Tag: spitfire

Supermarine Spitfire Mk I

The Spitfire is the most famous British fighter aircraft in history. It won immortal fame during the summer months of 1940 by helping to defeat the German air attacks during the Battle of Britain.

Spitfire Mk1

1566 Spitfire Is were built and this machine at RAF Cosford is the oldest surviving example of its type.

The prototype made its first flight four years earlier as Britain’s industry geared up to re-arm against the threat from Nazi Germany. From the beginning pilots recognised it as a thoroughbred combining a perfection of design with superb handling characteristics.

Perhaps the greatest compliment paid to this aircraft was made at the height of the Battle of Britain by a German ace, who in a moment of anger and frustration, turned to his Commander in Chief and demanded a squadron of Spitfires!

More photographs of the Supermarine Spitfire Mk I at RAF Cosford.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk I at RAF London.

Spitfire Mk1a at the Science Musuem.

Spitfire Mk1a

The Spitfire is the most famous British fighter aircraft in history. It won immortal fame during the summer months of 1940 by helping to defeat the German air attacks during the Battle of Britain.

1566 Spitfire Is were built and the oldest surviving example is at RAF Cosford. The prototype made its first flight four years earlier as Britain’s industry geared up to re-arm against the threat from Nazi Germany. From the beginning pilots recognised it as a thoroughbred combining a perfection of design with superb handling characteristics.

Perhaps the greatest compliment paid to this aircraft was made at the height of the Battle of Britain by a German ace, who in a moment of anger and frustration, turned to his Commander in Chief and demanded a squadron of Spitfires!

Supermarine Spitfire Mk I at RAF London

There is also a Spitfire Mk 1 at RAF Cosford.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk I

The Spitfire is the most famous British fighter aircraft in history. It won immortal fame during the summer months of 1940 by helping to defeat the German air attacks during the Battle of Britain.

The prototype made its first flight four years earlier as Britain’s industry geared up to re-arm against the threat from Nazi Germany. From the beginning pilots recognised it as a thoroughbred combining a perfection of design with superb handling characteristics.

Once the RAF modified their tactics to properly counter the Luftwaffe, the Spitfire MkI proved to be the only British fighter capable of meeting the Messerschmitt Bf109E on equal terms. Often the outcome of a combat depended more on the quality of the pilot than his aircraft.

Perhaps the greatest compliment paid to this aircraft was made at the height of the Battle of Britain by a German ace, who in a moment of anger and frustration, turned to his Commander in Chief and demanded a squadron of Spitfires!

There is also a Spitfire Mk 1 at RAF Cosford.

Spitfire F24

The Spitfire F24 was the ultimate development of the type, but the advent of the jet fighter meant that only small numbers were built and even fewer went into Royal Air Force service.

The last major production Spitfire was the F22. The F24 differed only in the smallest of details and in fact some F24s were converted from F22 airframes. Only seventy F24s were completed and most went into store although No.80 Squadron was fully equipped with the type.

Spitfire F24

These ultimate examples of the Spitfire incorporated all the modifications and improvements developed on earlier marks. The F24s had a tear-drop canopy for greater visibility and enlarged tail surfaces for better control. Like many of the later marks the F24 was fitted with the more powerful Griffon engine which provided a 160kph (100mph) greater top speed than the early Spitfires and almost twice the rate of climb. The weight of firepower from its cannon had tripled over the types’ original fit of eight machineguns. It is perhaps a mark of the propaganda value of the Spitfire name that this very different machine was not re-named.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk I

1566 Spitfire Is were built and this machine at RAF Cosford is the oldest surviving example of its type.

The Spitfire is the most famous British fighter aircraft in history. It won immortal fame during the summer months of 1940 by helping to defeat the German air attacks during the Battle of Britain.

The prototype made its first flight four years earlier as Britain’s industry geared up to re-arm against the threat from Nazi Germany. From the beginning pilots recognised it as a thoroughbred combining a perfection of design with superb handling characteristics.

