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Supermarine Spitfire

January 17, 2023

"Spitfire" redirects here. For other uses, see Spitfire (disambiguation).

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. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griffon-engined Mk 24 using several wing configurations and guns. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the war. The Spitfire remains popular among enthusiasts; around 70 remain airworthy, and many more are static exhibits in aviation museums throughout the world.

Spitfire
Spitfire LF Mk IX, MH434 in flight 2018: This aircraft shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in 1943 while serving with No. 222 Squadron RAF.
Role Fighter / Interceptor aircraft
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer Supermarine
Designer R. J. Mitchell
First flight 5 March 1936[1]
Introduction 4 August 1938[1]
Retired 1961 (Irish Air Corps)[2]
Primary users Royal Air Force
Produced 1938–1948
Number built 20,351[3]
Variants Supermarine Seafire
Developed into Supermarine Spiteful
Audio recording of Spitfire fly-past at the 2011 family day at RAF Halton, Buckinghamshire

The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928. Mitchell developed the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing with innovative sunken rivets (designed by Beverley Shenstone) to have the thinnest possible cross-section, achieving a potential top speed greater than that of several contemporary fighter aircraft, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith took over as chief designer, overseeing the Spitfire's development through many variants.

During the Battle of Britain (July–October 1940), the public perceived the Spitfire to be the main RAF fighter. In fact, the more numerous Hurricane shouldered more of the burden of resisting the Luftwaffe. The Spitfire was a better fighter aircraft than the Hurricane. Spitfire units had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes, probably because of the Spitfire's higher performance. During the battle, Spitfires generally engaged Luftwaffe fighters—mainly Messerschmitt Bf 109E-series aircraft, which were a close match for them.

After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire superseded the Hurricane as the principal aircraft of RAF Fighter Command, and was used in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific, and Southeast Asian theatres. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire operated in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber, and trainer, and it continued to do so until the 1950s. The Seafire was an aircraft carrier-based adaptation of the Spitfire, used in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 until the mid-1950s. The original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030 hp (768 kW). It was strong enough and adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlins, and in later marks, Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2,340 hp (1,745 kW). As a result, the Spitfire's performance and capabilities improved over the course of its service life.

Development and production

Origins

In 1931, the Air Ministry released specification F7/30, calling for a modern fighter capable of a flying speed of 250 mph (400 km/h). R. J. Mitchell designed the Supermarine Type 224 to fill this role. The 224 was an open-cockpit monoplane with bulky gull wings and a large, fixed, spatted undercarriage powered by the 600-horsepower (450 kW), evaporatively cooled Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine.[4] It made its first flight in February 1934.[5] Of the seven designs tendered to F7/30, the Gloster Gladiator biplane was accepted for service.[6]

The Type 224 was a big disappointment to Mitchell and his design team, who immediately embarked on a series of "cleaned-up" designs, using their experience with the Schneider Trophy seaplanes as a starting point.[6] This led to the Type 300, with retractable undercarriage and a wingspan reduced by 6 ft (1.8 m). This design was submitted to the Air Ministry in July 1934, but was not accepted.[7] It then went through a series of changes, including the incorporation of an enclosed cockpit, oxygen-breathing apparatus, smaller and thinner wings, and the newly developed, more powerful Rolls-Royce PV-XII V-12 engine, which was later named the "Merlin". In November 1934, Mitchell, with the backing of Supermarine's owner Vickers-Armstrong, started detailed design work on this refined version of the Type 300.[8]

On 1 December 1934, the Air Ministry issued contract AM 361140/34, providing £10,000 for the construction of Mitchell's improved Type 300 design.[9] On 3 January 1935, they formalised the contract with a new specification, F10/35, written around the aircraft.[10] In April 1935, the armament was changed from two .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns in each wing to four .303 in (7.7 mm) Brownings,[11] following a recommendation by Squadron Leader Ralph Sorley of the Operational Requirements section at the Air Ministry.[12]

On 5 March 1936,[13][nb 1] the prototype (K5054), fitted with a fine-pitch propeller to give more power for takeoff, took off on its first flight from Eastleigh Aerodrome (later Southampton Airport). At the controls was Captain Joseph "Mutt" Summers, chief test pilot for Vickers, who is quoted as saying, "don't touch anything" on landing.[14][nb 2] This eight-minute flight[12] came four months after the maiden flight of the contemporary Hurricane.[16]

K5054 was fitted with a new propeller, and Summers flew the aircraft on 10 March 1936; during this flight, the undercarriage was retracted for the first time.[17] After the fourth flight, a new engine was fitted, and Summers left the test flying to his assistants, Jeffrey Quill and George Pickering. They soon discovered that the Spitfire[nb 3][20] was a very capable aircraft, but not perfect. The rudder was oversensitive, and the top speed was just 330 mph (528 km/h), little faster than Sydney Camm's new Merlin-powered Hurricane.[22] A new and better-shaped, two-bladed, wooden propeller allowed the Spitfire to reach 348 mph (557 km/h) in level flight in mid-May, when Summers flew K5054 to RAF Martlesham Heath and handed the aircraft over to Squadron Leader Anderson of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE). Here, Flight Lieutenant Humphrey Edwardes-Jones took over the prototype for the RAF.[23] He had been given orders to fly the aircraft and then to make his report to the Air Ministry on landing. Edwardes-Jones' report was positive; his only request was that the Spitfire be equipped with an undercarriage position indicator.[24] A week later, on 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 Spitfires,[25] before the A&AEE had issued any formal report. Interim reports were later issued on a piecemeal basis.[26]

Initial production

The British public first saw the Spitfire at the RAF Hendon air display on Saturday 27 June 1936. Although full-scale production was supposed to begin immediately, numerous problems could not be overcome for some time, and the first production Spitfire, K9787, did not roll off the Woolston, Southampton assembly line until mid-1938.[1]

In February 1936, the director of Vickers-Armstrongs, Sir Robert MacLean guaranteed production of five aircraft a week, beginning 15 months after an order was placed. On 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 aircraft, at a cost of £1,395,000.[27] Full-scale production of the Spitfire began at Supermarine's facility in Woolston, but the order clearly could not be completed in the 15 months promised. Supermarine was a small company, already busy building Walrus and Stranraer flying boats, and Vickers was busy building Wellington bombers.

The initial solution was to subcontract the work.[27] Although outside contractors were supposed to be involved in manufacturing many important Spitfire components, especially the wings, Vickers-Armstrongs (the parent company) was reluctant to see the Spitfire being manufactured by outside concerns, and was slow to release the necessary blueprints and subcomponents.[28]

As a result of the delays in getting the Spitfire into full production, the Air Ministry put forward a plan that its production be stopped after the initial order for 310, after which Supermarine would build Bristol Beaufighters. The managements of Supermarine and Vickers were able to convince the Air Ministry that production problems could be overcome, and a further order was placed for 200 Spitfires on 24 March 1938. The two orders covered the K, L, and N prefix serial numbers.[28]

The first production Spitfire came off the assembly line in mid-1938[1] and was flown by Jeffrey Quill on 15 May 1938, almost 24 months after the initial order.[29] The final cost of the first 310 aircraft, after delays and increased programme costs, came to £1,870,242 or £1,533 more per aircraft than originally estimated.[30] A production aircraft cost about £9,500. The most expensive components were the hand-fabricated and finished fuselage at roughly £2,500, then the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine at £2,000, followed by the wings at £1,800 a pair, guns and undercarriage, both at £800 each, and the propeller at £350.[31]

Manufacturing at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham

Main article: Castle Bromwich Assembly
 
Spitfire Mk IIA, P7666, EB-Z, Royal Observer Corps, was built at Castle Bromwich, and delivered to 41 Squadron on 23 November 1940.[nb 4]

In 1935, the Air Ministry approached Morris Motors Limited to ask how quickly their Cowley plant could be turned to aircraft production. In 1936, this informal request for major manufacturing facilities was replaced by a formal scheme, known as the shadow factory plan, to boost British aircraft production capacity under the leadership of Herbert Austin. He was given the task of building nine new factories, and to supplement the British car-manufacturing industry by either adding to overall capacity or increasing the potential for reorganisation to produce aircraft and their engines.[32]

In 1938, construction began on the Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory (CBAF), next to the aerodrome, and the installation of the most modern machine tools then available began two months after work started on the site.[30] Although Morris Motors, under Lord Nuffield (an expert in mass motor-vehicle construction), managed and equipped the factory, it was funded by the government. By the beginning of 1939, the factory's original estimated cost of £2,000,000 had more than doubled,[33] and even as the first Spitfires were being built in June 1940, the factory was still incomplete, and suffering from personnel problems. The Spitfire's stressed-skin construction required precision engineering skills and techniques that were beyond the capabilities of the local labour force, and some time was required to retrain them. Difficulties arose with management, who ignored Supermarine's tooling and drawings in favour of their own, and the workforce continually threatened strikes or "slow downs" until their demands for higher wages were met.[34]

In spite of promises that the factory would be producing 60 per week starting in April, by May 1940, Castle Bromwich had not yet built its first Spitfire.[33][35] On 17 May, Minister of Aircraft Production Lord Beaverbrook telephoned Lord Nuffield and manoeuvred him into handing over control of the Castle Bromwich plant to his ministry.[36] Beaverbrook immediately sent in experienced management staff and workers from Supermarine, and gave control of the factory to Vickers-Armstrongs. Although resolving the problems took time, in June 1940, 10 Mk IIs were built; 23 rolled out in July, 37 in August, and 56 in September.[37] By the time production ended at Castle Bromwich in June 1945, a total of 12,129 Spitfires (921 Mk IIs,[38] 4,489 Mk Vs, 5,665 Mk IXs,[39] and 1,054 Mk XVIs[38]) had been built, at a maximum rate of 320 per month, making CBAF the largest Spitfire factory in the UK and the largest and most successful plant of its type during the 1939–45 conflict.

Production dispersal

 
This Spitfire PR Mk XI (PL965) was built at RAF Aldermaston in southern England.

During the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe made concerted efforts to destroy the main manufacturing plants at Woolston and Itchen, near Southampton. The first bombing raid, which missed the factories, came on 23 August 1940. Over the next month, other raids were mounted, until, on 26 September 1940, both factories were destroyed,[40] with 92 people killed and a large number injured. Most of the casualties were experienced aircraft-production workers.[41]

Fortunately for the future of the Spitfire, many of the production jigs and machine tools had already been relocated by 20 September, and steps were being taken to disperse production to small facilities throughout the Southampton area.[40] To this end, the British government requisitioned the likes of Vincent's Garage in Station Square, Reading, which later specialised in manufacturing Spitfire fuselages, and Anna Valley Motors, Salisbury,[42] which was to become the sole producer of the wing leading-edge fuel tanks for photo-reconnaissance Spitfires, as well as producing other components.

A purpose-built works, specialising in manufacturing fuselages and installing engines, was built at Star Road, Caversham in Reading.[41] The drawing office in which all Spitfire designs were drafted was moved to Hursley Park, near Southampton. This site also had an aircraft assembly hangar where many prototype and experimental Spitfires were assembled, but since it had no associated aerodrome, no Spitfires ever flew from Hursley.

Four towns and their satellite airfields were chosen to be the focal points for these workshops:[40] Southampton's Eastleigh Airport; Salisbury and the High Post and Chattis Hill[43][nb 5] aerodromes; Trowbridge and RAF Keevil;[44] and Reading's Henley and Aldermaston aerodromes. Completed Spitfires were delivered to the airfields on Commer "Queen Mary" low-loader trailers, there to be fully assembled, tested, then passed on to the RAF.[41] An experimental factory at Newbury was the subject of a Luftwaffe daylight raid, but the bombs missed their target and hit a nearby school.[citation needed]

Flight testing

All production aircraft were flight tested before delivery. During the Second World War, Jeffrey Quill was Vickers Supermarine's chief test pilot, in charge of flight testing all aircraft types built by Vickers Supermarine. He oversaw a group of 10 to 12 pilots responsible for testing all developmental and production Spitfires built by the company in the Southampton area.[nb 6] Quill devised the standard testing procedures, which with variations for specific aircraft designs operated from 1938.[45][46] Alex Henshaw, chief test pilot at Castle Bromwich from 1940, was placed in charge of testing all Spitfires built at that factory. He co-ordinated a team of 25 pilots and assessed all Spitfire developments. Between 1940 and 1946, Henshaw flew a total of 2,360 Spitfires and Seafires, more than 10% of total production.[47][48]

Henshaw wrote about flight testing Spitfires:

After a thorough preflight check, I would take off, and once at circuit height, I would trim the aircraft and try to get her to fly straight and level with hands off the stick ... Once the trim was satisfactory, I would take the Spitfire up in a full-throttle climb at 2,850 rpm to the rated altitude of one or both supercharger blowers. Then I would make a careful check of the power output from the engine, calibrated for height and temperature ... If all appeared satisfactory, I would then put her into a dive at full power and 3,000 rpm, and trim her to fly hands and feet off at 460 mph (740 km/h) IAS (Indicated Air Speed). Personally, I never cleared a Spitfire unless I had carried out a few aerobatic tests to determine how good or bad she was.

The production test was usually quite a brisk affair; the initial circuit lasted less than 10 minutes and the main flight took between 20 and 30 minutes. Then, the aircraft received a final once-over by our ground mechanics, any faults were rectified, and the Spitfire was ready for collection.

I loved the Spitfire in all of her many versions, but I have to admit that the later marks, although they were faster than the earlier ones, were also much heavier, so did not handle so well. You did not have such positive control over them. One test of manoeuvrability was to throw her into a flick-roll and see how many times she rolled. With the Mark II or the Mark V one got two-and-a-half flick-rolls, but the Mark IX was heavier and you got only one-and-a-half. With the later and still heavier versions, one got even less. The essence of aircraft design is compromise, and an improvement at one end of the performance envelope is rarely achieved without a deterioration somewhere else.[49][50]

When the last Spitfire rolled out in February 1948,[51] a total of 20,351 examples of all variants had been built, including two-seat trainers, with some Spitfires remaining in service well into the 1950s.[3] The Spitfire was the only British fighter aircraft to be in continuous production before, during, and after the Second World War.[52]

Design

Airframe

 
Spitfire Mk IIa P7350 of the BBMF is the only existing airworthy Spitfire that fought in the Battle of Britain.

In the mid-1930s, aviation design teams worldwide began developing a new generation of fighter aircraft. The French Dewoitine D.520[53] and the German Messerschmitt Bf 109, for example, were designed to take advantage of new techniques of monocoque construction, and the availability of new, high-powered, liquid-cooled, in-line aero engines. They also featured refinements such as retractable undercarriages, fully enclosed cockpits, and low-drag, all-metal wings. These advances had been introduced on civil airliners years before, but were slow to be adopted by the military, who favoured the biplane's simplicity and manoeuvrability.[54]

Mitchell's design aims were to create a well-balanced, high-performance fighter aircraft capable of fully exploiting the power of the Merlin engine, while being relatively easy to fly.[55] At the time, with France as an ally, and Germany thought to be the most likely future opponent, no enemy fighters were expected to appear over Great Britain. German bombers would have to fly to the UK over the North Sea, and Germany did not have any single-engine fighters with the range to accompany them. To carry out the mission of home defence, the design was intended to allow the Spitfire to climb quickly to intercept enemy bombers.[56]

The Spitfire's airframe was complex. The streamlined, semi-monocoque, duralumin-skinned fuselage featured a number of compound, vertical curves built up from a skeleton of 19 formers, also known as frames, starting from frame number one, immediately behind the propeller unit, to the tail unit attachment frame. The first four frames supported the glycol header tank and engine cowlings. Frame five, to which the engine bearers were secured, supported the weight of the engine and its accessories. This was a strengthened double frame which also incorporated the fireproof bulkhead, and in later versions of the Spitfire, the oil tank. This frame also tied the four main fuselage longerons to the rest of the airframe.[57] Behind the bulkhead were five U-shaped half-frames which accommodated the fuel tanks and cockpit. The rear fuselage started at the 11th frame, to which the pilot's seat and (later) armour plating were attached, and ended at the 19th, which was mounted at a slight forward angle just forward of the fin. Each of these nine frames was oval, reducing in size towards the tail, and incorporated several lightening holes to reduce their weight as much as possible without weakening them. The U-shaped frame 20 was the last frame of the fuselage proper and the frame to which the tail unit was attached. Frames 21, 22 and 23 formed the fin; frame 22 incorporated the tailwheel opening and frame 23 was the rudder post. Before being attached to the main fuselage, the tail unit frames were held in a jig and the eight horizontal tail formers were riveted to them.[58]

A combination of 14 longitudinal stringers and four main longerons attached to the frames helped form a light, but rigid structure to which sheets of alclad stressed skinning were attached. The fuselage plating was 24, 20, and 18 gauge in order of thickness towards the tail, while the fin structure was completed using short longerons from frames 20 to 23, before being covered in 22 gauge plating.[59]

The skins of the fuselage, wings, and tailplane were secured by dome-headed rivets, and in critical areas such as the wing forward of the main spar where an uninterrupted airflow was required, with flush rivets. From February 1943 flush riveting was used on the fuselage, affecting all Spitfire variants.[60] In some areas, such as at the rear of the wing and the lower tailplane skins, the top was riveted and the bottom fixed by brass screws which tapped into strips of spruce bolted to the lower ribs. The removable wing tips were made up of duralumin-skinned spruce formers.[61]

At first, the ailerons, elevators, and rudder were fabric-covered, but once combat experience showed that fabric-covered ailerons were impossible to use at high speeds a light alloy replaced the fabric, enhancing control throughout the speed range.[62]

Elliptical wing design

In 1934, Mitchell and the design staff decided to use a semi-elliptical wing shape to solve two conflicting requirements; the wing needed to be thin to avoid creating too much drag, but it had to be thick enough to house the retractable undercarriage, armament, and ammunition. An elliptical planform is the most efficient aerodynamic shape for an untwisted wing, leading to the lowest amount of induced drag. The ellipse was skewed so that the centre of pressure, which occurs at the quarter-chord position, aligned with the main spar, preventing the wings from twisting. Mitchell has sometimes been accused of copying the wing shape of the Günter brothers-designed Heinkel He 70,[63] which first flew in 1932, but as Beverley Shenstone, the aerodynamicist on Mitchell's team, explained: "Our wing was much thinner and had quite a different section to that of the Heinkel. In any case, it would have been simply asking for trouble to have copied a wing shape from an aircraft designed for an entirely different purpose."[64][nb 7]

The elliptical wing was decided upon quite early on. Aerodynamically it was the best for our purpose because the induced drag caused in producing lift, was lowest when this shape was used: the ellipse was ... theoretically a perfection ... To reduce drag we wanted the lowest possible thickness-to-chord, consistent with the necessary strength. But near the root the wing had to be thick enough to accommodate the retracted undercarriages and the guns ... Mitchell was an intensely practical man ... The ellipse was simply the shape that allowed us the thinnest possible wing with room inside to carry the necessary structure and the things we wanted to cram in. And it looked nice.

