See Also

Supermarine Spitfire

The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seat fighter Fighter aircraft

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft [i] designed primarily for attacking other aircraft [i], as op ... 

 used by the RAF Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the air force [i] branch of the British Armed Forces [i]. ... 

 and many Allied countries in World War II World War II

World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide [i] conflict [i] fought betwe ... 

. Produced by Supermarine, the Spitfire was designed by R.J. Mitchell R. J. Mitchell

For the author, see R J Mitchell [i] ... 

, who continued to refine it until his death from cancer in 1937. The elliptical wing Elliptical wing

An elliptical wing is an aircraft wing [i] planform [i] shape introduced in the 1930s and designed to mi ... 

 had a thin cross-section, allowing a higher top speed than the Hurricane Hawker Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is a fighter [i] design from the 1930s [i]. ... 

 and other contemporary designs; it also resulted in a distinctive appearance. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire saw service during the whole of World War II, in all theatres of war, and in many different variants.

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Encyclopedia

The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seat fighter Fighter aircraft

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft [i] designed primarily for attacking other aircraft [i], as op ... 

 used by the RAF Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the air force [i] branch of the British Armed Forces [i].... 

 and many Allied countries in World War II World War II

World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide [i] conflict [i] fought betwe ... 

.

Produced by Supermarine, the Spitfire was designed by R.J. Mitchell R. J. Mitchell

For the author, see R J Mitchell [i]
... 

, who continued to refine it until his death from cancer in 1937. The elliptical wing Elliptical wing

An elliptical wing is an aircraft wing [i] planform [i] shape introduced in the 1930s and designed to mi ... 

 had a thin cross-section, allowing a higher top speed than the Hurricane Hawker Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is a fighter [i] design from the 1930s [i]. ... 

 and other contemporary designs; it also resulted in a distinctive appearance. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire saw service during the whole of World War II, in all theatres of war, and in many different variants.

More than 20,300 examples of all variants were built, including two-seat trainers Trainer (aircraft)

A trainer is a training aircraft [i] used to develop piloting, navigational or weapon-aiming skills in f ... 

, with some Spitfires remaining in service well into the 1950s. It was the only fighter aircraft to be in continual production before, during and after the war.

The aircraft was dubbed Spitfire by Sir Robert MacLean, director of Vickers  at the time, and on hearing this, Mitchell is reported to have said, "...sort of bloody silly name they would give it." The word dates from Elizabethan Elizabethan era

The Elizabethan Era is the period associated with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I [i] ... 

 times and refers to a particularly fiery, ferocious type of person, usually a woman. The name had previously been used unofficially for Mitchell's earlier F.7/30 Type 224 design.

Design



Supermarine's Chief Designer, R.J. Mitchell, had won four Schneider Trophy Schneider Trophy

The Schneider Trophy for seaplane [i]s was announced by Jacques Schneider [i], a financier, balloonist ... 

 seaplane races with his designs , combining powerful Napier Lion Napier Lion

The Lion was a 12-cylinder W-block [i] inline [i] aircraft engine [i] built by Napier & Son [i] ... 

 and Rolls-Royce 'R' engines with minute attention to streamlining. These same qualities are equally useful for a fighter design, and in 1931 Mitchell produced such a plane in response to an Air Ministry specification  for a new and modern monoplane fighter.

This first attempt at a fighter resulted in an open-cockpit monoplane with gull-wings and a large fixed spatted undercarriage Undercarriage

-
||-
||-
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The undercarriage or landing gear is the structure that supports an aircraft [i] ... 

. The Supermarine Type 224 did not live up to expectations; nor did any of the competing designs, which were also deemed failures.

Mitchell immediately turned his attention to an improved design as a private venture, with the backing of Supermarine's owner Vickers. The new design added gear retraction, an enclosed cockpit, oxygen gear and the much more powerful newly developed Rolls Royce PV-12 Rolls-Royce Merlin

The Merlin was a 12 cylinder, 60 "V", 27 litre [i], liquid cooled piston [i] ... 

 engine, later named the Merlin.

By 1935, the Air Ministry had seen enough advancement in the industry to try the monoplane design again. They eventually rejected the new Supermarine design on the grounds that it did not carry the required eight-gun load, and did not appear to have room to do so.

Once again, Mitchell was able to solve the problem. It has been suggested that by looking at various Heinkel Heinkel

Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel [i] ... 

 planes, he settled on the use of an elliptical planform Planform

A planform or plan view [i] is a vertical orthographic projection [i] of an object on a horizontal plane ... 

