya Spitfire Mk. V.
PE detailed sets: Spitfire Mk V from Eduard

Construction:
At first, I assembled the interior with parts from the kit and PE detail set, based on information from the pictures of the original aircraft. I painted everything with basic interior color. Then, I slightly painted details and shaded them with oil color (brown + black 50/50). It highlighted the edges and gave the cockpit smooth worn look. Then I glued instrument panel. First I sanded the original plastic panel parts and glued on color etched parts, that make the work easier. After long struggle with panel and fitting the cockpit I painted the pilot seat with red brown color, added seat belts and then glued everything into cockpit. As you can see in the pictures of the model, the cockpit is beautifully done, thanks to the cockpit set. I glued this whole part into a fuselage and fitted the fuselage halves. Then I moved to wings. I easily fitted wings and glued them to a fuselage, and I also had to fill the transitions between wings and fuselage. I used Pelikan glue for filling all joints. This glue is better than putty, because putty surfaces can deform over time, resulting in ugly spots on the surface of the model. Assembling the kit went well without any problems, except I had to re-scribe the panel lines where it was needed. It was done quickly, but I got into trouble at the transition between wings and fuselage. I was able to solve them only a week later, when I used a special mask and decals for wing edge lines canopy and rounded curves. I filled in details, antenna and I prepared various parts (landing gear, cockpit canopy, propellers), which I attached to the model after the coloring.

Painting and camouflage:
For camouflage, I decided to make a Frantisek Dolezal's plane. His machine was painted in typical RAF colors: dark green, sea grey and medium gray. I sprayed the model with a help of double-acting spray gun and I used also masks. I also drew plane's wastage spraying slightly mixed colors from the spray gun.

Transfers:
Applying the transfers was very easy. I sprayed whole surface with shiny enamel.

Weathering:
First I depicted small damages and paint scratches at the panel transition. Then I painted joints with oil colors and sprayed the entire plane with another coat of enamel. This created the look of a worn plane.

Details:
When I finished painting and camouflage I glued on antennas, rearview mirror on the canopy and also a propeller and landing gear bay.