— Beverly Shenstone[65]

The wing section used was from the NACA 2200 series, which had been adapted to create a thickness-to-chord ratio of 13% at the root, reducing to 9.4% at the tip.[66] A dihedral of 6° was adopted to give increased lateral stability.[55]

A wing feature that contributed greatly to its success was an innovative spar boom design, made up of five square tubes that fitted into each other. As the wing thinned out along its span, the tubes were progressively cut away in a similar fashion to a leaf spring; two of these booms were linked together by an alloy web, creating a lightweight and very strong main spar.[67] The undercarriage legs were attached to pivot points built into the inner, rear section of the main spar, and retracted outwards and slightly backwards into wells in the non-load-carrying wing structure. The resultant narrow undercarriage track was considered an acceptable compromise as this reduced the bending loads on the main-spar during landing.[67]

Ahead of the spar, the thick-skinned leading edge of the wing formed a strong and rigid, D-shaped box, which took most of the wing loads. At the time the wing was designed, this D-shaped leading edge was intended to house steam condensers for the evaporative cooling system intended for the PV-XII. Constant problems with the evaporative system in the Goshawk led to the adoption of a cooling system which used 100% glycol.[nb 8] The radiators were housed in a new radiator-duct designed by Fredrick Meredith of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough, Hampshire. This used the cooling air to generate thrust, greatly reducing the net drag produced by the radiators.[68] In turn, the leading-edge structure lost its function as a condenser, but it was later adapted to house integral fuel tanks of various sizes[69]— a feature patented by Vickers-Supermarine in 1938.[70] The airflow through the main radiator was controlled by pneumatic exit flaps. In early marks of the Spitfire (Mk I to Mk VI), the single flap was operated manually using a lever to the left of the pilot's seat. When the two-stage Merlin was introduced in the Spitfire Mk IX, the radiators were split to make room for an intercooler radiator; the radiator under the starboard wing was halved in size and the intercooler radiator housed alongside. Under the port wing, a new radiator fairing housed a square oil cooler alongside of the other half-radiator unit. The two radiator flaps were now operated automatically by a thermostat.[71]

 
The elliptical planform of a Spitfire PR.Mk.XIX displayed at an air show in 2008: The black and white invasion stripes are visible.

Another wing feature was its washout. The trailing edge of the wing twisted slightly upward along its span, the angle of incidence decreasing from +2° at its root to -½° at its tip.[72] This caused the wing roots to stall before the tips, reducing tip-stall that could otherwise have resulted in a wing drop, often leading to a spin. As the wing roots started to stall, the separating air stream started to buffet (vibrate) the aircraft, warning the pilot, allowing even relatively inexperienced pilots to fly it to the limits of its performance.[73] This washout was first featured in the wing of the Type 224, and became a consistent feature in subsequent designs leading to the Spitfire.[74] The complex wing design, especially the precision required to manufacture the vital spar and leading-edge structures, caused some major delays in the production of the Spitfire at first. The problems increased when the work was put out to subcontractors, most of whom had never dealt with metal-structured, high-speed aircraft. By June 1939, most of these problems had been resolved, and production was no longer held up by a lack of wings.[75]

All the main flight controls were originally metal structures with fabric covering.[nb 9] Designers and pilots felt that having ailerons which required a degree of effort to move at high speed would avoid unintended aileron reversal, throwing the aircraft around and potentially pulling the wings off. Air combat was also felt to take place at relatively low speeds and high-speed manoeuvring would be physically impossible. Flight tests showed the fabric covering of the ailerons "ballooned" at high speeds, adversely affecting the aerodynamics. Replacing the fabric covering with light alloy dramatically improved the ailerons at high speed.[77][78] During the Battle of Britain, pilots found the Spitfire's ailerons were far too heavy at high speeds, severely restricting lateral manoeuvres such as rolls and high-speed turns, which were still a feature of air-to-air combat.[79]

 
Spitfire HF Mk VII: The shape of the ellipse was altered by the extended "pointed" wing tips used by the high-altitude Mk VIs, VIIs, and early Mk VIIIs.

The Spitfire had detachable wing tips which were secured by two mounting points at the end of each main wing assembly. When the Spitfire took on a role as a high-altitude fighter (Marks VI and VII and some early Mk VIIIs), the standard wing tips were replaced by extended, "pointed" tips which increased the wingspan from 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) to 40 ft 2 in (12.24 m).[80] The other wing-tip variation, used by several Spitfire variants, was the "clipped" wing; the standard wing tips were replaced by wooden fairings which reduced the span by 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m).[81] The wing tips used spruce formers for most of the internal structure with a light alloy skin attached using brass screws.[82]

The light alloy split flaps at the trailing edge of the wing were also pneumatically operated via a finger lever on the instrument panel.[83] Only two positions were available; fully up or fully down (85°). Flaps were normally lowered only during the final approach and for landing, and the pilot was to retract them before taxiing.[nb 10][84]

The ellipse also served as the design basis for the Spitfire's fin and tailplane assembly, once again exploiting the shape's favourable aerodynamic characteristics. Both the elevators and rudder were shaped so that their centre of mass was shifted forward, reducing control-surface flutter. The longer noses and greater propeller-wash resulting from larger engines in later models necessitated increasingly larger vertical, and later, horizontal tail surfaces to compensate for the altered aerodynamics, culminating in those of the Mk 22/24 series, which were 25% larger in area than those of the Mk I.[85][86]

Improved late wing designs

As the Spitfire gained more power and was able to manoeuvre at higher speeds, the possibility that pilots would encounter aileron reversal increased, and the Supermarine design team set about redesigning the wings to counter this. The original wing design had a theoretical aileron reversal speed of 580 mph (930 km/h),[87] which was somewhat lower than that of some contemporary fighters. The Royal Aircraft Establishment noted that, at 400 mph (640 km/h) indicated airspeed, roughly 65% of aileron effectiveness was lost due to wing twist.[88]

The new wing of the Spitfire F Mk 21 and its successors was designed to help alleviate this problem. Its stiffness was increased by 47%, and a new aileron design using piano hinges and geared trim tabs meant the theoretical aileron reversal speed was increased to 825 mph (1,328 km/h).[87][89][90] Alongside the redesigned wing, Supermarine also experimented with the original wing, raising the leading edge by 1 inch (2.54 cm), with the hope of improving pilot view and reducing drag. This wing was tested on a modified F Mk 21, also called the F Mk 23, (sometimes referred to as "Valiant" rather than "Spitfire"). The increase in performance was minimal and this experiment was abandoned.[91]

Supermarine developed a new laminar-flow wing based on new aerofoil profiles developed by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in the United States, with the objective of reducing drag and improving performance. These laminar-flow airfoils were the Supermarine 371-I used at the root and the 371-II used at the tip.[66] Supermarine estimated that the new wing could give an increase in speed of 55 mph (89 km/h) over the Spitfire Mk 21.[92] The new wing was initially fitted to a Spitfire Mk XIV. Later, a new fuselage was designed, with the new fighter becoming the Supermarine Spiteful.[93]

Carburetion versus fuel injection

Early in its development, the Merlin engine's lack of fuel injection meant that Spitfires and Hurricanes, unlike the Bf 109E, were unable to simply nose down into a steep dive. This meant a Luftwaffe fighter could simply "bunt" into a high-power dive to escape an attack, leaving the Spitfire behind, as its fuel was forced out of the carburettor by negative "g". RAF fighter pilots soon learned to "half-roll" their aircraft before diving to pursue their opponents.[94] Sir Stanley Hooker explained that the carburettor was adopted because it "increased the performance of the supercharger and thereby increased the power of the engine".[95][nb 11]

In March 1941, a metal disc with a hole was fitted in the fuel line, restricting fuel flow to the maximum the engine could consume. While it did not cure the problem of the initial fuel starvation in a dive, it did reduce the more serious problem of the carburettor being flooded with fuel by the fuel pumps under negative "g". Invented by Beatrice "Tilly" Shilling, it became known as "Miss Shilling's orifice". Further improvements were introduced throughout the Merlin series, with Bendix-manufactured pressure carburettors, designed to allow fuel to flow during all flight attitudes, introduced in 1942.[95]

Armament

 
Spitfire at the National Museum of the United States Air Force

Due to a shortage of Brownings, which had been selected as the new standard rifle calibre machine gun for the RAF in 1934, early Spitfires were fitted with only four guns, with the other four fitted later.[97] Early tests showed that, while the guns worked perfectly on the ground and at low altitudes, they tended to freeze at high altitude, especially the outer wing guns, because the RAF's Brownings had been modified to fire from an open bolt. While this prevented overheating of the cordite used in British ammunition, it allowed cold air to flow through the barrel unhindered.[98] Supermarine did not fix the problem until October 1938, when they added hot air ducts from the rear of the wing-mounted radiators to the guns, and bulkheads around the gunbays to trap the hot air in the wing. Red fabric patches were doped over the gun ports to protect the guns from cold, dirt, and moisture until they were fired.[99]

The decision on the arming of the Spitfire (and the Hurricane) is told in Captain C. H. Keith's book I Hold my Aim. Keith held various appointments with the RAF dealing with designing, development and technical policy of armament equipment. He organised a conference, with Air Commodore Tedder in the chair, on 19 July 1934. He says "I think it can be reasonably contended that the deliberations of that conference made possible, if not certain, of the winning of the Battle of Britain, almost exactly six years later".[100] At that meeting, scientific officer Captain F. W. "Gunner" Hill presented charts based on his calculations showing that future fighters must carry no less than eight machine-guns, each of which must be capable of firing 1,000 shots a minute. Hill's assistant in making his calculations had been his teenage daughter.[101]

Even if the eight Brownings worked perfectly, pilots soon discovered that they were not sufficient to destroy larger aircraft. Combat reports showed that an average of 4,500 rounds were needed to shoot down an enemy aircraft.[102] In November 1938, tests against armoured and unarmoured targets had already indicated that the introduction of a weapon with a calibre of at least 20 mm was urgently needed.[102] A variant on the Spitfire design with four 20 mm Oerlikon cannon had been tendered to specification F37/35, but the order for prototypes had gone to the Westland Whirlwind in January 1939.[103]

In June 1939, a Spitfire was fitted with a drum-fed Hispano in each wing, an installation that required large blisters on the wing to cover the 60-round drum. The cannon suffered frequent stoppages, mostly because the guns were mounted on their sides to fit as much of the magazine as possible within the wing. In January 1940, P/O George Proudman flew this prototype in combat, but the starboard gun stopped after firing a single round, while the port gun fired 30 rounds before seizing.[99] If one cannon seized, the recoil of the other threw the aircraft off aim.

Nevertheless, 30 more cannon-armed Spitfires were ordered for operational trials, and they were soon known as the Mk IB, to distinguish them from the Browning-armed Mk IA; they were delivered to No. 19 Squadron beginning in June 1940. The Hispanos were found to be so unreliable that the squadron requested an exchange of its aircraft with the older Browning-armed aircraft of an operational training unit. By August, Supermarine had perfected a more reliable installation with an improved feed mechanism and four .303s in the outer wing panels. The modified fighters were then delivered to 19 Squadron.[99]

Operational history

Service operations

Main article: Supermarine Spitfire operational history
 
K9795, the 9th production Mk I, with 19 Squadron in 1938

The operational history of the Spitfire with the RAF began with the first Mk Is K9789, which entered service with 19 Squadron at RAF Duxford on 4 August 1938.[30][nb 12] The Spitfire achieved legendary status during the Battle of Britain, a reputation aided by the "Spitfire Fund" organised and run by Lord Beaverbrook, the Minister of Aircraft Production.[104]

In fact, the Hurricane outnumbered the Spitfire throughout the battle, and shouldered the burden of the defence against the Luftwaffe; however, because of its higher performance, the overall attrition rate of the Spitfire squadrons was lower than that of the Hurricane units, and the Spitfire units had a higher victory-to-loss ratio.[105]

The key aim of Fighter Command was to stop the Luftwaffe's bombers; in practice, whenever possible, the tactic was to use Spitfires to counter German escort fighters, by then based in northern France, particularly the Bf 109s, while the Hurricane squadrons attacked the bombers.[106]

 
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VC, BR114, of the No 103 MU, Aboukir, 1942

Well-known Spitfire pilots included "Johnnie" Johnson—34 enemy aircraft (e/a) shot down[107]—who flew the Spitfire right through his operational career from late 1940 to 1945. Douglas Bader (20 e/a) and "Bob" Tuck (27 e/a) flew Spitfires and Hurricanes during the major air battles of 1940. Both were shot down and became prisoners of war, while flying Spitfires over France in 1941 and 1942.[108] "Paddy" Finucane (28–32 e/a) scored all his successes in the fighter before disappearing over the English Channel in July 1942.[109] Some notable Commonwealth pilots were George Beurling (311⁄3 e/a) from Canada, "Sailor" Malan (27 e/a) from South Africa,[110] New Zealanders Alan Deere (17 e/a) and C F Gray (27 e/a)[111][112] and the Australian Hugo Armstrong (12 e/a).[113]

The Spitfire continued to play increasingly diverse roles throughout the Second World War and beyond, often in air forces other than the RAF. For example, the Spitfire became the first high-speed photo-reconnaissance aircraft to be operated by the RAF. Sometimes unarmed, they flew at high, medium, and low altitudes, often ranging far into enemy territory to closely observe the Axis powers and provide an almost continual flow of valuable intelligence information throughout the war.

In 1941 and 1942, PRU Spitfires provided the first photographs of the Freya and Würzburg radar systems, and in 1943, helped confirm that the Germans were building the V1 and V2 Vergeltungswaffen ("vengeance weapons") rockets by photographing Peenemünde, on the Baltic Sea coast of Germany.[114]

In the Mediterranean, the Spitfire blunted the heavy attacks on Malta by the Regia Aeronautica and Luftwaffe, and from early 1943, helped pave the way for the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy. On 7 March 1942, 15 Mk Vs carrying 90-gallon fuel tanks under their bellies took off from HMS Eagle off the coast of Algeria on a 600-mile (970 km) flight to Malta.[115] Those Spitfire Vs were the first to see service outside Britain.[116]

The Spitfire also served on the Eastern Front with the Soviet Air Force (VVS). The first deliveries of the Spitfire Mk VB variant took place at the start of 1943, with the first batch of 35 aircraft delivered via sea to the city of Basra, Iraq. A total of 143 aircraft and 50 furnished hulls (to be used for spare parts) followed by March of the same year. Though some aircraft were used for front line duty in 1943, most of them saw service with the Protivo-Vozdushnaya Oborona (English: "Anti-air Defence Branch").[117] In 1944, the USSR received the substantially improved Mk IX variant, with the first aircraft delivered in February. Initially, these were refurbished aircraft, but subsequent shipments were factory new. A total of 1,185 aircraft of this model were delivered through Iran, Iraq and the Arctic to northern Soviet ports. Two of these were the Spitfire HF Mk IX (high-altitude modification) while the remainder were the low-altitude LF Mk IX. The last Lend-Lease shipment carrying the Mk IX arrived at the port of Severodvinsk on 12 June 1945.

The Spitfire also served in the Pacific Theatre, meeting the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Lt. Gen. Claire Chennault said: "The RAF pilots were trained in methods that were excellent against German and Italian equipment, but suicide against the acrobatic Japs."[118] Although not as fast as the Spitfire, the Zero could out-turn the Spitfire, could sustain a climb at a very steep angle, and could stay in the air for three times as long.[119] To counter the Zero, Spitfire pilots adopted a "slash and run" policy and used their faster speed and diving superiority to fight, while avoiding turning dogfights. The Allies achieved air superiority when the Mk VIII version was introduced to the theatre, replacing the earlier Mk V. In one memorable encounter, New Zealand ace Alan Peart fought a solo dogfight against two dozen Japanese aircraft attacking the Broadway airstrip, shooting down one.

That Southeast Asia was a lower-priority area also did not help, and it was allocated few Spitfires and other modern fighters compared to Europe, which allowed the Japanese to easily achieve air superiority by 1942.[120][121][122] Over the Northern Territory of Australia, Royal Australian Air Force and RAF Spitfires assigned to No. 1 Wing RAAF helped defend the port town of Darwin against air attack by the Japanese Naval Air Force,[123] suffering heavy losses largely due to the type's limited fuel capacity.[124] Spitfire MKVIIIs took part in the last battle of World War II involving the Western allies in Burma, in the ground attack role, helping defeat a Japanese break-out attempt.[125]

During the Second World War, Spitfires were used by the United States Army Air Forces in the 4th Fighter Group until they were replaced by Republic P-47 Thunderbolts in March 1943.[126]

Several Spitfires were captured by the Germans and flown by units that tested, evaluated, and sometimes clandestinely operated enemy aircraft.[127]

Speed and altitude records

 
The Spitfire Mk XI flown by Sqn. Ldr. Martindale, seen here after its flight on 27 April 1944 during which it was damaged achieving a true airspeed of 620 mph (998 km/h or Mach 0.92)

Beginning in late 1943, high-speed diving trials were undertaken at Farnborough to investigate the handling characteristics of aircraft travelling at speeds near the sound barrier (i.e., the onset of compressibility effects). Because it had the highest limiting Mach number of any aircraft at that time, a Spitfire XI was chosen to take part in these trials. Due to the high altitudes necessary for these dives, a fully feathering Rotol propeller was fitted to prevent overspeeding. During these trials, EN409, flown by Squadron Leader J. R. Tobin, reached 606 mph (975 km/h) (Mach 0.891) in a 45° dive.

In April 1944, the same aircraft suffered engine failure in another dive while being flown by Squadron Leader Anthony F. Martindale, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, when the propeller and reduction gear broke off. The dive put the aircraft to Mach 0.92, the fastest ever recorded in a piston-engined aircraft, but when the propeller came off, the Spitfire, now tail-heavy, zoom-climbed back to altitude. Martindale blacked out under the 11 g loading, but when he resumed consciousness, he found the aircraft at about 40,000 feet with its (originally straight) wings now slightly swept back.[128] Martindale successfully glided the Spitfire 20 mi (32 km) back to the airfield and landed safely.[129] Martindale was awarded the Air Force Cross for his exploits.[130]

RAE Bedford (RAE) modified a Spitfire for high-speed testing of the stabilator (then known as the "flying tail") of the Miles M.52 supersonic research aircraft. RAE test pilot Eric Brown stated that he tested this successfully during October and November 1944, attaining Mach 0.86 in a dive.[131]

On 5 February 1952, a Spitfire 19 of 81 Squadron based at Kai Tak in Hong Kong reached probably the highest altitude ever achieved by a Spitfire. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Edward "Ted" Powles,[132] was on a routine flight to survey outside air temperature and report on other meteorological conditions at various altitudes in preparation for a proposed new air service through the area. He climbed to 50,000 ft (15,000 m) indicated altitude, with a true altitude of 51,550 ft (15,710 m). The cabin pressure fell below a safe level, and in trying to reduce altitude, he entered an uncontrollable dive which shook the aircraft violently. He eventually regained control somewhere below 3,000 ft (910 m) and landed safely with no discernible damage to his aircraft. Evaluation of the recorded flight data suggested he achieved a speed of 690 mph (1,110 km/h), (Mach 0.96) in the dive, which would have been the highest speed ever reached by a propeller-driven aircraft if the instruments had been considered more reliable.[129]

That any operational aircraft off the production line, cannons sprouting from its wings and warts and all, could readily be controlled at this speed when the early jet aircraft such as Meteors, Vampires, P-80s, etc, could not, was certainly extraordinary.