, which had much more chord to allow for the required eight guns, while still having the low drag of the earlier, simpler wing design. Mitchell's aerodynamicist, Beverley Shenstone, however, has pointed out that Mitchell's wing was not directly copied from the Heinkel He 70 Heinkel He 70

gcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3" align="center" style="border-bottom:3px solid"|Heinkel He 70F
... 

, as some have claimed; the Spitfire wing was much thinner and had a completely different section. In any event, the elliptical wing was enough to sell the Air Ministry on this new Type 300, which they funded by a new specification, F.10/35, drawn up around the Spitfire.

The elliptical wing was chosen for superior aerodynamic attributes but it was a complex wing to construct and the Messerschmitt Bf-109 Messerschmitt Bf 109

The Messerschmitt [i] Bf 109 was a World War II [i] fighter aircraft [i] designed by Willy Messerschmitt [i] ... 

's angular and easy to construct wing offered similar performance to the Spitfire. It has been reported that the Bf-109 took one-third the man hours to construct as the Spitfire.

One flaw in the thin wing design of the Spitfire manifested itself when the plane was brought up to very high speeds. When the pilot attempted to roll the plane at these speeds, the aerodynamic forces subjected upon the aileron Aileron

Ailerons are hinged control surfaces attached to the trailing edge [i] of the wing [i] of a fixed-wing aircraft [i] ... 

s were enough to twist the entire wingtip in the direction opposite of the aileron deflection . This so-called aileron reversal resulted in the Spitfire rolling in the opposite direction of the pilot's intention.

The prototype first flew on 5 March 1936, from Eastleigh Aerodrome . Testing continued until 26 May 1936, when Mutt Summers, flew K5054 to Martlesham and handed the aircraft over to Squadron Leader Anderson of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment .

The Air Ministry placed an order for 310 of the aircraft on 3rd June 1936, before any formal report had been issued by the A&AEE, interim reports being issued on a piecemeal basis.

A feature of the final Spitfire design that has often been singled out by pilots is its washout Washout

The term washout can have various meanings:... 

 feature, which was unusual at the time. The incidence of the wing is +2° at its root and -½° at its tip. This twist means that the wing roots will stall Stall

A stall is the slowing or stopping of a process.... 

 before the tips, reducing the potentially dangerous rolling moment in the stall known as a spin. Many pilots have benefited from this feature in combat when doing tight turns close to the aircraft's limits, because when the wing root stalled it made the control column shudder, giving the pilot a warning that he was about to reach the limit of the aircraft's performance.

Production

To build the Spitfires in the numbers needed a whole new factory was built at Castle Bromwich, near Birmingham Birmingham

Birmingham is a city [i] and metropolitan borough [i] in the West Midlands [i] ... 

 as a "shadow" to Supermarine's Southampton Southampton

Southampton is a city [i] and major port [i] situated on the south coa ... 

 factory. Although the project was ultimately led by Lord Nuffield who was an expert in mass construction, the Spitfire was a bit too complex and Supermarine and Vickers engineers were needed. The site was set up quickly from July 1938 - machinery was being installed two months after work started on site.

Variants



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 arrangements.

Naval versions

A naval version of the Spitfire, called the Seafire, was specially adapted for operation from aircraft carrier Aircraft carrier

Additive synthesis is a technique of audio synthesis which creates music [i]al timbre [i].
... 

s. Additions included an arrester hook, folding wings and other specialized equipment. However, like the Spitfire, the Seafire had a narrow undercarriage track, which meant that it was not well suited to deck operations. Due to the addition of heavy carrier equipment, it suffered from an aft centre-of-gravity position that made low-speed control difficult, and its gradual stall characteristics meant that it was difficult to land accurately on the carrier. These characteristics resulted in a very high accident rate for the Seafire.

The Seafire II was able to outperform the A6M5 at low altitudes when the two types were tested against each other in WW2. Contemporary Allied carrier aircraft like the F6F Hellcat F6F Hellcat

The Grumman [i] F6F Hellcat started development as an improved ... 

 and the F4U Corsair F4U Corsair

The Chance Vought [i] F4U Corsair was a fighter aircraft [i] that saw service in World War II [i] and th ... 

, however, were considerably more powerful. Late-war Seafire marks equipped with the Griffon engines enjoyed a considerable increase of performance compared to their Merlin-engined predecessors.