Perhaps the greatest compliment paid to this aircraft was made at the height of the Battle of Britain by a German ace, who in a moment of anger and frustration, turned to his Commander in Chief and demanded a squadron of Spitfires!

Supermarine Spitfire Mk I - RAF Cosford

 

Plastic Spitfire Kit

1:1 scale Airfix Spitfire as featured on the James May Toy Stories series shown on BBC2, complete with a model pilot.

To see if he can entice a new generation of kids into enjoying model kits, James May assigns a group of pupils with constructing a life-size model of Airfix’s notable kit – the Spitfire. While May must train up the pupils in becoming an organised model-making team, the kit’s life-size parts require a specialist company in Cornwall to create these and handling the issues their creation cause. When the kit is finally created and brought to an air museum for construction, the real test comes with the completed model being able to hold itself together, especially when the supports for the main body are removed. The project proves a success when the completed kit can be showcased to an audience that include the pupil’s parents and RAF WWII veterans.

Behind it is the BOAC de Havilland Comet 1XB.

Supermarine Spitfire at Duxford

The Spitfire is the most famous British fighter aircraft in history. It won immortal fame during the summer months of 1940 by helping to defeat the German air attacks during the Battle of Britain.

There are quite a few Spitfires at Duxford.

The prototype made its first flight four years earlier as Britain’s industry geared up to re-arm against the threat from Nazi Germany. From the beginning pilots recognised it as a thoroughbred combining a perfection of design with superb handling characteristics.

No.19 Squadron put this eight-gun fighter into service in August 1938 and by the outbreak of war, a year later, nine squadrons were equipped. Production rapidly built up and by July 1940 there were nineteen Spitfire I squadrons available. Although Hurricanes outnumbered Spitfires throughout the Battle of Britain, it was the Spitfire which captured the imagination of the British public and enemy alike.

Perhaps the greatest compliment paid to this aircraft was made at the height of the Battle of Britain by a German ace, who in a moment of anger and frustration, turned to his Commander in Chief and demanded a squadron of Spitfires!

This is a Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX at Duxford.

The Spitfire Mk IX was originally developed as a stopgap measure as a response to the appearance of the Focke-Wulf FW 190A.

MH434 was built in 1943 at Vickers, Castle Bromwich.

This Spitfire is remarkably original, having never been subject to a re-build. An absolute delight to fly, the aircraft is beautifully responsive and extremely manoeuvrable.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk I

Supermarine Spitfire Mk I - RAF Cosford

The Spitfire is the most famous British fighter aircraft in history. It won immortal fame during the summer months of 1940 by helping to defeat the German air attacks during the Battle of Britain.

The prototype made its first flight four years earlier as Britain’s industry geared up to re-arm against the threat from Nazi Germany. From the beginning pilots recognised it as a thoroughbred combining a perfection of design with superb handling characteristics.

No.19 Squadron put this eight-gun fighter into service in August 1938 and by the outbreak of war, a year later, nine squadrons were equipped. Production rapidly built up and by July 1940 there were nineteen Spitfire I squadrons available. Although Hurricanes outnumbered Spitfires throughout the Battle of Britain, it was the Spitfire which captured the imagination of the British public and enemy alike.

Perhaps the greatest compliment paid to this aircraft was made at the height of the Battle of Britain by a German ace, who in a moment of anger and frustration, turned to his Commander in Chief and demanded a squadron of Spitfires!

1566 Spitfire Is were built and this machine is the oldest surviving example of its type.

Imperial War Museum London

A few years ago I visited the Imperial War Museum in London. In the main atrium are a range of aircraft and missiles.

This is the view from the back of the hall, I posted photos back in July of the view from the front.

Imperial War Museum

Standing tall on the right if a V2 missile. The V2 was the world’s first long range guided ballistic missile. he missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the Second World War in Germany as a “vengeance weapon”, assigned to attack Allied cities as retaliation for the Allied bombings against German cities.

There is also a Spitfire. The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. There is also a BAE Harrier GR.9 in the background.