— Jeffrey Quill[133]

The critical Mach number of the Spitfire's original elliptical wing was higher than the subsequently used laminar-flow section, straight-tapering-planform wing of the follow-on Supermarine Spiteful, Seafang, and Attacker, illustrating that Reginald Mitchell's practical engineering approach to the problems of high-speed flight had paid off.[134]

Variants

Overview

Main articles: Supermarine Spitfire (early Merlin-powered variants); Supermarine Spitfire (late Merlin-powered variants); Supermarine Spitfire (Griffon-powered variants); and Supermarine Spitfire variants: specifications, performance and armament

Although R. J. Mitchell is justifiably known as the engineer who designed the Spitfire, his premature death in 1937 meant that all development after that date was undertaken by a team led by his chief draughtsman, Joe Smith, who became Supermarine's chief designer on Mitchell's death. As Jeffrey Quill noted: "If Mitchell was born to design the Spitfire, Joe Smith was born to defend and develop it."[135]

 
Pilots of 611 West Lancashire Squadron pushing an early Spitfire Mark IXb at Biggin Hill in late 1942

There were 24 marks of Spitfire and many sub-variants. These covered the Spitfire in development from the Merlin to Griffon engines, the high-speed photo-reconnaissance variants and the different wing configurations. More Spitfire Mk Vs were built than any other type, with 6,487 built, followed by the 5,656 Mk IXs.[38] Different wings, featuring a variety of weapons, were fitted to most marks; the A wing used eight .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns, the B wing had four .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns and two 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano cannon, and the C, or universal, wing could mount either four 20 mm (.79 in) cannon or two 20 mm (.79 in) and four .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns. As the war progressed, the C wing became more common.[136] Another armament variation was the E wing which housed two 20 mm (.79 in) cannon and two .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine guns.[137] Although the Spitfire continued to improve in speed and armament, its limited fuel capacity restricted range and endurance: it remained "short-legged" throughout its life except in the dedicated photo-reconnaissance role, when its guns were replaced by extra fuel tanks.[138]

Supermarine developed a two-seat variant, known as the T Mk VIII, to be used for training, but none were ordered, and only one example was ever constructed (identified as N32/G-AIDN by Supermarine).[139] In the absence of an official two-seater variant, a number of airframes were crudely converted in the field. These included a 4 Squadron SAAF Mk VB in North Africa, where a second seat was fitted instead of the upper fuel tank in front of the cockpit, although it was not a dual-control aircraft, and is thought to have been used as the squadron "run-about".[140] The only unofficial two-seat conversions that were fitted with dual-controls were a few Russian lend/lease Mk IX aircraft. These were referred to as Mk IX UTI and differed from the Supermarine proposals by using an inline "greenhouse" style double canopy rather than the raised "bubble" type of the T Mk VIII.[140]

In the postwar era, the idea was revived by Supermarine and a number of two-seat Spitfires were built by converting old Mk IX airframes with a second "raised" cockpit featuring a bubble canopy. Ten of these TR9 variants were then sold to the Indian Air Force along with six to the Irish Air Corps, three to the Royal Netherlands Air Force and one for the Royal Egyptian Air Force.[139] Currently several of the trainers are known to exist, including both the T Mk VIII, a T Mk IX based in the US, and the "Grace Spitfire" ML407, a veteran flown operationally by 485(NZ) Squadron in 1944.[141][nb 13]

Seafire

Main article: Supermarine Seafire
 
Seafires preparing to take off from the aircraft carrier HMS Implacable in 1945

The Seafire, a name derived from sea, and Spitfire, was a naval version of the Spitfire specially adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. Although the Spitfire was not designed for the rough-and-tumble of carrier-deck operations, it was considered the best available fighter at the time. The basic Spitfire design did impose some limitations on the use of the aircraft as a carrier-based fighter; poor visibility over the nose, for example, meant that pilots had to be trained to land with their heads out of the cockpit and looking along the port cowling of their Seafire.[142] Like the Spitfire, the Seafire also had a relatively narrow undercarriage track, which meant that it was not ideally suited to deck operations.[143] Early Seafire marks had relatively few modifications to the standard Spitfire airframe; however cumulative front line experience meant that most of the later versions of the Seafire had strengthened airframes, folding wings, arrestor hooks and other modifications, culminating in the purpose-built Seafire F/FR Mk 47.[144]

The Seafire II was able to outperform the A6M5 Zero at low altitudes when the two types were tested against each other during wartime mock combat exercises.[145] However, contemporary Allied carrier fighters such as the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair were considerably more robust and so more practical for carrier operations.[146] Performance was greatly increased when later versions of the Seafire were fitted with the Griffon engines. These were too late to see service in World War II.[147]

Griffon-engined variants

Main article: Supermarine Spitfire (Griffon-powered variants)

The first Rolls-Royce Griffon-engined Mk XII flew in August 1942, and first flew operationally with 41 Squadron in April 1943. This mark could nudge 400 mph (640 km/h) in level flight and climb to an altitude of 33,000 ft (10,000 m) in under nine minutes.[148]

As American fighters took over the long-range escorting of USAAF daylight bombing raids, the Griffon-engined Spitfires progressively took up the tactical air superiority role, and played a major role in intercepting V-1 flying bombs, while the Merlin-engined variants (mainly the Mk IX and the Packard-engined Mk XVI) were adapted to the fighter-bomber role.[149] Although the later Griffon-engined marks lost some of the favourable handling characteristics of their Merlin-powered predecessors, they could still outmanoeuvre their main German foes and other, later, American and British-designed fighters.[138]

The final version of the Spitfire, the Mk 24, first flew at South Marston on 13 April 1946. On 20 February 1948, almost twelve years from the prototype's first flight, the last production Spitfire, VN496, left the production line. Spitfire Mk 24s were used by only one regular RAF unit, with 80 Squadron replacing their Hawker Tempests with F Mk 24s in 1947.[150] With these aircraft, 80 Squadron continued its patrol and reconnaissance duties from Wunstorf in Germany as part of the occupation forces, until it relocated to Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, in July 1949. During the Chinese Civil War, 80 Squadron's main duty was to defend Hong Kong from perceived Communist threats.[151]

 
Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XIIs of 41 Squadron in April 1944

Operation Firedog during the Malayan Emergency saw the Spitfire fly over 1,800 operational sorties against the Malayan Communists.[152] The last operational sortie of an RAF Spitfire was flown on 1 April 1954, by PS888 a PR Mk 19 Spitfire of 81 Squadron.It was flying from RAF Seletar, in Singapore to photograph an area of jungle in Johore, Malaysia, thought to contain Communist guerrillas. To mark the special occasion, ground crewmen had painted 'The Last' on the aircraft's nose.[153]

The last non-operational flight of a Spitfire in RAF service, which took place on 9 June 1957, was by a PR Mk 19, PS583, from RAF Woodvale of the Temperature and Humidity Flight. This was also the last known flight of a piston-engined fighter in the RAF.[154] The last nation in the Middle East to operate Spitfires was Syria, which kept its F Mk 22s until 1953.[152]

In late 1962, Air Marshal Sir John Nicholls instigated a trial when he flew Spitfire PM631, a PR Mk 19 in the custody of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, against an English Electric Lightning F 3 (a supersonic jet-engined interceptor) in mock combat at RAF Binbrook. At the time, British Commonwealth forces were involved in possible action against Indonesia over Malaya and Nicholls decided to develop tactics to fight the Indonesian Air Force P-51 Mustang, a fighter that had a similar performance to the PR Mk 19.[155] The first airframe (PM631) developed mechanical issues which removed it from the trial. Another PR Mk 19, PS853, which is now owned by Rolls-Royce, was on gate-guard duties at Binbrook, having been retired from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) one year before. It had been maintained in running condition by ground crews at Binbrook, and after a short time was participating in the trials. At the end of the trials, RAF pilots found that Firestreak infra-red guided missiles had trouble acquiring the Spitfire due to a low exhaust temperature, and decided that the twin ADEN 30 mm (1.2 in) cannons were the only weapons suited to the task, which was complicated by the tight turning circle of the Spitfire, and the Lightning's proclivity for over-running the Spitfire. It was concluded that the most effective and safest way for a modern jet-engined fighter to attack a piston-engined fighter was to engage full afterburner at an altitude lower than the Spitfire, and circle behind it to perform a hit-and-run attack, contrary to all established fighter-on-fighter doctrine at that time.[156][157]

Operators

See also: List of Supermarine Spitfire operators
 
Spitfires Mk Vc (Trop) of 352 (Yugoslav) Squadron RAF (Balkan Air Force) before first mission on 18 August 1944, from Canne airfield, Italy
 
Spitfire T9 in 2005, civil registered as G-CCCA, painted in the markings of the Irish Air Corps

Surviving aircraft

Main article: List of surviving Supermarine Spitfires
 
Lynn Garrison Spitfire AR614 now in Paul Allen Collection

There are 54 Spitfires and a few Seafires in airworthy condition worldwide,[when?] although many air museums have examples on static display, for example, Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry has paired a static Spitfire with a static Ju 87 R-2/Trop. Stuka dive bomber.[nb 14][162]

The oldest surviving Spitfire is a Mark 1, serial number K9942; it is preserved at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford in Shropshire. This aircraft was the 155th built and first flew in April 1939. It flew operationally with No. 72 Squadron RAF until June 1940, when it was damaged in a wheels-up landing. After repair, it was used for training until August 1944, when it became one of several Battle of Britain aircraft veterans that were allocated to the Air Historical Branch for future museum preservation.[163]

 
Spitfire XIVe NH749 of the Commemorative Air Force, based at Camarillo airport, Southern California, seen with period-dressed crew members in 2011.

What may be the most originally restored Spitfire in the world is maintained at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida. Over a six-year period in the 1990s, this aircraft was slowly restored by Personal Plane Services in England using almost 90% of its original aircraft skins. Owner Kermit Weeks insisted that the aircraft be restored as closely as possible to its original condition. Machine guns, cannon, gun sight and original working radios are all installed.[164]

Two MK 1 Supermarine Spitfires, originally restored by the Aircraft Restoration Company, remain in flying condition at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, in Cambridgeshire, England. Both restored by American billionaire Thomas Kaplan, one has been donated to the Imperial War Museum and the second was auctioned in July 2015 at Christie's, London. It is one of only four flying MK 1 Spitfires in the world. The aircraft fetched a record £3.1 million at auction on 9 July, beating the previous record for a Spitfire of £1.7 million set in 2009.[165]

Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire, is home to the largest collection of Spitfires, with 15-20 airworthy and static examples on site most weeks throughout the year. It is also rumoured that there is anywhere from 5 to 10 restoration projects also progressing on site between The Fighter Collection and the Aircraft Restoration Company.

One Spitfire is kept in airworthy condition in the Israeli Air Force Museum.

A Spitfire model ML407 was purchased by Carolyn Grace and her husband Nick in 1979. Carolyn Grace subsequently flew the Spitfire in several displays, including one commemorating the 60th anniversary of D-Day in 2004.[166][167]

Search for reported surviving Spitfires in Burma

After hostilities ceased in Asia in 1945, a number of Spitfire Mk.XIVs were reportedly buried, after being greased, tarred and prepared for long-term storage, in crates in Burma.

Excavations carried out at Yangon International Airport (formerly RAF Mingaladon) in early 2013 failed to locate any of the rumoured aircraft,[168][169] and the team reported that they found no evidence that Spitfires were shipped there in crates or buried.[170] Pat Woodward, who was an RAF pilot operating from Burma at the end of the war, reported that no such burying took place.[171] In 2016 it was reported that the hunt was continuing.[172]

Memorials

  • A fibreglass replica of the Mk.1 Spitfire Mk1 YT-J (R6675), flown by Supermarine test pilot Jeffrey Quill during his brief period of active service with 65 Squadron, is on display at the Battle of Britain memorial at Capel-le-Ferne near Folkestone, along with a replica Mk.1 Hurricane representing US-X, in which Pilot Officer Geoffrey Page was shot down on 12 August 1940.[173]
  • Sentinel is a sculpture by Tim Tolkien depicting three Spitfires in flight at the roundabout junction (popularly known as Spitfire Island) of the A47 and A452 in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, England, commemorating the main Spitfire factory. The island sits at the adjoining southern corners of the former Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory and Aerodrome (now Castle Vale housing estate).[174] There is also a Spitfire and a Hurricane in the nearby Thinktank Science Museum.[175]
  • A sculpture of the prototype Spitfire, K5054 stands on the roundabout at the entrance to Southampton International Airport, which, as Eastleigh Aerodrome, saw the first flight of the aircraft in March 1936.
  • Jeffrey Quill, the former Supermarine test pilot, initiated a project to build an exact replica of K5054, the prototype Spitfire to be put on permanent public display as a memorial to R.J. Mitchell. A team of original Supermarine designers worked with Aerofab Restorations of Andover for 10 years to create the facsimile. It was unveiled to the public in April 1993 by Quill at the RAF Museum, Hendon, and is currently on loan to the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum.[176]
  • A fibreglass replica in the colours of a Polish squadron leader based at the station during the Second World War is on display at RAF Northolt, the last Battle of Britain Sector Station still in RAF operational service.
  • A replica Spitfire is on display on the Thornaby Road roundabout near the school named after Sir Douglas Bader who flew a Spitfire in the Second World War. This memorial is in memory of the old RAF base in Thornaby which is now a residential estate.
  • A fibreglass replica of a Spitfire Mk XVI has been mounted on a pylon in Memorial Park, Hamilton, New Zealand as a tribute to all New Zealand fighter pilots who flew Spitfires during the Second World War.
  • At Bentley Priory, the Second World War command centre for Fighter Command, fibreglass replicas of a Spitfire Mk 1 and a Hurricane Mk 1 can be seen fixed in a position of attack. This was built as a memorial to everyone who worked at Bentley Priory during the war.
  • A fibreglass replica in the colours of 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force Spitfire Memorial sits next to the Edinburgh Airport control tower. This model replaced the original gate guardian from the former RAF Turnhouse. It is painted to represent serial number L1067 (code XT-D) "Blue Peter", the personal aircraft of the squadron's commander, Squadron Leader George Denholm DFC.
  • A fibreglass replica of a Spitfire Mk IX has been mounted on a pylon in Jackson Park, Windsor, Ontario alongside a Hurricane as a memorial to Royal Canadian Air Force pilots. This display replaces an Avro Lancaster bomber that had previously been on display and is currently undergoing restoration.
  • One of the few remaining Supermarine Spitfires with a wartime record is on display (alongside a Hawker Hurricane) at the RAF Manston Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum, near Kent International Airport.[177]
  • Lodge Hill Garage, Abingdon, Oxfordshire has a full-size replica Spitfire as a rooftop monument. Owner Peter Jewson bought the replica in a campaign to build the first ever national memorial to honour the 166 women from the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) who flew Spitfires and other aircraft from factories to their operational airbases; 14 died during these ferry flights.[178]
  • A fibreglass replica of a Spitfire Mk IX is mounted to the roof of the speciality shop, Spitfire Emporium, in Kitchener, Ontario.[179]
  • There is a replica of a Spitfire (and of a Hurricane) at the entrance to the Eden Camp Modern History Museum as a memorial to pilots who served in the Battle of Britain.[180]
  • Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre has a full-size replica Spitfire MkVb LO-D (EP121) on display as a memorial to the men and women who served at RFC/RAF Montrose.
  • A fibreglass replica of Spitfire VB BL924 is on display at Beale Park. It was built as a tribute to Aksel [Axel] Andreas Svendsen, a young Danish RAF pilot who was killed in action on 24 April 1942.
  • A full-size pole-mounted replica was erected in 2021 on the site of a Salisbury factory.[181]
  • In 2009, the Spitfire was selected by the Royal Mail for their "British Design Classics" commemorative postage stamp issue.[182]

Restorations and replicas

 
Replica Mk Vb on display in 2009

British organisation, the Aircraft Restoration Company (Formally Historic Flying Limited),[183] has either restored, overhauled or built from scratch a significant proportion of the Spitfires that are now airworthy. Several other manufacturers have produced replica Spitfires, either as complete aircraft or as kits for self-building. These range in scale from 60% scale to full-size, and most use wooden construction rather than the original all-metal monocoque design. These include the Jurca Spit from France, and those manufactured by Tally Ho Enterprises in Canada.[184] Supermarine Aircraft – originally from Brisbane, Australia, and now based in Cisco, Texas – manufacture the 80% scale Spitfire Mk26 and the 90% scale Mk26B replicas. Their Supermarine Aircraft Spitfire is supplied in kit form and is the only all-aluminium reproduction Spitfire in production.[185] The Isaacs Spitfire (1975)[186] and the Time Warp Spitfire Mk V (1996) are homebuilt 60% scale replicas, and Bob DeFord of Prescott, Arizona built and flies a 100% scale replica.[187]

Greenwood Military Aviation Museum is also home to a replica non-flying Spitfire.

Notable appearances in media

 
Cutaway diagram of the Spitfire

During and after the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire became a symbol of British resistance: for example, Lord Beaverbrook's "Spitfire Fund" of 1940 was one campaign which drew widespread public attention to the Spitfire. The Spitfire continues to be highly popular at airshows, on airfields and in museums worldwide, and holds an important place in the memories of many people, especially the few still living who flew the Spitfire in combat. Numerous films and documentaries featuring the Spitfire are still being produced, some of which are listed in this section.