The name Seafire was arrived at by collapsing the longer name Sea Spitfire.

RAF service

The first Spitfires to shoot down another plane did so in early September 1939. On this occasion the downed aircraft were RAF Hawker Hurricanes, attacked by accident.

The Spitfire and Mitchell are often credited with winning the Battle of Britain Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was one of the major campaigns of the early part of World War II [i] and is the na ... 

. This is a view often propagated within popular culture, such as in the film The First of the Few .

The Spitfire was one of the finest fighters of the war; aviation historians and laymen alike often claim it to be the most aesthetically appealing Aesthetics

Aesthetics is a branch of value theory [i] which studies sensory [i] or sensori-emotional values ... 

. It is, however, frequently compared to the Hawker Hurricane, which was used in greater numbers during the critical stage of 1940. Although early Spitfires and Hurricanes carried identical armament , the placement of the Hurricane's guns was better due to the closer pattern of fire that resulted. A slower top speed, however, made the Hurricane more vulnerable when fighting the German fighter escorts. Wherever possible, the RAF tactic during the Battle of Britain was to use the Hurricane squadrons to attack the bombers, holding the Spitfires back to counter the German escort fighters. In total numbers, the Hurricane shot down more Luftwaffe Luftwaffe

The Deutsche Luftwaffe or Luftwaffe is the commonly used term for the German [i] air force [i] ... 

 aircraft, both fighters and bombers, than the Spitfire, due to the higher proportion of Hurricanes in the air. Seven of every ten German planes destroyed during the Battle of Britain were shot down by Hurricane pilots. Losses were also higher among the more numerous Hurricanes.

The Mark I and Mark II models saw service during the battle and beyond, into 1941. Both of these used 8 x .303 machine guns and although having this number of guns sounds impressive the fact is that this relatively small calibre armament was more suited to shooting down the wood/canvas machines of the first world war. It was relatively common during the Battle of Britain for the German planes to suffer surprisingly high numbers of .303 bullet holes but still return safely to base. The use of a smaller number of larger calibre guns would have been far more effective and this was rectified in later versions of the Spitfire. The Mark V entered service in early 1941, and was the first to feature cannon Autocannon

An autocannon is a projectile weapon [i] with a larger caliber [i] than a machine gun [i], but smaller t... 

 armament . The configuration of two 20 mm cannon and four .303 machine guns was standard during the mid-war years.

Another contemporary, the Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt Bf-109 Messerschmitt Bf 109

The Messerschmitt [i] Bf 109 was a World War II [i] fighter aircraft [i] designed by Willy Messerschmitt [i] ... 

, was similar in attributes and performance to the Spitfire. Some advantages helped the Spitfires win many dog fight Dogfight

A dogfight or dog fight is a common term used to describe close-range aerial combat [i] between mi ... 

s, most notably, maneuverability, with both the Spitfire and the Hurricane having higher rates of turn than the Messerschmitt. Good cockpit visibility was probably a factor, also, as these early Bf-109s had narrow, panelled, heavily-framed cockpit windows. At this time, the Merlin engine's lack of direct fuel injection meant that both Spitfires and Hurricanes, unlike the Bf-109E, were unable to simply nose down into a deep dive. This meant the Luftwaffe fighters could simply "bunt" into a high-power dive to escape attack, leaving the Spitfire spluttering behind as its fuel was forced by negative "g" out of the carburettor. RAF fighter pilots soon learnt to "half-roll" their aircraft before diving to pursue their opponents. The use of uninjected carburettors was calculated to give a higher specific power output, due to the lower temperature, and hence the greater density, of the fuel/air mixture fed into the motor, compared to injected systems. "Miss Shilling's orifice Miss Shilling's orifice

The Miss Shilling orifice was a very simple technical device made to counter engine cut-out in early Spitfire [i] ... 

," , a holed diaphragm fitted across the float chambers, went some way to cure the fuel starvation in a dive in March, 1941. Further improvements were introduced throughout the Merlins, with injection introduced in 1943. Production of the Griffon-engined Spitfire Mk. XII had begun the year before.

