Initially, it operated a Heinkel He 111H (RAF aircraft registration AW177) shot down in Scotland in February 1940, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 captured during the Battle of France (AE479) (handed over from the Air Fighting Development Unit, AFDU), and a Junkers Ju 88A-5 (HM509).

[3] The Ju 88 was a more recent British acquisition, after the pilot landed at night at RAF Chivenor in the belief it was an airfield in France; the crew had made a navigational error after being deceived by a Meacon.

The aircraft in the unit changed as later marques came into the RAF's hands in various ways; including capture by allied troops, forced or mistaken landings by German pilots, and defections.

The flight cooperated with the RAF Film Unit, for which the usual British markings were removed and original German restored.

Beginning in early 1944, the flight made a round of U.S. Army Air Forces bases in Britain.