  • The First of the Few (also known as Spitfire in the US and Canada) (1942) is a British film produced and directed by Leslie Howard, with Howard in the starring role of R. J. Mitchell, and David Niven playing a composite character based on the Schneider Trophy pilots of 1927, 1929 and 1931, and the Supermarine test pilot Jeffrey Quill. Some of the footage includes film shot in 1941 of operational Spitfires and pilots of 501 Squadron (code letters SD). Howard spent a long time researching the history of the Spitfire's development for the film; Mrs. Mitchell and her son Gordon were on the set during much of the production.[188] The aerobatic flying sequences featured in the last 15 minutes of the film were made by Jeffrey Quill in early November 1941, flying a Spitfire Mk II mocked up to represent the prototype.
  • Malta Story (1953), starring Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel and Muriel Pavlow, is a black and white war film telling the story of the defence of Malta in 1942 when Spitfires were the island's main defence from air attacks.[189]
  • Reach for the Sky (1956) starring Kenneth More tells the story of Douglas Bader, using contemporary Spitfire aircraft in the production.[190]
  • Battle of Britain (1969) directed by Guy Hamilton and starring Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Ralph Richardson, Michael Redgrave and Susannah York, is set in 1940. Features several sequences involving a total of 12 flying Spitfires (mostly Mk IX versions because not many Mk.Is were available at the time),[191] as well as a number of other flying examples of Second World War-era British and German aircraft.
  • Piece of Cake (1987) starring Tom Burlinson, aired on the ITV network in 1987. Based on the novel by Derek Robinson, the six-part miniseries covers the prewar era to "Battle of Britain Day", 15 September 1940. It depicts air combat over the skies of France and Britain during the early stages of the Second World War, though using five flying examples of late model Spitfires in place of the novel's early model Hurricanes.[192]
  • Dark Blue World (2001), starring Ondřej Vetchý, is a tale of two Czech pilots who escape Nazi-occupied Europe to fly Spitfires during the Battle of Britain. Jan Svěrák filmed some new aerial scenes and reused aerial footage from Hamilton's film.[193]
  • Guy Martin's Spitfire (2014) is a Channel 4 documentary covering the two-year restoration of a Mark 1 Spitfire, N3200, coded 'QV', that had been buried beneath the sand for 46 years after crash landing during the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. Guy Martin tells the Boy's Own-style story of its pilot, Squadron Leader Geoffrey Stephenson and helps in the restoration of the aircraft at the Aircraft Restoration Company facilities at Duxford.[194]
  • Dunkirk (2017), directed by Christopher Nolan, features three Spitfires defending the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk against attacks by the German Luftwaffe.[195]
  • Spitfire: The People's Plane (2020) is a BBC World Service ten-part podcast on the efforts of the people who built the aircraft.[196]

Specifications (Spitfire Mk Vb)

 
Spitfire VB of 222 Squadron, 1942

The Spitfire's performance improved greatly as WWII progressed; for more information, see Supermarine Spitfire variants: specifications, performance and armament.

Data from Spitfire: The History and Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II.[197][198]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)
  • Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
  • Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.48 m)
  • Wing area: 242.1 sq ft (22.49 m2)
  • Airfoil: root: NACA 2213; tip: NACA 2209.4
  • Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)
  • Gross weight: 6,622 lb (3,004 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 6,700 lb (3,039 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 1,470 hp (1,100 kW) [nb 15]
  • Propellers: 3-bladed Rotol constant-speed propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 370 mph (600 km/h, 320 kn)
  • Range: 479 mi (771 km, 416 nmi)
  • Combat range: 248 mi (399 km, 216 nmi)
  • Ferry range: 1,100 mi (1,800 km, 960 nmi) with fuel tank
  • Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,100 m)
  • Rate of climb: 2,600 ft/min (13 m/s)
  • Wing loading: 27.35 lb/sq ft (133.5 kg/m2)
  • Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

Armament

  • Guns:
    • A wing
      • 8 × .303 in Browning Mk II* machine guns (350 rounds per gun)
    • B wing
      • 2 × 20 mm Hispano Mk II (60 rounds per gun)
      • 4 × .303 in Browning Mk II* machine guns (350 rounds per gun)
    • C wing
      • 4 × 20 mm Hispano Mk II cannon (120 rounds per gun)
    • C wing (Alt.)
      • 2 × 20 mm Hispano Mk II (120 rounds per gun)
      • 4 × .303 in Browning Mk II* machine guns (350 rounds per gun)
    • E wing
      • 2 × 20 mm Hispano Mk II cannon (120 rounds per gun)
      • 2 × .50 in M2 Browning machine guns (250 rounds per gun)
  • Rockets: 2 RP-3 rockets (1 under each wing)

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

Notes

  1. ^ For many years, considerable debate occurred over the date of the first flight being 5 or 6 March. Many of Supermarine's records from this era were destroyed during a bombing raid in 1940, and none of the surviving documents seemed to pin this down. This matter was almost conclusively answered in 1985 by aviation author Alfred Price, who received an account sheet with a handwritten note updating a line from "Not yet flown" to "Flew 5 Mar 36". See Spitfire: A Complete Fighting History, 1991, p. 165-166.
  2. ^ Although this is often perceived as Summers implying the Spitfire was flawless, this is not the case. What he meant was that he wanted nothing touched, especially the control settings, until he had consulted with Mitchell and the design team and suggested some improvements.[15]
  3. ^ The Air Ministry submitted a list of possible names to Vickers-Armstrong for the new aircraft, then known as the Type 300. One of these was the improbable Shrew. The name Spitfire was suggested by Sir Robert McLean, director of Vickers-Armstrongs at the time, who called his spirited elder daughter Annie Penrose "a little spitfire".[18] The word dates from Elizabethan times and refers to a fiery, ferocious type of person; at the time, it usually meant a girl or woman of that temperament.[19] Previously, the name had been used unofficially for Mitchell's earlier F7/30 Type 224 design. Mitchell is reported to have said it was "just the sort of bloody silly name they would choose".[20][21]
  4. ^ The pilot standing in front of the aircraft is prewar Olympic hurdler, Sqn. Ldr. Donald O. Finlay, the commanding officer of 41 Squadron from September 1940 to August 1941, who adopted the aircraft as his personal mount. The same day P7666 was delivered to the squadron, 23 November 1940, Finlay destroyed a Bf 109 on his first operational sortie in the aircraft.
  5. ^ A "Spitfire Lane" can be found on the road between Salisbury and Andover leading to the Chattis Hill aerodrome.
  6. ^ The test pilots were based at Highpost and flown by light aircraft to the other airfields.
  7. ^ Glancey notes that Rolls-Royce saw the potential of the He 70 as a flying test-bed for prototype engines, sending a team to Germany to buy one of the aircraft direct from Heinkel. The German government approved the deal, but only in return for a number of Rolls-Royce Kestrel engines. He also notes that Shenstone had worked with Ernst Heinkel in Germany.[12]
  8. ^ Starting with the Merlin XII fitted in Spitfire Mk IIs in late 1940 this was changed to a 70% water-30% glycol mix.
  9. ^ The fabric used for aircraft control surfaces had to be as light and as strong as possible: Irish linen was often used, or Grade A cotton. Once the material was stretched and doped, it was weatherproof and aerodynamically smooth. [76]
  10. ^ On the ground, the flaps were normally lowered only for inspection or for maintenance. Pilots who forgot to raise the flaps after landing often found themselves paying a fine.
  11. ^ Early, Merlin-powered Spitfires were not the only aircraft to suffer from this problem, as other prewar aeroplanes also used carburettors containing a float chamber. In 1942, the United States acquired a flyable, Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, known as the Akutan Zero. Test flying showed this aircraft also suffered engine cut-outs, due to the float-type carburettor of its Nakajima Sakae engine. The Americans devised tactics to counter the Zero in combat that took advantage of this and other results of testing the aircraft.[96] .
  12. ^ This aircraft survived the war, only to be scrapped in 1945. The first pilot to fly K9789 was Squadron Leader Henry Cozens, whose career had begun in 1917 with the Sopwith Camel and ended after flying Meteor and Vampire jets.[31]
  13. ^ The second cockpit of this aircraft has been lowered and is now below the front cockpit. This modification is known as the Grace Canopy Conversion, and was designed by Nick Grace, who rebuilt ML407.[141] (For further details on surviving Spitfires see List of surviving Supermarine Spitfires).
  14. ^ Both of these airframes have a significant history in that they were acquired in the Second World War and used in the first war drives, which preceded the US entry into the conflict. The Spitfire, donated by the British government in 1940, was the first example to come to the United States, and was used extensively as a propaganda tool, alongside the Stuka, recovered from the Middle East.[161]
  15. ^ The Merlin 46 and Merlin 50 were also used in the VB.

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External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Supermarine Spitfire.
  • The Spitfire Site – resource library about the Supermarine Spitfire 17 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  • Spitfire Society
  • Spitfire Society – Eastern Wing
  • Spitfire/Seafire Serial Numbers, production contracts and aircraft histories
  • K5054 – Supermarine Type 300 prototype Spitfire & production aircraft history
  • Spitfire Performance Testing
  • RAF Museum Spitfire Mk VB walk-around photos 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  • Pacific Spitfires – The Supermarine Spitfire in RAAF Service
  • A photograph of the 1939 "Speed Spitfire" in Flight.

January 17, 2023
supermarine, spitfire, spitfire, redirects, here, other, uses, spitfire, disambiguation, british, single, seat, fighter, aircraft, used, royal, force, other, allied, countries, before, during, after, world, many, variants, spitfire, were, built, from, rolls, r. Spitfire redirects here For other uses see Spitfire disambiguation 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 Many variants of the Spitfire were built from the Mk 1 to the Rolls Royce Griffon engined Mk 24 using several wing configurations and guns It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the war The Spitfire remains popular among enthusiasts around 70 remain airworthy and many more are static exhibits in aviation museums throughout the world SpitfireSpitfire LF Mk IX MH434 in flight 2018 This aircraft shot down a Focke Wulf Fw 190 in 1943 while serving with No 222 Squadron RAF Role Fighter Interceptor aircraftNational origin United KingdomManufacturer SupermarineDesigner R J MitchellFirst flight 5 March 1936 1 Introduction 4 August 1938 1 Retired 1961 Irish Air Corps 2 Primary users Royal Air ForceRoyal Canadian Air Force Free French Air Force United States Army Air ForcesProduced 1938 1948Number built 20 351 3 Variants Supermarine SeafireDeveloped into Supermarine Spiteful source source Audio recording of Spitfire fly past at the 2011 family day at RAF Halton Buckinghamshire The Spitfire was designed as a short range high performance interceptor aircraft by R J Mitchell chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers Armstrong from 1928 Mitchell developed the Spitfire s distinctive elliptical wing with innovative sunken rivets designed by Beverley Shenstone to have the thinnest possible cross section achieving a potential top speed greater than that of several contemporary fighter aircraft including the Hawker Hurricane Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death in 1937 whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith took over as chief designer overseeing the Spitfire s development through many variants During the Battle of Britain July October 1940 the public perceived the Spitfire to be the main RAF fighter In fact the more numerous Hurricane shouldered more of the burden of resisting the Luftwaffe The Spitfire was a better fighter aircraft than the Hurricane Spitfire units had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory to loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes probably because of the Spitfire s higher performance During the battle Spitfires generally engaged Luftwaffe fighters mainly Messerschmitt Bf 109E series aircraft which were a close match for them After the Battle of Britain the Spitfire superseded the Hurricane as the principal aircraft of RAF Fighter Command and was used in the European Mediterranean Pacific and Southeast Asian theatres Much loved by its pilots the Spitfire operated in several roles including interceptor photo reconnaissance fighter bomber and trainer and it continued to do so until the 1950s The Seafire was an aircraft carrier based adaptation of the Spitfire used in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 until the mid 1950s The original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls Royce Merlin engine producing 1 030 hp 768 kW It was strong enough and adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlins and in later marks Rolls Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2 340 hp 1 745 kW As a result the Spitfire s performance and capabilities improved over the course of its service life Contents 1 Development and production 1 1 Origins 1 2 Initial production 1 3 Manufacturing at Castle Bromwich Birmingham 1 4 Production dispersal 1 5 Flight testing 2 Design 2 1 Airframe 2 2 Elliptical wing design 2 3 Improved late wing designs 2 4 Carburetion versus fuel injection 2 5 Armament 3 Operational history 3 1 Service operations 3 2 Speed and altitude records 4 Variants 4 1 Overview 4 2 Seafire 4 3 Griffon engined variants 5 Operators 6 Surviving aircraft 6 1 Search for reported surviving Spitfires in Burma 7 Memorials 8 Restorations and replicas 9 Notable appearances in media 10 Specifications Spitfire Mk Vb 11 See also 12 Notes 13 Citations 14 Bibliography 15 External linksDevelopment and production EditOrigins Edit Supermarine Type 224 In 1931 the Air Ministry released specification F7 30 calling for a modern fighter capable of a flying speed of 250 mph 400 km h R J Mitchell designed the Supermarine Type 224 to fill this role The 224 was an open cockpit monoplane with bulky gull wings and a large fixed spatted undercarriage powered by the 600 horsepower 450 kW evaporatively cooled Rolls Royce Goshawk engine 4 It made its first flight in February 1934 5 Of the seven designs tendered to F7 30 the Gloster Gladiator biplane was accepted for service 6 The Type 224 was a big disappointment to Mitchell and his design team who immediately embarked on a series of cleaned up designs using their experience with the Schneider Trophy seaplanes as a starting point 6 This led to the Type 300 with retractable undercarriage and a wingspan reduced by 6 ft 1 8 m This design was submitted to the Air Ministry in July 1934 but was not accepted 7 It then went through a series of changes including the incorporation of an enclosed cockpit oxygen breathing apparatus smaller and thinner wings and the newly developed more powerful Rolls Royce PV XII V 12 engine which was later named the Merlin In November 1934 Mitchell with the backing of Supermarine s owner Vickers Armstrong started detailed design work on this refined version of the Type 300 8 On 1 December 1934 the Air Ministry issued contract AM 361140 34 providing 10 000 for the construction of Mitchell s improved Type 300 design 9 On 3 January 1935 they formalised the contract with a new specification F10 35 written around the aircraft 10 In April 1935 the armament was changed from two 303 in 7 7 mm Vickers machine guns in each wing to four 303 in 7 7 mm Brownings 11 following a recommendation by Squadron Leader Ralph Sorley of the Operational Requirements section at the Air Ministry 12 On 5 March 1936 13 nb 1 the prototype K5054 fitted with a fine pitch propeller to give more power for takeoff took off on its first flight from Eastleigh Aerodrome later Southampton Airport At the controls was Captain Joseph Mutt Summers chief test pilot for Vickers who is quoted as saying don t touch anything on landing 14 nb 2 This eight minute flight 12 came four months after the maiden flight of the contemporary Hurricane 16 K5054 was fitted with a new propeller and Summers flew the aircraft on 10 March 1936 during this flight the undercarriage was retracted for the first time 17 After the fourth flight a new engine was fitted and Summers left the test flying to his assistants Jeffrey Quill and George Pickering They soon discovered that the Spitfire nb 3 20 was a very capable aircraft but not perfect The rudder was oversensitive and the top speed was just 330 mph 528 km h little faster than Sydney Camm s new Merlin powered Hurricane 22 A new and better shaped two bladed wooden propeller allowed the Spitfire to reach 348 mph 557 km h in level flight in mid May when Summers flew K5054 to RAF Martlesham Heath and handed the aircraft over to Squadron Leader Anderson of the Aeroplane amp Armament Experimental Establishment A amp AEE Here Flight Lieutenant Humphrey Edwardes Jones took over the prototype for the RAF 23 He had been given orders to fly the aircraft and then to make his report to the Air Ministry on landing Edwardes Jones report was positive his only request was that the Spitfire be equipped with an undercarriage position indicator 24 A week later on 3 June 1936 the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 Spitfires 25 before the A amp AEE had issued any formal report Interim reports were later issued on a piecemeal basis 26 Initial production Edit The British public first saw the Spitfire at the RAF Hendon air display on Saturday 27 June 1936 Although full scale production was supposed to begin immediately numerous problems could not be overcome for some time and the first production Spitfire K9787 did not roll off the Woolston Southampton assembly line until mid 1938 1 In February 1936 the director of Vickers Armstrongs Sir Robert MacLean guaranteed production of five aircraft a week beginning 15 months after an order was placed On 3 June 1936 the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 aircraft at a cost of 1 395 000 27 Full scale production of the Spitfire began at Supermarine s facility in Woolston but the order clearly could not be completed in the 15 months promised Supermarine was a small company already busy building Walrus and Stranraer flying boats and Vickers was busy building Wellington bombers The initial solution was to subcontract the work 27 Although outside contractors were supposed to be involved in manufacturing many important Spitfire components especially the wings Vickers Armstrongs the parent company was reluctant to see the Spitfire being manufactured by outside concerns and was slow to release the necessary blueprints and subcomponents 28 As a result of the delays in getting the Spitfire into full production the Air Ministry put forward a plan that its production be stopped after the initial order for 310 after which Supermarine would build Bristol Beaufighters The managements of Supermarine and Vickers were able to convince the Air Ministry that production problems could be overcome and a further order was placed for 200 Spitfires on 24 March 1938 The two orders covered the K L and N prefix serial numbers 28 The first production Spitfire came off the assembly line in mid 1938 1 and was flown by Jeffrey Quill on 15 May 1938 almost 24 months after the initial order 29 The final cost of the first 310 aircraft after delays and increased programme costs came to 1 870 242 or 1 533 more per aircraft than originally estimated 30 A production aircraft cost about 9 500 The most expensive components were the hand fabricated and finished fuselage at roughly 2 500 then the Rolls Royce Merlin engine at 2 000 followed by the wings at 1 800 a pair guns and undercarriage both at 800 each and the propeller at 350 31 Manufacturing at Castle Bromwich Birmingham Edit Main article Castle Bromwich Assembly Spitfire Mk IIA P7666 EB Z Royal Observer Corps was built at Castle Bromwich and delivered to 41 Squadron on 23 November 1940 nb 4 In 1935 the Air Ministry approached Morris Motors Limited to ask how quickly their Cowley plant could be turned to aircraft production In 1936 this informal request for major manufacturing facilities was replaced by a formal scheme known as the shadow factory plan to boost British aircraft production capacity under the leadership of Herbert Austin He was given the task of building nine new factories and to supplement the British car manufacturing industry by either adding to overall capacity or increasing the potential for reorganisation to produce aircraft and their engines 32 In 1938 construction began on the Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory CBAF next to the aerodrome and the installation of the most modern machine tools then available began two months after work started on the site 30 Although Morris Motors under Lord Nuffield an expert in mass motor vehicle construction managed and equipped the factory it was funded by the government By the beginning of 1939 the factory s original estimated cost of 2 000 000 had more than doubled 33 and even as the first Spitfires were being built in June 1940 the factory was still incomplete and suffering from personnel problems The Spitfire s stressed skin construction required precision engineering skills and techniques that were beyond the capabilities of the local labour force and some time was required to retrain them Difficulties arose with management who ignored Supermarine s tooling and drawings in favour of their own and the workforce continually threatened strikes or slow downs until their demands for higher wages were met 34 In spite of promises that the factory would be producing 60 per week starting in April by May 1940 Castle Bromwich had not yet built its first Spitfire 33 35 On 17 May Minister of Aircraft Production Lord Beaverbrook telephoned Lord Nuffield and manoeuvred him into handing over control of the Castle Bromwich plant to his ministry 36 Beaverbrook immediately sent in experienced management staff and workers from Supermarine and gave control of the factory to Vickers Armstrongs Although resolving the problems took time in June 1940 10 Mk IIs were built 23 rolled out in July 37 in August and 56 in September 37 By the time production ended at Castle Bromwich in June 1945 a total of 12 129 Spitfires 921 Mk IIs 38 4 489 Mk Vs 5 665 Mk IXs 39 and 1 054 Mk XVIs 38 had been built at a maximum rate of 320 per month making CBAF the largest Spitfire factory in the UK and the largest and most successful plant of its type during the 1939 45 conflict Production dispersal Edit This Spitfire PR Mk XI PL965 was built at RAF Aldermaston in southern England During the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe made concerted efforts to destroy the main manufacturing plants at Woolston and Itchen near Southampton The first bombing raid which missed the factories came on 23 August 1940 Over the next month other raids were mounted until on 26 September 1940 both factories were destroyed 40 with 92 people killed and a large number injured Most of the casualties were experienced aircraft production workers 41 Fortunately for the future of the Spitfire many of the production jigs and machine tools had already been relocated by 20 September and steps were being taken to disperse production to small facilities throughout the Southampton area 40 To this end the British government requisitioned the likes of Vincent s Garage in Station Square Reading which later specialised in manufacturing Spitfire fuselages and Anna Valley Motors Salisbury 42 which was to become the sole producer of the wing leading edge fuel tanks for photo reconnaissance Spitfires as well as producing other components A purpose built works specialising in manufacturing fuselages and installing engines was built at Star Road Caversham in Reading 41 The drawing office in which all Spitfire designs were drafted was moved to Hursley Park near Southampton This site also had an aircraft assembly hangar where many prototype and experimental Spitfires were assembled but since it had no associated aerodrome no Spitfires ever flew from Hursley Four towns and their satellite airfields were chosen to be the focal points for these workshops 40 Southampton s Eastleigh Airport Salisbury and the High Post and Chattis Hill 43 nb 5 aerodromes Trowbridge and RAF Keevil 44 and Reading s Henley and Aldermaston aerodromes Completed Spitfires were delivered to the airfields on Commer Queen Mary low loader trailers there to be fully assembled tested then passed on to the RAF 41 An experimental factory at Newbury was the subject of a Luftwaffe daylight raid but the bombs missed their target and hit a nearby school citation needed Flight testing Edit All production aircraft were flight tested before delivery During the Second World War Jeffrey Quill was Vickers Supermarine s chief test pilot in charge of flight testing all aircraft types built by Vickers Supermarine He oversaw a group of 10 to 12 pilots responsible for testing all developmental and production Spitfires built by the company in the Southampton area nb 6 Quill devised the standard testing procedures which with variations for specific aircraft designs operated from 1938 45 46 Alex Henshaw chief test pilot at Castle Bromwich from 1940 was placed in charge of testing all Spitfires built at that factory He co ordinated a team of 25 pilots and assessed all Spitfire developments Between 1940 and 1946 Henshaw flew a total of 2 360 Spitfires and Seafires more than 10 of total production 47 48 Henshaw wrote about flight testing Spitfires After a thorough preflight check I would take off and once at circuit height I would trim the aircraft and try to get her to fly straight and level with hands off the stick Once the trim was satisfactory I would take the Spitfire up in a full throttle climb at 2 850 rpm to the rated altitude of one or both supercharger blowers Then I would make a careful check of the power output from the engine calibrated for height and temperature If all appeared satisfactory I would then put her into a dive at full power and 3 000 rpm and trim her to fly hands and feet off at 460 mph 740 km h IAS Indicated Air Speed Personally I never cleared a Spitfire unless I had carried out a few aerobatic tests to determine how good or bad she was The production test was usually quite a brisk affair the initial circuit lasted less than 10 minutes and the main flight took between 20 and 30 minutes Then the aircraft received a final once over by our ground mechanics any faults were rectified and the Spitfire was ready for collection I loved the Spitfire in all of her many versions but I have to admit that the later marks although they were faster than the earlier ones were also much heavier so did not handle so well You did not have such positive control over them One test of manoeuvrability was to throw her into a flick roll and see how many times she rolled With the Mark II or the Mark V one got two and a half flick rolls but the Mark IX was heavier and you got only one and a half With the later and still heavier versions one got even less The essence of aircraft design is compromise and an improvement at one end of the performance envelope is rarely achieved without a deterioration somewhere else 49 50 When the last Spitfire rolled out in February 1948 51 a total of 20 351 examples of all variants had been built including two seat trainers with some Spitfires remaining in service well into the 1950s 3 The Spitfire was the only British fighter aircraft to be in continuous production before during and after the Second World War 52 Design EditAirframe Edit Spitfire Mk IIa P7350 of the BBMF is the only existing airworthy Spitfire that fought in the Battle of Britain In the mid 1930s aviation design teams worldwide began developing a new generation of fighter aircraft The French Dewoitine D 520 53 and the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 for example were designed to take advantage of new techniques of monocoque construction and the availability of new high powered liquid cooled in line aero engines They also featured refinements such as retractable undercarriages fully enclosed cockpits and low drag all metal wings These advances had been introduced on civil airliners years before but were slow to be adopted by the military who favoured the biplane s simplicity and manoeuvrability 54 Mitchell s design aims were to create a well balanced high performance fighter aircraft capable of fully exploiting the power of the Merlin engine while being relatively easy to fly 55 At the time with France as an ally and Germany thought to be the most likely future opponent no enemy fighters were expected to appear over Great Britain German bombers would have to fly to the UK over the North Sea and Germany did not have any single engine fighters with the range to accompany them To carry out the mission of home defence the design was intended to allow the Spitfire to climb quickly to intercept enemy bombers 56 The Spitfire s airframe was complex The streamlined semi monocoque duralumin skinned fuselage featured a number of compound vertical curves built up from a skeleton of 19 formers also known as frames starting from frame number one immediately behind the propeller unit to the tail unit attachment frame The first four frames supported the glycol header tank and engine cowlings Frame five to which the engine bearers were secured supported the weight of the engine and its accessories This was a strengthened double frame which also incorporated the fireproof bulkhead and in later versions of the Spitfire the oil tank This frame also tied the four main fuselage longerons to the rest of the airframe 57 Behind the bulkhead were five U shaped half frames which accommodated the fuel tanks and cockpit The rear fuselage started at the 11th frame to which the pilot s seat and later armour plating were attached and ended at the 19th which was mounted at a slight forward angle just forward of the fin Each of these nine frames was oval reducing in size towards the tail and incorporated several lightening holes to reduce their weight as much as possible without weakening them The U shaped frame 20 was the last frame of the fuselage proper and the frame to which the tail unit was attached Frames 21 22 and 23 formed the fin frame 22 incorporated the tailwheel opening and frame 23 was the rudder post Before being attached to the main fuselage the tail unit frames were held in a jig and the eight horizontal tail formers were riveted to them 58 A combination of 14 longitudinal stringers and four main longerons attached to the frames helped form a light but rigid structure to which sheets of alclad stressed skinning were attached The fuselage plating was 24 20 and 18 gauge in order of thickness towards the tail while the fin structure was completed using short longerons from frames 20 to 23 before being covered in 22 gauge plating 59 The skins of the fuselage wings and tailplane were secured by dome headed rivets and in critical areas such as the wing forward of the main spar where an uninterrupted airflow was required with flush rivets From February 1943 flush riveting was used on the fuselage affecting all Spitfire variants 60 In some areas such as at the rear of the wing and the lower tailplane skins the top was riveted and the bottom fixed by brass screws which tapped into strips of spruce bolted to the lower ribs The removable wing tips were made up of duralumin skinned spruce formers 61 At first the ailerons elevators and rudder were fabric covered but once combat experience showed that fabric covered ailerons were impossible to use at high speeds a light alloy replaced the fabric enhancing control throughout the speed range 62 Elliptical wing design Edit In 1934 Mitchell and the design staff decided to use a semi elliptical wing shape to solve two conflicting requirements the wing needed to be thin to avoid creating too much drag but it had to be thick enough to house the retractable undercarriage armament and ammunition An elliptical planform is the most efficient aerodynamic shape for an untwisted wing leading to the lowest amount of induced drag The ellipse was skewed so that the centre of pressure which occurs at the quarter chord position aligned with the main spar preventing the wings from twisting Mitchell has sometimes been accused of copying the wing shape of the Gunter brothers designed Heinkel He 70 63 which first flew in 1932 but as Beverley Shenstone the aerodynamicist on Mitchell s team explained Our wing was much thinner and had quite a different section to that of the Heinkel In any case it would have been simply asking for trouble to have copied a wing shape from an aircraft designed for an entirely different purpose 64 nb 7 The elliptical wing was decided upon quite early on Aerodynamically it was the best for our purpose because the induced drag caused in producing lift was lowest when this shape was used the ellipse was theoretically a perfection To reduce drag we wanted the lowest possible thickness to chord consistent with the necessary strength But near the root the wing had to be thick enough to accommodate the retracted undercarriages and the guns Mitchell was an intensely practical man The ellipse was simply the shape that allowed us the thinnest possible wing with room inside to carry the necessary structure and the things we wanted to cram in And it looked nice Beverly Shenstone 65 The wing section used was from the NACA 2200 series which had been adapted to create a thickness to chord ratio of 13 at the root reducing to 9 4 at the tip 66 A dihedral of 6 was adopted to give increased lateral stability 55 A wing feature that contributed greatly to its success was an innovative spar boom design made up of five square tubes that fitted into each other As the wing thinned out along its span the tubes were progressively cut away in a similar fashion to a leaf spring two of these booms were linked together by an alloy web creating a lightweight and very strong main spar 67 The undercarriage legs were attached to pivot points built into the inner rear section of the main spar and retracted outwards and slightly backwards into wells in the non load carrying wing structure The resultant narrow undercarriage track was considered an acceptable compromise as this reduced the bending loads on the main spar during landing 67 Ahead of the spar the thick skinned leading edge of the wing formed a strong and rigid D shaped box which took most of the wing loads At the time the wing was designed this D shaped leading edge was intended to house steam condensers for the evaporative cooling system intended for the PV XII Constant problems with the evaporative system in the Goshawk led to the adoption of a cooling system which used 100 glycol nb 8 The radiators were housed in a new radiator duct designed by Fredrick Meredith of the Royal Aircraft Establishment RAE at Farnborough Hampshire This used the cooling air to generate thrust greatly reducing the net drag produced by the radiators 68 In turn the leading edge structure lost its function as a condenser but it was later adapted to house integral fuel tanks of various sizes 69 a feature patented by Vickers Supermarine in 1938 70 The airflow through the main radiator was controlled by pneumatic exit flaps In early marks of the Spitfire Mk I to Mk VI the single flap was operated manually using a lever to the left of the pilot s seat When the two stage Merlin was introduced in the Spitfire Mk IX the radiators were split to make room for an intercooler radiator the radiator under the starboard wing was halved in size and the intercooler radiator housed alongside Under the port wing a new radiator fairing housed a square oil cooler alongside of the other half radiator unit The two radiator flaps were now operated automatically by a thermostat 71 The elliptical planform of a Spitfire PR Mk XIX displayed at an air show in 2008 The black and white invasion stripes are visible Another wing feature was its washout The trailing edge of the wing twisted slightly upward along its span the angle of incidence decreasing from 2 at its root to at its tip 72 This caused the wing roots to stall before the tips reducing tip stall that could otherwise have resulted in a wing drop often leading to a spin As the wing roots started to stall the separating air stream started to buffet vibrate the aircraft warning the pilot allowing even relatively inexperienced pilots to fly it to the limits of its performance 73 This washout was first featured in the wing of the Type 224 and became a consistent feature in subsequent designs leading to the Spitfire 74 The complex wing design especially the precision required to manufacture the vital spar and leading edge structures caused some major delays in the production of the Spitfire at first The problems increased when the work was put out to subcontractors most of whom had never dealt with metal structured high speed aircraft By June 1939 most of these problems had been resolved and production was no longer held up by a lack of wings 75 All the main flight controls were originally metal structures with fabric covering nb 9 Designers and pilots felt that having ailerons which required a degree of effort to move at high speed would avoid unintended aileron reversal throwing the aircraft around and potentially pulling the wings off Air combat was also felt to take place at relatively low speeds and high speed manoeuvring would be physically impossible Flight tests showed the fabric covering of the ailerons ballooned at high speeds adversely affecting the aerodynamics Replacing the fabric covering with light alloy dramatically improved the ailerons at high speed 77 78 During the Battle of Britain pilots found the Spitfire s ailerons were far too heavy at high speeds severely restricting lateral manoeuvres such as rolls and high speed turns which were still a feature of air to air combat 79 Spitfire HF Mk VII The shape of the ellipse was altered by the extended pointed wing tips used by the high altitude Mk VIs VIIs and early Mk VIIIs The Spitfire had detachable wing tips which were secured by two mounting points at the end of each main wing assembly When the Spitfire took on a role as a high altitude fighter Marks VI and VII and some early Mk VIIIs the standard wing tips were replaced by extended pointed tips which increased the wingspan from 36 ft 10 in 11 23 m to 40 ft 2 in 12 24 m 80 The other wing tip variation used by several Spitfire variants was the clipped wing the standard wing tips were replaced by wooden fairings which reduced the span by 3 ft 6 in 1 07 m 81 The wing tips used spruce formers for most of the internal structure with a light alloy skin attached using brass screws 82 The light alloy split flaps at the trailing edge of the wing were also pneumatically operated via a finger lever on the instrument panel 83 Only two positions were available fully up or fully down 85 Flaps were normally lowered only during the final approach and for landing and the pilot was to retract them before taxiing nb 10 84 The ellipse also served as the design basis for the Spitfire s fin and tailplane assembly once again exploiting the shape s favourable aerodynamic characteristics Both the elevators and rudder were shaped so that their centre of mass was shifted forward reducing control surface flutter The longer noses and greater propeller wash resulting from larger engines in later models necessitated increasingly larger vertical and later horizontal tail surfaces to compensate for the altered aerodynamics culminating in those of the Mk 22 24 series which were 25 larger in area than those of the Mk I 85 86 Improved late wing designs Edit As the Spitfire gained more power and was able to manoeuvre at higher speeds the possibility that pilots would encounter aileron reversal increased and the Supermarine design team set about redesigning the wings to counter this The original wing design had a theoretical aileron reversal speed of 580 mph 930 km h 87 which was somewhat lower than that of some contemporary fighters The Royal Aircraft Establishment noted that at 400 mph 640 km h indicated airspeed roughly 65 of aileron effectiveness was lost due to wing twist 88 The new wing of the Spitfire F Mk 21 and its successors was designed to help alleviate this problem Its stiffness was increased by 47 and a new aileron design using piano hinges and geared trim tabs meant the theoretical aileron reversal speed was increased to 825 mph 1 328 km h 87 89 90 Alongside the redesigned wing Supermarine also experimented with the original wing raising the leading edge by 1 inch 2 54 cm with the hope of improving pilot view and reducing drag This wing was tested on a modified F Mk 21 also called the F Mk 23 sometimes referred to as Valiant rather than Spitfire The increase in performance was minimal and this experiment was abandoned 91 Supermarine developed a new laminar flow wing based on new aerofoil profiles developed by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in the United States with the objective of reducing drag and improving performance These laminar flow airfoils were the Supermarine 371 I used at the root and the 371 II used at the tip 66 Supermarine estimated that the new wing could give an increase in speed of 55 mph 89 km h over the Spitfire Mk 21 92 The new wing was initially fitted to a Spitfire Mk XIV Later a new fuselage was designed with the new fighter becoming the Supermarine Spiteful 93 Carburetion versus fuel injection Edit Early in its development the Merlin engine s lack of fuel injection meant that Spitfires and Hurricanes unlike the Bf 109E were unable to simply nose down into a steep dive This meant a Luftwaffe fighter could simply bunt into a high power dive to escape an attack leaving the Spitfire behind as its fuel was forced out of the carburettor by negative g RAF fighter pilots soon learned to half roll their aircraft before diving to pursue their opponents 94 Sir Stanley Hooker explained that the carburettor was adopted because it increased the performance of the supercharger and thereby increased the power of the engine 95 nb 11 In March 1941 a metal disc with a hole was fitted in the fuel line restricting fuel flow to the maximum the engine could consume While it did not cure the problem of the initial fuel starvation in a dive it did reduce the more serious problem of the carburettor being flooded with fuel by the fuel pumps under negative g Invented by Beatrice Tilly Shilling it became known as Miss Shilling s orifice Further improvements were introduced throughout the Merlin series with Bendix manufactured pressure carburettors designed to allow fuel to flow during all flight attitudes introduced in 1942 95 Armament Edit Spitfire at the National Museum of the United States Air Force Due to a shortage of Brownings which had been selected as the new standard rifle calibre machine gun for the RAF in 1934 early Spitfires were fitted with only four guns with the other four fitted later 97 Early tests showed that while the guns worked perfectly on the ground and at low altitudes they tended to freeze at high altitude especially the outer wing guns because the RAF s Brownings had been modified to fire from an open bolt While this prevented overheating of the cordite used in British ammunition it allowed cold air to flow through the barrel unhindered 98 Supermarine did not fix the problem until October 1938 when they added hot air ducts from the rear of the wing mounted radiators to the guns and bulkheads around the gunbays to trap the hot air in the wing Red fabric patches were doped over the gun ports to protect the guns from cold dirt and moisture until they were fired 99 The decision on the arming of the Spitfire and the Hurricane is told in Captain C H Keith s book I Hold my Aim Keith held various appointments with the RAF dealing with designing development and technical policy of armament equipment He organised a conference with Air Commodore Tedder in the chair on 19 July 1934 He says I think it can be reasonably contended that the deliberations of that conference made possible if not certain of the winning of the Battle of Britain almost exactly six years later 100 At that meeting scientific officer Captain F W Gunner Hill presented charts based on his calculations showing that future fighters must carry no less than eight machine guns each of which must be capable of firing 1 000 shots a minute Hill s assistant in making his calculations had been his teenage daughter 101 Even if the eight Brownings worked perfectly pilots soon discovered that they were not sufficient to destroy larger aircraft Combat reports showed that an average of 4 500 rounds were needed to shoot down an enemy aircraft 102 In November 1938 tests against armoured and unarmoured targets had already indicated that the introduction of a weapon with a calibre of at least 20 mm was urgently needed 102 A variant on the Spitfire design with four 20 mm Oerlikon cannon had been tendered to specification F37 35 but the order for prototypes had gone to the Westland Whirlwind in January 1939 103 In June 1939 a Spitfire was fitted with a drum fed Hispano in each wing an installation that required large blisters on the wing to cover the 60 round drum The cannon suffered frequent stoppages mostly because the guns were mounted on their sides to fit as much of the magazine as possible within the wing In January 1940 P O George Proudman flew this prototype in combat but the starboard gun stopped after firing a single round while the port gun fired 30 rounds before seizing 99 If one cannon seized the recoil of the other threw the aircraft off aim Nevertheless 30 more cannon armed Spitfires were ordered for operational trials and they were soon known as the Mk IB to distinguish them from the Browning armed Mk IA they were delivered to No 19 Squadron beginning in June 1940 The Hispanos were found to be so unreliable that the squadron requested an exchange of its aircraft with the older Browning armed aircraft of an operational training unit By August Supermarine had perfected a more reliable installation with an improved feed mechanism and four 303s in the outer wing panels The modified fighters were then delivered to 19 Squadron 99 Operational history EditService operations Edit Main article Supermarine Spitfire operational history K9795 the 9th production Mk I with 19 Squadron in 1938 The operational history of the Spitfire with the RAF began with the first Mk Is K9789 which entered service with 19 Squadron at RAF Duxford on 4 August 1938 30 nb 12 The Spitfire achieved legendary status during the Battle of Britain a reputation aided by the Spitfire Fund organised and run by Lord Beaverbrook the Minister of Aircraft Production 104 In fact the Hurricane outnumbered the Spitfire throughout the battle and shouldered the burden of the defence against the Luftwaffe however because of its higher performance the overall attrition rate of the Spitfire squadrons was lower than that of the Hurricane units and the Spitfire units had a higher victory to loss ratio 105 The key aim of Fighter Command was to stop the Luftwaffe s bombers in practice whenever possible the tactic was to use Spitfires to counter German escort fighters by then based in northern France particularly the Bf 109s while the Hurricane squadrons attacked the bombers 106 Supermarine Spitfire Mk VC BR114 of the No 103 MU Aboukir 1942 Well known Spitfire pilots included Johnnie Johnson 34 enemy aircraft e a shot down 107 who flew the Spitfire right through his operational career from late 1940 to 1945 Douglas Bader 20 e a and Bob Tuck 27 e a flew Spitfires and Hurricanes during the major air battles of 1940 Both were shot down and became prisoners of war while flying Spitfires over France in 1941 and 1942 108 Paddy Finucane 28 32 e a scored all his successes in the fighter before disappearing over the English Channel in July 1942 109 Some notable Commonwealth pilots were George Beurling 311 3 e a from Canada Sailor Malan 27 e a from South Africa 110 New Zealanders Alan Deere 17 e a and C F Gray 27 e a 111 112 and the Australian Hugo Armstrong 12 e a 113 The Spitfire continued to play increasingly diverse roles throughout the Second World War and beyond often in air forces other than the RAF For example the Spitfire became the first high speed photo reconnaissance aircraft to be operated by the RAF Sometimes unarmed they flew at high medium and low altitudes often ranging far into enemy territory to closely observe the Axis powers and provide an almost continual flow of valuable intelligence information throughout the war In 1941 and 1942 PRU Spitfires provided the first photographs of the Freya and Wurzburg radar systems and in 1943 helped confirm that the Germans were building the V1 and V2 Vergeltungswaffen vengeance weapons rockets by photographing Peenemunde on the Baltic Sea coast of Germany 114 In the Mediterranean the Spitfire blunted the heavy attacks on Malta by the Regia Aeronautica and Luftwaffe and from early 1943 helped pave the way for the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy On 7 March 1942 15 Mk Vs carrying 90 gallon fuel tanks under their bellies took off from HMS Eagle off the coast of Algeria on a 600 mile 970 km flight to Malta 115 Those Spitfire Vs were the first to see service outside Britain 116 The Spitfire also served on the Eastern Front with the Soviet Air Force VVS The first deliveries of the Spitfire Mk VB variant took place at the start of 1943 with the first batch of 35 aircraft delivered via sea to the city of Basra Iraq A total of 143 aircraft and 50 furnished hulls to be used for spare parts followed by March of the same year Though some aircraft were used for front line duty in 1943 most of them saw service with the Protivo Vozdushnaya Oborona English Anti air Defence Branch 117 In 1944 the USSR received the substantially improved Mk IX variant with the first aircraft delivered in February Initially these were refurbished aircraft but subsequent shipments were factory new A total of 1 185 aircraft of this model were delivered through Iran Iraq and the Arctic to northern Soviet ports Two of these were the Spitfire HF Mk IX high altitude modification while the remainder were the low altitude LF Mk IX The last Lend Lease shipment carrying the Mk IX arrived at the port of Severodvinsk on 12 June 1945 The Spitfire also served in the Pacific Theatre meeting the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero Lt Gen Claire Chennault said The RAF pilots were trained in methods that were excellent against German and Italian equipment but suicide against the acrobatic Japs 118 Although not as fast as the Spitfire the Zero could out turn the Spitfire could sustain a climb at a very steep angle and could stay in the air for three times as long 119 To counter the Zero Spitfire pilots adopted a slash and run policy and used their faster speed and diving superiority to fight while avoiding turning dogfights The Allies achieved air superiority when the Mk VIII version was introduced to the theatre replacing the earlier Mk V In one memorable encounter New Zealand ace Alan Peart fought a solo dogfight against two dozen Japanese aircraft attacking the Broadway airstrip shooting down one That Southeast Asia was a lower priority area also did not help and it was allocated few Spitfires and other modern fighters compared to Europe which allowed the Japanese to easily achieve air superiority by 1942 120 121 122 Over the Northern Territory of Australia Royal Australian Air Force and RAF Spitfires assigned to No 1 Wing RAAF helped defend the port town of Darwin against air attack by the Japanese Naval Air Force 123 suffering heavy losses largely due to the type s limited fuel capacity 124 Spitfire MKVIIIs took part in the last battle of World War II involving the Western allies in Burma in the ground attack role helping defeat a Japanese break out attempt 125 During the Second World War Spitfires were used by the United States Army Air Forces in the 4th Fighter Group until they were replaced by Republic P 47 Thunderbolts in March 1943 126 Several Spitfires were captured by the Germans and flown by units that tested evaluated and sometimes clandestinely operated enemy aircraft 127 Speed and altitude records Edit The Spitfire Mk XI flown by Sqn Ldr Martindale seen here after its flight on 27 April 1944 during which it was damaged achieving a true airspeed of 620 mph 998 km h or Mach 0 92 Beginning in late 1943 high speed diving trials were undertaken at Farnborough to investigate the handling characteristics of aircraft travelling at speeds near the sound barrier i e the onset of compressibility effects Because it had the highest limiting Mach number of any aircraft at that time a Spitfire XI was chosen to take part in these trials Due to the high altitudes necessary for these dives a fully feathering Rotol propeller was fitted to prevent overspeeding During these trials EN409 flown by Squadron Leader J R Tobin reached 606 mph 975 km h Mach 0 891 in a 45 dive In April 1944 the same aircraft suffered engine failure in another dive while being flown by Squadron Leader Anthony F Martindale Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve when the propeller and reduction gear broke off The dive put the aircraft to Mach 0 92 the fastest ever recorded in a piston engined aircraft but when the propeller came off the Spitfire now tail heavy zoom climbed back to altitude Martindale blacked out under the 11 g loading but when he resumed consciousness he found the aircraft at about 40 000 feet with its originally straight wings now slightly swept back 128 Martindale successfully glided the Spitfire 20 mi 32 km back to the airfield and landed safely 129 Martindale was awarded the Air Force Cross for his exploits 130 RAE Bedford RAE modified a Spitfire for high speed testing of the stabilator then known as the flying tail of the Miles M 52 supersonic research aircraft RAE test pilot Eric Brown stated that he tested this successfully during October and November 1944 attaining Mach 0 86 in a dive 131 On 5 February 1952 a Spitfire 19 of 81 Squadron based at Kai Tak in Hong Kong reached probably the highest altitude ever achieved by a Spitfire The pilot Flight Lieutenant Edward Ted Powles 132 was on a routine flight to survey outside air temperature and report on other meteorological conditions at various altitudes in preparation for a proposed new air service through the area He climbed to 50 000 ft 15 000 m indicated altitude with a true altitude of 51 550 ft 15 710 m The cabin pressure fell below a safe level and in trying to reduce altitude he entered an uncontrollable dive which shook the aircraft violently He eventually regained control somewhere below 3 000 ft 910 m and landed safely with no discernible damage to his aircraft Evaluation of the recorded flight data suggested he achieved a speed of 690 mph 1 110 km h Mach 0 96 in the dive which would have been the highest speed ever reached by a propeller driven aircraft if the instruments had been considered more reliable 129 That any operational aircraft off the production line cannons sprouting from its wings and warts and all could readily be controlled at this speed when the early jet aircraft such as Meteors Vampires P 80s etc could not was certainly extraordinary Jeffrey Quill 133 The critical Mach number of the Spitfire s original elliptical wing was higher than the subsequently used laminar flow section straight tapering planform wing of the follow on Supermarine Spiteful Seafang and Attacker illustrating that Reginald Mitchell s practical engineering approach to the problems of high speed flight had paid off 134 Variants EditOverview Edit Main articles Supermarine Spitfire early Merlin powered variants Supermarine Spitfire late Merlin powered variants Supermarine Spitfire Griffon powered variants and Supermarine Spitfire variants specifications performance and armament Although R J Mitchell is justifiably known as the engineer who designed the Spitfire his premature death in 1937 meant that all development after that date was undertaken by a team led by his chief draughtsman Joe Smith who became Supermarine s chief designer on Mitchell s death As Jeffrey Quill noted If Mitchell was born to design the Spitfire Joe Smith was born to defend and develop it 135 Pilots of 611 West Lancashire Squadron pushing an early Spitfire Mark IXb at Biggin Hill in late 1942 There were 24 marks of Spitfire and many sub variants These covered the Spitfire in development from the Merlin to Griffon engines the high speed photo reconnaissance variants and the different wing configurations More Spitfire Mk Vs were built than any other type with 6 487 built followed by the 5 656 Mk IXs 38 Different wings featuring a variety of weapons were fitted to most marks the A wing used eight 303 in 7 7 mm machine guns the B wing had four 303 in 7 7 mm machine guns and two 20 mm 79 in Hispano cannon and the C or universal wing could mount either four 20 mm 79 in cannon or two 20 mm 79 in and four 303 in 7 7 mm machine guns As the war progressed the C wing became more common 136 Another armament variation was the E wing which housed two 20 mm 79 in cannon and two 50 in 12 7 mm Browning machine guns 137 Although the Spitfire continued to improve in speed and armament its limited fuel capacity restricted range and endurance it remained short legged throughout its life except in the dedicated photo reconnaissance role when its guns were replaced by extra fuel tanks 138 Supermarine developed a two seat variant known as the T Mk VIII to be used for training but none were ordered and only one example was ever constructed identified as N32 G AIDN by Supermarine 139 In the absence of an official two seater variant a number of airframes were crudely converted in the field These included a 4 Squadron SAAF Mk VB in North Africa where a second seat was fitted instead of the upper fuel tank in front of the cockpit although it was not a dual control aircraft and is thought to have been used as the squadron run about 140 The only unofficial two seat conversions that were fitted with dual controls were a few Russian lend lease Mk IX aircraft These were referred to as Mk IX UTI and differed from the Supermarine proposals by using an inline greenhouse style double canopy rather than the raised bubble type of the T Mk VIII 140 In the postwar era the idea was revived by Supermarine and a number of two seat Spitfires were built by converting old Mk IX airframes with a second raised cockpit featuring a bubble canopy Ten of these TR9 variants were then sold to the Indian Air Force along with six to the Irish Air Corps three to the Royal Netherlands Air Force and one for the Royal Egyptian Air Force 139 Currently several of the trainers are known to exist including both the T Mk VIII a T Mk IX based in the US and the Grace Spitfire ML407 a veteran flown operationally by 485 NZ Squadron in 1944 141 nb 13 Seafire Edit Main article Supermarine Seafire Seafires preparing to take off from the aircraft carrier HMS Implacable in 1945 The Seafire a name derived from sea and Spitfire was a naval version of the Spitfire specially adapted for operation from aircraft carriers Although the Spitfire was not designed for the rough and tumble of carrier deck operations it was considered the best available fighter at the time The basic Spitfire design did impose some limitations on the use of the aircraft as a carrier based fighter poor visibility over the nose for example meant that pilots had to be trained to land with their heads out of the cockpit and looking along the port cowling of their Seafire 142 Like the Spitfire the Seafire also had a relatively narrow undercarriage track which meant that it was not ideally suited to deck operations 143 Early Seafire marks had relatively few modifications to the standard Spitfire airframe however cumulative front line experience meant that most of the later versions of the Seafire had strengthened airframes folding wings arrestor hooks and other modifications culminating in the purpose built Seafire F FR Mk 47 144 The Seafire II was able to outperform the A6M5 Zero at low altitudes when the two types were tested against each other during wartime mock combat exercises 145 However contemporary Allied carrier fighters such as the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair were considerably more robust and so more practical for carrier operations 146 Performance was greatly increased when later versions of the Seafire were fitted with the Griffon engines These were too late to see service in World War II 147 Griffon engined variants Edit Main article Supermarine Spitfire Griffon powered variants The first Rolls Royce Griffon engined Mk XII flew in August 1942 and first flew operationally with 41 Squadron in April 1943 This mark could nudge 400 mph 640 km h in level flight and climb to an altitude of 33 000 ft 10 000 m in under nine minutes 148 As American fighters took over the long range escorting of USAAF daylight bombing raids the Griffon engined Spitfires progressively took up the tactical air superiority role and played a major role in intercepting V 1 flying bombs while the Merlin engined variants mainly the Mk IX and the Packard engined Mk XVI were adapted to the fighter bomber role 149 Although the later Griffon engined marks lost some of the favourable handling characteristics of their Merlin powered predecessors they could still outmanoeuvre their main German foes and other later American and British designed fighters 138 The final version of the Spitfire the Mk 24 first flew at South Marston on 13 April 1946 On 20 February 1948 almost twelve years from the prototype s first flight the last production Spitfire VN496 left the production line Spitfire Mk 24s were used by only one regular RAF unit with 80 Squadron replacing their Hawker Tempests with F Mk 24s in 1947 150 With these aircraft 80 Squadron continued its patrol and reconnaissance duties from Wunstorf in Germany as part of the occupation forces until it relocated to Kai Tak Airport Hong Kong in July 1949 During the Chinese Civil War 80 Squadron s main duty was to defend Hong Kong from perceived Communist threats 151 Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XIIs of 41 Squadron in April 1944 Operation Firedog during the Malayan Emergency saw the Spitfire fly over 1 800 operational sorties against the Malayan Communists 152 The last operational sortie of an RAF Spitfire was flown on 1 April 1954 by PS888 a PR Mk 19 Spitfire of 81 Squadron It was flying from RAF Seletar in Singapore to photograph an area of jungle in Johore Malaysia thought to contain Communist guerrillas To mark the special occasion ground crewmen had painted The Last on the aircraft s nose 153 The last non operational flight of a Spitfire in RAF service which took place on 9 June 1957 was by a PR Mk 19 PS583 from RAF Woodvale of the Temperature and Humidity Flight This was also the last known flight of a piston engined fighter in the RAF 154 The last nation in the Middle East to operate Spitfires was Syria which kept its F Mk 22s until 1953 152 In late 1962 Air Marshal Sir John Nicholls instigated a trial when he flew Spitfire PM631 a PR Mk 19 in the custody of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight against an English Electric Lightning F 3 a supersonic jet engined interceptor in mock combat at RAF Binbrook At the time British Commonwealth forces were involved in possible action against Indonesia over Malaya and Nicholls decided to develop tactics to fight the Indonesian Air Force P 51 Mustang a fighter that had a similar performance to the PR Mk 19 155 The first airframe PM631 developed mechanical issues which removed it from the trial Another PR Mk 19 PS853 which is now owned by Rolls Royce was on gate guard duties at Binbrook having been retired from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight BBMF one year before It had been maintained in running condition by ground crews at Binbrook and after a short time was participating in the trials At the end of the trials RAF pilots found that Firestreak infra red guided missiles had trouble acquiring the Spitfire due to a low exhaust temperature and decided that the twin ADEN 30 mm 1 2 in cannons were the only weapons suited to the task which was complicated by the tight turning circle of the Spitfire and the Lightning s proclivity for over running the Spitfire It was concluded that the most effective and safest way for a modern jet engined fighter to attack a piston engined fighter was to engage full afterburner at an altitude lower than the Spitfire and circle behind it to perform a hit and run attack contrary to all established fighter on fighter doctrine at that time 156 157 Operators EditSee also List of Supermarine Spitfire operators Spitfires Mk Vc Trop of 352 Yugoslav Squadron RAF Balkan Air Force before first mission on 18 August 1944 from Canne airfield Italy Spitfire T9 in 2005 civil registered as G CCCA painted in the markings of the Irish Air Corps Australia 158 159 Belgium Burma Canada Czechoslovakia Denmark Egypt France Free France Greece Hong Kong 160 India Indian Empire Indonesia Ireland Israel Kingdom of Italy Italy Italian Republic Netherlands New Zealand Norway Pakistan Poland Portugal Southern Rhodesia South Africa Soviet Union Sweden Syria Thailand Turkey United Kingdom United States YugoslaviaSurviving aircraft EditMain article List of surviving Supermarine Spitfires Lynn Garrison Spitfire AR614 now in Paul Allen Collection There are 54 Spitfires and a few Seafires in airworthy condition worldwide when although many air museums have examples on static display for example Chicago s Museum of Science and Industry has paired a static Spitfire with a static Ju 87 R 2 Trop Stuka dive bomber nb 14 162 The oldest surviving Spitfire is a Mark 1 serial number K9942 it is preserved at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford in Shropshire This aircraft was the 155th built and first flew in April 1939 It flew operationally with No 72 Squadron RAF until June 1940 when it was damaged in a wheels up landing After repair it was used for training until August 1944 when it became one of several Battle of Britain aircraft veterans that were allocated to the Air Historical Branch for future museum preservation 163 Spitfire XIVe NH749 of the Commemorative Air Force based at Camarillo airport Southern California seen with period dressed crew members in 2011 What may be the most originally restored Spitfire in the world is maintained at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City Florida Over a six year period in the 1990s this aircraft was slowly restored by Personal Plane Services in England using almost 90 of its original aircraft skins Owner Kermit Weeks insisted that the aircraft be restored as closely as possible to its original condition Machine guns cannon gun sight and original working radios are all installed 164 Two MK 1 Supermarine Spitfires originally restored by the Aircraft Restoration Company remain in flying condition at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire England Both restored by American billionaire Thomas Kaplan one has been donated to the Imperial War Museum and the second was auctioned in July 2015 at Christie s London It is one of only four flying MK 1 Spitfires in the world The aircraft fetched a record 3 1 million at auction on 9 July beating the previous record for a Spitfire of 1 7 million set in 2009 165 Imperial War Museum Duxford Cambridgeshire is home to the largest collection of Spitfires with 15 20 airworthy and static examples on site most weeks throughout the year It is also rumoured that there is anywhere from 5 to 10 restoration projects also progressing on site between The Fighter Collection and the Aircraft Restoration Company One Spitfire is kept in airworthy condition in the Israeli Air Force Museum A Spitfire model ML407 was purchased by Carolyn Grace and her husband Nick in 1979 Carolyn Grace subsequently flew the Spitfire in several displays including one commemorating the 60th anniversary of D Day in 2004 166 167 Search for reported surviving Spitfires in Burma Edit After hostilities ceased in Asia in 1945 a number of Spitfire Mk XIVs were reportedly buried after being greased tarred and prepared for long term storage in crates in Burma Excavations carried out at Yangon International Airport formerly RAF Mingaladon in early 2013 failed to locate any of the rumoured aircraft 168 169 and the team reported that they found no evidence that Spitfires were shipped there in crates or buried 170 Pat Woodward who was an RAF pilot operating from Burma at the end of the war reported that no such burying took place 171 In 2016 it was reported that the hunt was continuing 172 Memorials EditA fibreglass replica of the Mk 1 Spitfire Mk1 YT J R6675 flown by Supermarine test pilot Jeffrey Quill during his brief period of active service with 65 Squadron is on display at the Battle of Britain memorial at Capel le Ferne near Folkestone along with a replica Mk 1 Hurricane representing US X in which Pilot Officer Geoffrey Page was shot down on 12 August 1940 173 Sentinel is a sculpture by Tim Tolkien depicting three Spitfires in flight at the roundabout junction popularly known as Spitfire Island of the A47 and A452 in Castle Bromwich Birmingham England commemorating the main Spitfire factory The island sits at the adjoining southern corners of the former Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory and Aerodrome now Castle Vale housing estate 174 There is also a Spitfire and a Hurricane in the nearby Thinktank Science Museum 175 A sculpture of the prototype Spitfire K5054 stands on the roundabout at the entrance to Southampton International Airport which as Eastleigh Aerodrome saw the first flight of the aircraft in March 1936 Jeffrey Quill the former Supermarine test pilot initiated a project to build an exact replica of K5054 the prototype Spitfire to be put on permanent public display as a memorial to R J Mitchell A team of original Supermarine designers worked with Aerofab Restorations of Andover for 10 years to create the facsimile It was unveiled to the public in April 1993 by Quill at the RAF Museum Hendon and is currently on loan to the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum 176 A fibreglass replica in the colours of a Polish squadron leader based at the station during the Second World War is on display at RAF Northolt the last Battle of Britain Sector Station still in RAF operational service A replica Spitfire is on display on the Thornaby Road roundabout near the school named after Sir Douglas Bader who flew a Spitfire in the Second World War This memorial is in memory of the old RAF base in Thornaby which is now a residential estate A fibreglass replica of a Spitfire Mk XVI has been mounted on a pylon in Memorial Park Hamilton New Zealand as a tribute to all New Zealand fighter pilots who flew Spitfires during the Second World War At Bentley Priory the Second World War command centre for Fighter Command fibreglass replicas of a Spitfire Mk 1 and a Hurricane Mk 1 can be seen fixed in a position of attack This was built as a memorial to everyone who worked at Bentley Priory during the war A fibreglass replica in the colours of 603 City of Edinburgh Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force Spitfire Memorial sits next to the Edinburgh Airport control tower This model replaced the original gate guardian from the former RAF Turnhouse It is painted to represent serial number L1067 code XT D Blue Peter the personal aircraft of the squadron s commander Squadron Leader George Denholm DFC A fibreglass replica of a Spitfire Mk IX has been mounted on a pylon in Jackson Park Windsor Ontario alongside a Hurricane as a memorial to Royal Canadian Air Force pilots This display replaces an Avro Lancaster bomber that had previously been on display and is currently undergoing restoration One of the few remaining Supermarine Spitfires with a wartime record is on display alongside a Hawker Hurricane at the RAF Manston Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum near Kent International Airport 177 Lodge Hill Garage Abingdon Oxfordshire has a full size replica Spitfire as a rooftop monument Owner Peter Jewson bought the replica in a campaign to build the first ever national memorial to honour the 166 women from the Air Transport Auxiliary ATA who flew Spitfires and other aircraft from factories to their operational airbases 14 died during these ferry flights 178 A fibreglass replica of a Spitfire Mk IX is mounted to the roof of the speciality shop Spitfire Emporium in Kitchener Ontario 179 There is a replica of a Spitfire and of a Hurricane at the entrance to the Eden Camp Modern History Museum as a memorial to pilots who served in the Battle of Britain 180 Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre has a full size replica Spitfire MkVb LO D EP121 on display as a memorial to the men and women who served at RFC RAF Montrose A fibreglass replica of Spitfire VB BL924 is on display at Beale Park It was built as a tribute to Aksel Axel Andreas Svendsen a young Danish RAF pilot who was killed in action on 24 April 1942 A full size pole mounted replica was erected in 2021 on the site of a Salisbury factory 181 In 2009 the Spitfire was selected by the Royal Mail for their British Design Classics commemorative postage stamp issue 182 Restorations and replicas Edit Replica Mk Vb on display in 2009 British organisation the Aircraft Restoration Company Formally Historic Flying Limited 183 has either restored overhauled or built from scratch a significant proportion of the Spitfires that are now airworthy Several other manufacturers have produced replica Spitfires either as complete aircraft or as kits for self building These range in scale from 60 scale to full size and most use wooden construction rather than the original all metal monocoque design These include the Jurca Spit from France and those manufactured by Tally Ho Enterprises in Canada 184 Supermarine Aircraft originally from Brisbane Australia and now based in Cisco Texas manufacture the 80 scale Spitfire Mk26 and the 90 scale Mk26B replicas Their Supermarine Aircraft Spitfire is supplied in kit form and is the only all aluminium reproduction Spitfire in production 185 The Isaacs Spitfire 1975 186 and the Time Warp Spitfire Mk V 1996 are homebuilt 60 scale replicas and Bob DeFord of Prescott Arizona built and flies a 100 scale replica 187 Greenwood Military Aviation Museum is also home to a replica non flying Spitfire Notable appearances in media Edit Cutaway diagram of the Spitfire During and after the Battle of Britain the Spitfire became a symbol of British resistance for example Lord Beaverbrook s Spitfire Fund of 1940 was one campaign which drew widespread public attention to the Spitfire The Spitfire continues to be highly popular at airshows on airfields and in museums worldwide and holds an important place in the memories of many people especially the few still living who flew the Spitfire in combat Numerous films and documentaries featuring the Spitfire are still being produced some of which are listed in this section The First of the Few also known as Spitfire in the US and Canada 1942 is a British film produced and directed by Leslie Howard with Howard in the starring role of R J Mitchell and David Niven playing a composite character based on the Schneider Trophy pilots of 1927 1929 and 1931 and the Supermarine test pilot Jeffrey Quill Some of the footage includes film shot in 1941 of operational Spitfires and pilots of 501 Squadron code letters SD Howard spent a long time researching the history of the Spitfire s development for the film Mrs Mitchell and her son Gordon were on the set during much of the production 188 The aerobatic flying sequences featured in the last 15 minutes of the film were made by Jeffrey Quill in early November 1941 flying a Spitfire Mk II mocked up to represent the prototype Malta Story 1953 starring Alec Guinness Jack Hawkins Anthony Steel and Muriel Pavlow is a black and white war film telling the story of the defence of Malta in 1942 when Spitfires were the island s main defence from air attacks 189 Reach for the Sky 1956 starring Kenneth More tells the story of Douglas Bader using contemporary Spitfire aircraft in the production 190 Battle of Britain 1969 directed by Guy Hamilton and starring Laurence Olivier Michael Caine Christopher Plummer Ralph Richardson Michael Redgrave and Susannah York is set in 1940 Features several sequences involving a total of 12 flying Spitfires mostly Mk IX versions because not many Mk Is were available at the time 191 as well as a number of other flying examples of Second World War era British and German aircraft Piece of Cake 1987 starring Tom Burlinson aired on the ITV network in 1987 Based on the novel by Derek Robinson the six part miniseries covers the prewar era to Battle of Britain Day 15 September 1940 It depicts air combat over the skies of France and Britain during the early stages of the Second World War though using five flying examples of late model Spitfires in place of the novel s early model Hurricanes 192 Dark Blue World 2001 starring Ondrej Vetchy is a tale of two Czech pilots who escape Nazi occupied Europe to fly Spitfires during the Battle of Britain Jan Sverak filmed some new aerial scenes and reused aerial footage from Hamilton s film 193 Guy Martin s Spitfire 2014 is a Channel 4 documentary covering the two year restoration of a Mark 1 Spitfire N3200 coded QV that had been buried beneath the sand for 46 years after crash landing during the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940 Guy Martin tells the Boy s Own style story of its pilot Squadron Leader Geoffrey Stephenson and helps in the restoration of the aircraft at the Aircraft Restoration Company facilities at Duxford 194 Dunkirk 2017 directed by Christopher Nolan features three Spitfires defending the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk against attacks by the German Luftwaffe 195 Spitfire The People s Plane 2020 is a BBC World Service ten part podcast on the efforts of the people who built the aircraft 196 Specifications Spitfire Mk Vb Edit Spitfire VB of 222 Squadron 1942 The Spitfire s performance improved greatly as WWII progressed for more information see Supermarine Spitfire variants specifications performance and armament Data from Spitfire The History and Jane s Fighting Aircraft of World War II 197 198 General characteristicsCrew 1 Length 29 ft 11 in 9 12 m Wingspan 36 ft 10 in 11 23 m Height 11 ft 5 in 3 48 m Wing area 242 1 sq ft 22 49 m2 Airfoil root NACA 2213 tip NACA 2209 4 Empty weight 5 065 lb 2 297 kg Gross weight 6 622 lb 3 004 kg Max takeoff weight 6 700 lb 3 039 kg Powerplant 1 Rolls Royce Merlin 45 V 12 liquid cooled piston engine 1 470 hp 1 100 kW nb 15 Propellers 3 bladed Rotol constant speed propellerPerformance Maximum speed 370 mph 600 km h 320 kn Range 479 mi 771 km 416 nmi Combat range 248 mi 399 km 216 nmi Ferry range 1 100 mi 1 800 km 960 nmi with fuel tank Service ceiling 36 500 ft 11 100 m Rate of climb 2 600 ft min 13 m s Wing loading 27 35 lb sq ft 133 5 kg m2 Power mass 0 22 hp lb 0 36 kW kg Armament Guns A wing 8 303 in Browning Mk II machine guns 350 rounds per gun B wing 2 20 mm Hispano Mk II 60 rounds per gun 4 303 in Browning Mk II machine guns 350 rounds per gun C wing 4 20 mm Hispano Mk II cannon 120 rounds per gun C wing Alt 2 20 mm Hispano Mk II 120 rounds per gun 4 303 in Browning Mk II machine guns 350 rounds per gun E wing 2 20 mm Hispano Mk II cannon 120 rounds per gun 2 50 in M2 Browning machine guns 250 rounds per gun Rockets 2 RP 3 rockets 1 under each wing See also Edit Aviation portal War portalAircraft of the Battle of Britain Allied Technological Cooperation During WW2Related development Supermarine S 6B Supermarine Seafire Supermarine Spiteful Supermarine SeafangAircraft of comparable role configuration and era Bell P 39 Airacobra Curtiss P 40 Warhawk Dewoitine D 520 Focke Wulf Fw 190 Hawker Hurricane Heinkel He 112 Lavochkin La 5 Messerschmitt Bf 109 Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 3 Nakajima Ki 43 North American P 51 Mustang Weiss Manfred WM 23 Ezust Nyil Yakovlev Yak 1Related lists List of most produced aircraft List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force List of aircraft of World War II List of surviving Supermarine SpitfiresNotes Edit For many years considerable debate occurred over the date of the first flight being 5 or 6 March Many of Supermarine s records from this era were destroyed during a bombing raid in 1940 and none of the surviving documents seemed to pin this down This matter was almost conclusively answered in 1985 by aviation author Alfred Price who received an account sheet with a handwritten note updating a line from Not yet flown to Flew 5 Mar 36 See Spitfire A Complete Fighting History 1991 p 165 166 Although this is often perceived as Summers implying the Spitfire was flawless this is not the case What he meant was that he wanted nothing touched especially the control settings until he had consulted with Mitchell and the design team and suggested some improvements 15 The Air Ministry submitted a list of possible names to Vickers Armstrong for the new aircraft then known as the Type 300 One of these was the improbable Shrew The name Spitfire was suggested by Sir Robert McLean director of Vickers Armstrongs at the time who called his spirited elder daughter Annie Penrose a little spitfire 18 The word dates from Elizabethan times and refers to a fiery ferocious type of person at the time it usually meant a girl or woman of that temperament 19 Previously the name had been used unofficially for Mitchell s earlier F7 30 Type 224 design Mitchell is reported to have said it was just the sort of bloody silly name they would choose 20 21 The pilot standing in front of the aircraft is prewar Olympic hurdler Sqn Ldr Donald O Finlay the commanding officer of 41 Squadron from September 1940 to August 1941 who adopted the aircraft as his personal mount The same day P7666 was delivered to the squadron 23 November 1940 Finlay destroyed a Bf 109 on his first operational sortie in the aircraft A Spitfire Lane can be found on the road between Salisbury and Andover leading to the Chattis Hill aerodrome The test pilots were based at Highpost and flown by light aircraft to the other airfields Glancey notes that Rolls Royce saw the potential of the He 70 as a flying test bed for prototype engines sending a team to Germany to buy one of the aircraft direct from Heinkel The German government approved the deal but only in return for a number of Rolls Royce Kestrel engines He also notes that Shenstone had worked with Ernst Heinkel in Germany 12 Starting with the Merlin XII fitted in Spitfire Mk IIs in late 1940 this was changed to a 70 water 30 glycol mix The fabric used for aircraft control surfaces had to be as light and as strong as possible Irish linen was often used or Grade A cotton Once the material was stretched and doped it was weatherproof and aerodynamically smooth 76 On the ground the flaps were normally lowered only for inspection or for maintenance Pilots who forgot to raise the flaps after landing often found themselves paying a fine Early Merlin powered Spitfires were not the only aircraft to suffer from this problem as other prewar aeroplanes also used carburettors containing a float chamber In 1942 the United States acquired a flyable Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero known as the Akutan Zero Test flying showed this aircraft also suffered engine cut outs due to the float type carburettor of its Nakajima Sakae engine The Americans devised tactics to counter the Zero in combat that took advantage of this and other results of testing the aircraft 96 This aircraft survived the war only to be scrapped in 1945 The first pilot to fly K9789 was Squadron Leader Henry Cozens whose career had begun in 1917 with the Sopwith Camel and ended after flying Meteor and Vampire jets 31 The second cockpit of this aircraft has been lowered and is now below the front cockpit This modification is known as the Grace Canopy Conversion and was designed by Nick Grace who rebuilt ML407 141 For further details on surviving Spitfires see List of surviving Supermarine Spitfires Both of these airframes have a significant history in that they were acquired in the Second World War and used in the first war drives which preceded the US entry into the conflict The Spitfire donated by the British government in 1940 was the first example to come to the United States and was used extensively as a propaganda tool alongside the Stuka recovered from the Middle East 161 The Merlin 46 and Merlin 50 were also used in the VB Citations Edit a b c d Ethel 1997 p 12 Ireland Air Force Archived 1 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine aeroflight co Retrieved 27 September 2009 a b Ethell 1997 p 117 Ethell 1997 p 6 Andrews and Morgan 1987 p 206 a b Price 1977 p 16 Price 1982 p 16 Price 1982 p 17 Price 1977 p 20 Price 1999 pp 16 17 Price 1977 p 32 a b c Glancey 2006 pp 37 38 Morgan and Shacklady 2000 p 27 Gunston et al 1992 p 334 Quill 1983 p 71 Fleischman John Best of Battle of Britain Air amp Space March 2008 Retrieved 3 April 2008 Price 2002 p 38 Annie Penrose Archived 13 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine Telegraph 25 October 2011 Retrieved 7 November 2012 Wikidictionary spitfire a b McKinstry 2007 p 55 Deighton 1977 p 99 Glancey 2006 p 43 Humphrey Edwardes Jones Archived 24 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine rafweb org Glancey 2006 p 44 Ethell 1997 p 11 Price 1977 pp 25 27 a b Price 1982 p 61 a b Morgan and Shacklady 2000 p 45 Price 1982 p 65 a b c Price 1982 p 67 a b Glancey 2006 p 61 Ian Philpott 20 July 2006 The Royal Air Force Volume 2 An Encyclopedia of the Inter War Years 1930 1939 Pen and Sword pp 49 ISBN 978 1 84415 391 6 Archived from the original on 8 December 2017 a b McKinstry 2007 p 145 McKinstry 2007 pp 152 153 Niall Corduroy 21 January 2017 Whirlwind Westland s Enigmatic Fighter Fonthill Media pp 35 GGKEY RNKZ64PU2TP Archived from the original on 8 December 2017 Price 1982 p 107 Price 1982 p 109 a b c Air International 1985 p 187 Delve 2007 p 79 a b c Price 1982 p 115 a b c Smallwood 1996 pp 8 15 Salisbury s secret Spitfire makers honoured with plaques BBC News 26 May 2021 Retrieved 10 July 2021 Chattis Hill Airfield www hampshireairfields co uk Retrieved 15 July 2021 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Revisiting town s Spitfire past Wiltshire Times 24 June 2009 Retrieved 8 April 2018 Quill 1983 pp 138 145 Spitfire Testing Archived 26 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 9 September 2008 Price 1991 p 68 Henshaw Archived 12 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine angelfire com Retrieved 9 February 2008 Price 1991 pp 68 69 71 Price and Spick 1997 p 70 Price 1982 p 249 McKinstry 2007 p 6 Danel and Cuny 1966 pp 225 244 Cross and Scarborough 1976 pp 6 7 a b Price 2002 p 20 Bodie 1991 p 20 Deere 2010 pp 152 153 170 Morgan and Shacklady 2000 pp 614 616 Morgan and Shacklady 2000 p 616 Morgan and Shacklady 2000 p 171 Deere 2010 pp 170 172 Morgan and Shacklady 2000 pp 57 61 Aeronautical research in Germany from Lilienthal until today Volume 147 Ernst Heinrich Hirschel Horst Prem Gero Madelung Springer 2004 pp 66 69 379 ISBN 9783540406457 Price 1977 pp 33 34 Price 2002 pp 17 18 a b Lednicer David The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine UIUC Applied Aerodynamics Group 15 September 2010 Retrieved 26 June 2011 a b Price 2002 p 19 Price 1977 p 24 Smallwood 1996 p 16 The Trend Of Invention Recent Aeronautical Patents Reviewed vol xxxiii Flight 17 February 1938 p 163 archived from the original on 18 August 2016 Price 2000 pp 58 61 167 Andrews and Morgan 1987 p 216 Bungay 2000 p 78 Morgan and Shacklady 2000 p 4 McKinstry 2007 pp 79 133 Working with Irish Linen Archived 24 July 2012 at archive today Retrieved 27 July 2010 McKinstry 2007 p 260 McKinstry 2007 p 88 McKinstry 2007 p 110 Price 1982 p 147 Price 1982 p 144 Deere 2010 p 173 Air Publications 1972 p 5 Tanner 1981 p 23 Dibbs and Holmes 1997 p 190 Tanner 1976 p Section 1 Fig 1 a b Quill 1983 p 272 NACA Report on lateral control research p 131 Archived 26 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine naca central cranfield ac uk Retrieved 27 June 2010 Andrews and Morgan 1987 pp 227 228 Morgan and Shacklady 2000 pp 464 475 Price Wings of Fame 1999 p 57 Andrews and Morgan 1987 p 264 Andrews and Morgan 1987 pp 264 267 McKinstry 2007 p 205 a b McKinstry 2007 p 206 Rearden 1995 p 73 Williams and Gustin 2003 p 93 Williams and Gustin 2003 pp 16 93 94 a b c Williams and Gustin 2003 pp 93 94 Keith Claude Hilton 1946 I Hold My Aim G Allen and Unwin Limited p 78 Keith 1946 p 128 a b Williams and Gustin 2003 p 95 Buttler 2004 pp 35 50 McKinstry 2007 pp 181 184 McKinstry 2007 pp 118 244 245 McKinstry 2007 p 222 Price 1995 pp 34 37 38 55 89 92 Price 1996 pp 17 35 37 41 62 66 91 Stokes 1983 pp 16 191 194 Price 1996 pp 17 44 55 64 93 Price 1996 pp 11 13 17 42 64 67 68 92 Price 1995 pp 56 57 Price 1995 pp 47 82 83 95 96 Vader 1969 p 153 Glancey 2006 pp 102 103 Holland 2003 p 232 Zlobin Igor 2006 Spitfires over the Kuban Lend lease on airforce ru Archived from the original on 5 July 2017 Retrieved 30 October 2017 Along with British Hurricanes the Soviet Air Force voyenno vozdushnyye sily VVS also managed to fly another aircraft of the Royal Air Force as a front line fighter the Spitfire Mk Vb In the West this airplane is feted as the winner of the Battle of Britain and is also a national symbol of World War II In the skies of Russia these fighters became participants in 1943 in the bloodiest battles over the Kuban Smith 2015 pp 146 149 Spick 1997 p 165 Young 2013 p 36 Young 2013 p 5 Nijboer 2009 p 4 Glancey 2006 pp 122 123 Morison 1958 p 256 Saunders Hilary St George 1954 Royal Air Force 1939 1945 Vol III London HMSO pp 362 63 The 4th Fighter Group 1942 1945 The Official Site of the 4th Fighter Group World War II Association of the 4th Fighter Group World War II Archived from the original on 5 December 2017 Retrieved 4 December 2017 In between 29 September 1942 and 2 November 1945 the 4th flying well over 400 combat missions in Spitfires Thunderbolts and Mustangs compiled an impressive record of accomplishments and topped all 8th Air Force fighter groups with 1016 enemy aircraft destroyed Gilman and Clive 1978 p 314 Eric Brown Wings on my Shoulders 2007 p 74 a b Aircraft performance and design pdf file pp 5 6 Archived 10 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 14 July 2008 Flight Archive Air Force Cross Archived 6 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Flight 22 June 1944 Retrieved 7 November 2012 UK Space Conference 2008 Test Pilot Discussion Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine space co uk Retrieved 12 October 2009 Ted Powles Quill 1983 p 268 Price 1991 p 99 Quill 1993 p 135 Flintham 1990 pp 254 63 Bowyer 1984 p 84 a b Bowyer 1980 p 47 a b Price 2002 p 224 a b Price 2002 p 223 a b Grace Spitfire ML407 Archived 21 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine Grace Spitfire UK Retrieved 27 September 2009 Brown 1978 p 181 Glancey 2006 p 108 Brown 1978 p 185 Price Wings of Fame 1999 p 40 Price Wings of Fame 1999 p 36 Andrews and Morgan 1987 pp 255 56 Price 2002 p 191 Vader 1969 pp 135 41 Thomas 2008 p 77 Thomas 2008 pp 84 85 a b Whitehead Christopher The Supermarine Spitfire an operational history Archived 4 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine DeltaWeb International 1996 Retrieved 30 August 2009 Notable Planes Archived 3 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine 81 squadron 2009 Retrieved 30 August 2009 Morgan and Shacklady 1993 p 457 Green 2007 p 91 McKinstry 2007 pp 379 80 Price 1991 p 158 ADF Serials Spitfire ADF Serials Spitfire Royal Air Force Reserve and Auxiliary Forces RAF Museum PDF UK RAF Museum 2003 pp 173 176 ISBN 9780953034512 Archived PDF from the original on 16 October 2015 Retrieved 11 January 2021 Supermarine Mark 1A Spitfire Archived 13 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine Museum of Science and Industry Chicago Retrieved 30 July 2011 List of Airworthy Spitfires Archived 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine military airshows co Retrieved 23 February 2008 Simpson Andrew Supermarine Spitfire Mk I K9942 8383M Museum Accession NO 72 A 263 PDF Royal Air Force Museum Archived PDF from the original on 11 January 2014 Retrieved 19 June 2013 Spitfire Archived 5 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Fantasy of Flight Retrieved 6 March 2011 Restored World War Two Spitfire sold for 3 1m BBC News BBC News 9 July 2015 Archived from the original on 25 August 2015 Retrieved 23 August 2015 Lough Catherine 7 December 2022 World s only female Spitfire pilot dies in car crash Daily Telegraph Retrieved 7 December 2022 Spitfire flies after replica fear BBC News 7 June 2022 Retrieved 7 December 2022 Search for buried Spitfires in Burma called off Archived 29 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine BBC News 16 February 2013 Retrieved 2 March 2013 Remember the guy who thought he found 140 lost Spitfires buried underground His story came to a really depressing end Archived 20 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine Business Insider UK 15 September 2015 Retrieved 1 May 2016 Stone Mark Burma Spitfire Mystery Is Solved 17 February 2013 Archived 21 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Sky News Retrieved 1 September 2016 Englebrecht Gavin Buried Spitfires is a tall story says RAF veteran 23 January 2013 Archived 16 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Northern Echo Retrieved 1 September 2016 Halifax Justine Hunt for legendary Spitfires buried in Burma is back on 8 June 2016 Archived 15 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine Birmingham Mail Retrieved 1 September 2016 Replica Aircraft The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust Archived from the original on 23 June 2013 Retrieved 16 January 2013 Roundabout is Real Highflyer Birmingham Evening Mail Archived from the original on 13 May 2013 Retrieved 16 January 2013 Displays Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Thinktank Science Museum Retrieved 6 March 2011 Glancey 2006 p 206 Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum RAF Manston Retrieved 25 January 2014 Monument campaign for WWII female auxiliary pilots BBC News 8 June 2011 Archived from the original on 11 June 2011 Retrieved 16 January 2013 Spitfire Emporium Archived 16 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine spitcrazy com Retrieved 11 December 2011 Eden Camp Modern History Theme Museum Malton North Yorkshire Aviation Museum Guide UK Archived from the original on 5 November 2013 Retrieved 5 November 2013 New memorial to honour the workers who built Secret Spitfires during the war ITV News 9 July 2021 Retrieved 10 July 2021 In pictures Royal Mail s British design classic stamps The Guardian Retrieved 30 September 2022 Spitfire Restorations by Aircraft Restoration Company s Historic Flying Ltd Aircraft Restoration Company Retrieved 21 January 2022 Tally Ho Enterprises Spitfire archived from the original on 25 September 2010 retrieved 17 August 2010 About Supermarine Aircraft archived from the original on 5 August 2009 retrieved 25 January 2014 Like every true Briton I wanted to fly a Spitfire How one man built his own plane with a little help from B C Nationalpost 9 December 2016 Retrieved 8 December 2017 If you can t buy one Build One spitfiresocietytrustza org 28 April 2016 Retrieved 29 December 2018 Eforgan 2010 Chapter 8 The Malta Story 1953 Overview Turner Classic Movies Archived from the original on 6 June 2017 Retrieved 8 December 2017 Reach for the Sky 1956 Goofs IMDb IMDb com Retrieved 20 July 2017 The scenes set in the days leading up to the onset of the Second World War feature late model Mark XVI Spitfires with teardrop canopies four bladed propellers and cannon in the wings The Battle of Britain Spitfires daveswarbirds com David Hanson Archived from the original on 25 February 2017 Retrieved 20 July 2017 Spitfires were gathered from all around the world to become a part of the temporary air force used to film the movie Pearson Richard 8 July 1990 Anything But a Piece of Cake The Washington Post Archived from the original on 12 September 2017 Retrieved 9 September 2017 Glancey 2006 p 201 Guy Martin s Spitfire Channel 4 Television Archived from the original on 23 October 2014 Retrieved 23 October 2014 Murugesu Jason 3 August 2017 How realistic are Dunkirk s Spitfire flight scenes newstatesman com Archived from the original on 8 December 2017 Retrieved 8 December 2017 Spitfire The People s Airplane BBC World Service Morgan and Shacklady 1993 p 172 Jane 1946 pp 139 141 Bibliography EditAckroyd John The Aerodynamics of the Spitfire Journal of Aeronautical History 2016 20 1 59 86 Air Ministry A P 1565B Spitfire IIA and IIB Aeroplanes Merlin XII Engine Pilot s Notes London Air Data Publications 1972 ISBN 0 85979 043 6 Air Ministry Pilot s Notes for Spitfire IX XI amp XVI Merlin 61 63 66 70 or 266 Engine London Air Data Publications 1946 ASIN B000TUWO64 Andrews C F and E B Morgan Supermarine Aircraft since 1914 London Putnam 1987 ISBN 0 85177 800 3 Bader Douglas Fight for the Sky The Story of the Spitfire and Hurricane London Cassell Military Books 2004 ISBN 0 304 35674 3 Bodie Warren M The Lockheed P 38 Lightning The Definitive Story of Lockheed s P 38 Fighter Hayesville North Carolina Widewing Publications 2001 first edition 1991 ISBN 0 9629359 5 6 Bowyer Chaz Supermarine Spitfire London Arms and Armour Press 1980 ISBN 0 85368 464 2 Bowyer Michael Interceptor Fighters for the Royal Air Force 1935 45 Wellingborough UK Patrick Stevens 1984 ISBN 0 85059 726 9 Brown Eric Spitfires with Sea Legs Part two Air International Vol 15 No 4 October 1978 Bungay Stephen The Most Dangerous Enemy A History of the Battle of Britain London Aurum 2001 ISBN 1 85410 801 8 Buttler Tony British Secret Projects Fighters and Bombers 1935 1950 Hersham UK Midland 2004 ISBN 1 85780 179 2 Carpenter Chris Flightwise Part 1 Principles of Aircraft Flight Shrewsbury UK AirLife 1996 ISBN 1 85310 719 0 Cross Roy and Gerald Scarborough Messerschmitt Bf 109 Versions B E London Patrick Stevens 1976 ISBN 0 85059 106 6 Cull Brian with Fredrick Galea Spitfires Over Malta The Epic Air Battles of 1942 London Grub Street 2005 ISBN 1 904943 30 6 Danel Raymond and Jean Cuny Docavia n 4 le Dewoitine D 520 in French Paris France Editions Lariviere 1966 Deere Brendon Spitfire Return to Flight Palmerston North NZ ITL Aviation Limited 2010 ISBN 978 0 473 16711 0 Deighton Len Fighter The True Story of the Battle of Britain London Grafton 1977 ISBN 0 7858 1208 3 Delve Ken The Story of the Spitfire An Operational and Combat History London Greenhill books 2007 ISBN 978 1 85367 725 0 Dibbs John and Tony Holmes Spitfire Flying Legend Southampton UK Osprey Publishing 1997 ISBN 1 84176 005 6 Eforgan Estel Leslie Howard The Lost Actor London Mitchell Vallentine amp Company 2010 ISBN 978 0 85303 941 9 Ethell Jeffrey L World War II in the Air Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press 1994 ISBN 1 55750 249 8 Ethell Jeffrey L and Steve Pace Spitfire St Paul Minnesota Motorbooks International 1997 ISBN 0 7603 0300 2 Flack Jeremy Spitfire The World s Most Famous Fighter London Chancellor Press 1994 ISBN 1 85152 637 4 Flintham Victor Air Wars and Aircraft A Detailed Record of Air Combat 1945 to the Present New York Facts on File 1990 ISBN 0 8160 2356 5 Gerdessen Frederik Estonian Air Power 1918 1945 Air Enthusiast No 18 April July 1982 pp 61 76 ISSN 0143 5450 Gilman J D and J Clive KG 200 London Pan Books Ltd 1978 ISBN 0 85177 819 4 Glancey Jonathan Spitfire The Illustrated Biography London Atlantic Books 2006 ISBN 978 1 84354 528 6 Green Peter Spitfire Against a Lightning Flypast No 315 October 2007 Green William Famous Fighters of the Second World War 3rd ed New York Doubleday 1975 ISBN 0 356 08334 9 Green William Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Augsburg Eagle A Documentary History London Macdonald and Jane s Publishing Group Ltd 1980 ISBN 0 7106 0005 4 Green William and Gordon Swanborough The Great Book of Fighters St Paul Minnesota MBI Publishing 2001 ISBN 0 7603 1194 3 Gueli Marco Spitfire con Coccarde Italiane Spitfire in Italian service in Italian Storia Militare n 62 November 1998 Gunston Bill et al Supermarine unveils its high performance monoplane today 5 March The Chronicle of Aviation Liberty Missouri JL International Publishing 1992 ISBN 1 872031 30 7 Henshaw Alex Sigh for a Merlin Testing the Spitfire 2nd Revised edition London Crecy Publishing 1999 ISBN 978 0 947554 83 5 Henshaw Alex Spitfire A Test Pilot s Defence Aeroplane Monthly Vol 9 Issue No 269 September 1995 Holland James Fortress Malta An Island Under Siege 1940 1943 New York Miramax Books 2003 ISBN 1 4013 5186 7 Holmes Tony Spitfire vs Bf 109 Battle of Britain London Osprey Aerospace 2007 ISBN 978 1 84603 190 8 Jackson Robert Aircraft of World War II Development Weaponry Specifications Edison New Jersey Chartwell Books 2003 ISBN 0 7858 1696 8 Jane Fred T The Supermarine Spitfire Jane s Fighting Aircraft of World War II London Studio 1946 ISBN 1 85170 493 0 Jane Fred T Jane s Fighting Aircraft of World War II repr New York Crescent Books 1998 ISBN 0 517 67964 7 Keith C H I Hold My Aim George Allen and Unwin Ltd London 1946 Lednicer David A Technical Note A CFD Evaluation of Three Prominent World War II Fighter Aircraft Aeronautical Journal Royal Aeronautical Society June July 1995 Lednicer David A World War II Fighter Aerodynamics EAA Sport Aviation January 1999 Lopez Mario Canoniga August November 1990 Fighters of the Cross of Christ Air Enthusiast 13 13 25 ISSN 0143 5450 McKinstry Leo Spitfire Portrait of a Legend London John Murray 2007 ISBN 0 7195 6874 9 Morgan Eric B and Edward Shacklady Spitfire The History 4th rev edn London Key Publishing 1993 ISBN 0 946219 10 9 Morgan Eric B and Edward Shacklady Spitfire The History 5th rev edn London Key Publishing 2000 ISBN 0 946219 48 6 Morison Samuel Eliot Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier History of United States Naval Operations in World War II Volume 6 Castle Books 1958 ISBN 0 7858 1307 1 Moss Graham and Barry McKee Spitfires and Polished Metal Restoring the Classic Fighter Marlborough Wiltshire UK Airlife 1999 ISBN 0 7603 0741 5 Price Alfred The Birth of a Thoroughbred Aeroplane Volume 34 Number 3 No 395 March 2006 Price Alfred Late Marque Spitfire Aces 1942 1945 Oxford UK Osprey Publishing 1995 ISBN 1 85532 575 6 Price Alfred Spitfire A Documentary History London Macdonald and Jane s 1977 ISBN 0 354 01077 8 Price Alfred Spitfire a Complete Fighting History Enderby Leicester UK The Promotional Reprint Company Limited 1991 ISBN 1 85648 015 1 Price Alfred The Spitfire Story London Jane s Publishing Company Ltd 1982 ISBN 0 86720 624 1 Price Alfred The Spitfire Story Second edition London Arms and Armour Press Ltd 1986 ISBN 0 85368 861 3 Price Alfred Spitfire Fighter Supreme London Arms and Armour Press 1991 ISBN 1 85409 056 9 Price Alfred Supermarine Spitfire Merlin engined variants Wings of Fame Volume 9 1997 pp 30 93 London Aerospace ISBN 1 86184 001 2 Price Alfred Supermarine Spitfire Griffon engined variants and Seafire Wings of Fame Volume 16 1999 pp 30 85 London Aerospace ISBN 1 86184 037 3 Price Alfred The Spitfire Story New edited edition London Weidenfeld Military 1999 ISBN 1 85409 514 5 Price Alfred The Spitfire Story Revised second edition Enderby Leicester UK Siverdale Books 2002 ISBN 978 1 84425 819 2 Price Alfred and Mike Spick Handbook of Great Aircraft of WW II Enderby Leicester UK The Promotional Reprint Company Limited 1997 ISBN 0 7858 0669 5 Quill Jeffrey Birth of a Legend The Spitfire London Quiller Press 1986 ISBN 0 907621 64 3 Quill Jeffrey Spitfire A Test Pilot s Story London John Murray 1983 New edition Crecy Publishing 1996 reprinted 1998 2001 2005 2008 ISBN 978 0 947554 72 9 Rearden Jim Koga s Zero The Fighter That Changed World War II ISBN 0 929521 56 0 second edition Missoula Montana Pictorial Histories Publishing Company 1995 Originally published as Cracking the Zero Mystery How the US Learned to Beat Japan s Vaunted WWII Fighter Plane ISBN 978 0 8117 2235 3 Shores Christopher and Brian Cull with Nicola Malizia Malta The Spitfire Year London Grub Street 1991 ISBN 0 948817 16 X Smallwood Hugh Spitfire in Blue London Osprey Aerospace 1996 ISBN 1 85532 615 9 Spick Mike Supermarine Spitfire New York Gallery Books 1990 ISBN 0 8317 1403 4 Spitfire Simply Superb Part three Air International Volume 28 Number 4 April 1985 Stokes Doug Paddy Finucane Fighter Ace A Biography of Wing Commander Brendan E Finucane D S O D F C and Two Bars London William Kimber amp Co Ltd 1983 ISBN 0 7183 0279 6 Tanner John The Spitfire V Manual AP1565E reprint London Arms and Armour Press 1981 ISBN 0 85368 420 0 Vader John Spitfire Ballantine s Illustrated History of World War II London Ballantine s Books 1969 Warnes Alan March April 1999 Hatzerim Album Spitfires and Meteors at the Israeli Defence Force Museum Air Enthusiast 80 76 77 ISSN 0143 5450 Williams Anthony G and Dr Emmanuel Gustin Flying Guns World War II Shrewsbury UK Airlife Publishing 2003 ISBN 1 84037 227 3 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Supermarine Spitfire The Spitfire Site resource library about the Supermarine Spitfire Archived 17 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine Spitfire Society Spitfire Society Eastern Wing Spitfire Seafire Serial Numbers production contracts and aircraft histories K5054 Supermarine Type 300 prototype Spitfire amp production aircraft history Spitfire Performance Testing Supermarine Spitfire History of a legend RAF Museum The Supermarine Spitfire in Indian Air Force Service Spitfire Pilots articles about Spitfires and its pilots RAF Museum Spitfire Mk VB walk around photos Archived 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Examples of Photographic Reconnaissance Spitfires Pacific Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire in RAAF Service A photograph of the 1939 Speed Spitfire in Flight Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Supermarine Spitfire amp oldid 1133412537, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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