The introduction of the Focke-Wulf Fw-190 in late 1941 along the Channel front proved a shock to RAF Fighter Command, the new German fighter proving superior to the current Mark Vb in all aspects except turning radius. Losses inflicted on RAF Fighter Command and its Spitfires were heavy as air superiority thus switched to the Luftwaffe units through most of 1942, until the Merlin 61-engined Mark IX version started to see service in sufficient numbers later in the year. Some squadrons still operating the Mark V attempted some degree of parity with the FW-190 when they received specially modified versions that had four feet of wing-tip removed and reduced supercharger blades on the Merlin for optimum performance at lower altitudes. These aircraft were designated LF Mark V officially but were also known by their pilots as "Clipped, Clapped and Cropped Spits," also referring to the fact that many of these Spitfires, thus modified, had seen better days.

The first Spitfires to see overseas service were Mark Vs flown from the deck of the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle to Malta in March 1942. In the months that followed, some 275 Spitfires were delivered to the beleaguered island. To counter the dusty conditions, the Spitfires were fitted with a large Vokes air filter under the nose, which induced drag and lowered the performance of the aircraft. Spitfire V and the later, much-improved, longer-ranged Mark VIII also soon became available in the North African theatre and henceforth featured heavily with the RAF, SAAF and USAAF during the campaigns in Sicily and Italy.

As the American strategic bombing campaign gathered momentum in mid-1943, the need for fighter escort meant much of Fighter Command's Spitfire force was utilised while the US fighter groups worked up to operational status. The poor range of the Spitfire however meant the RAF support operations were limited to North West France and the Channel. As the battle intensified deep over occupied Europe, USAAF fighters like the P-47 P-47 Thunderbolt

The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as "Jug", was the largest single-engined fighter [i] ... 

, P-38 P-38 Lightning

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was one of the most important American [i] fighters [i] ... 

 and P-51 P-51 Mustang

The North American [i] P-51 Mustang was a long-range single-seat fighter aircraft [i] ... 

 bore the brunt of bomber protection. The Spitfire IX squadrons had to bide their time until the invasion of Europe before getting to grips with the Luftwaffe fighter force.

By then, newer, Griffon-engined Spitfires were introduced as interceptors, where their limited range was not an impediment. These faster Spitfires were used to defend against incursions by high-speed "tip-and-run" German fighter-bombers and V-1 flying bombs.

The first Griffon-engined Mk. XII flew on August 1942, but only five had reached service by the end of the year. This mark could exceed 450 mph in level flight, and climb to an altitude of 30,000 feet in under eight minutes. Although the Spitfire continued to improve in speed and armament, it remained short-legged throughout its life .

As American fighters took over the long-range escorting of USAAF daylight bombing raids, the newer, Griffon-engined Spitfires progressively took up the tactical air superiority role as interceptors, while the Merlin-engined variants were adapted to the fighter-bomber role.

After the Normandy landings, Spitfire squadrons were moved across the Channel, operating from tactical airfields behind enemy lines. As the Allied air forces achieved air supremacy, Spitfire pilots had fewer opportunities to combat German aircraft, and concentrated their efforts on roaming over German territory, attacking targets of opportunity, and on providing tactical ground support to the army units. The newer, faster marks of Spitfire were retained in Britain to counter the V-1 flying bomb offensive in mid 1944, although these aircraft, too, began moving across the Channel before the war in Europe ended.

Although the Griffon-engined marks lost some of the favourable handling characteristics of their Merlin-powered predecessors, they maintained their manoeuvring advantage over German designs in Europe throughout their production.

The first Spitfires in the Far East were two PR IV photo-reconnaissance marks in October 1942. The threat of Japanese attacks on Northern Australia prompted the dispatch of Spitfire Vb's in late 1942. No 1 Wing RAAF was formed in Darwin, the first kill being achieved in February 1943, and saw constant action until September 1943. Spitfire VIII's were received in April 1944. In the Burma/India theatre, the first Spitfire V's were not received until September 1943.

Spitfire pilots, used to European combat conditions, were shocked to find that they could not follow the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero A6M Zero

The Mitsubishi [i] A6M Zero was a light-weight carrier-based fighter aircraft [i] employed by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service [i] ... 

 through a turn. They were forced to adopt similar tactics to those used by the American pilots , relying on their far higher speed capability, especially in a dive , and firepower to prevent the Japanese pilots from using the Zero's turning advantage.

Service in other air forces


Apart from the RAF, Spitfires served with most of the Allied air forces in World War II, especially the Royal Canadian Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force

The Royal Canadian Air Force was the air force of Canada [i] from 1924 until 1968 when the three branche... 

 , Royal Australian Air Force Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force [i] branch of the Australian Defence Force [i]. ... 

 , South African Air Force South African Air Force

The South African Air Force is the air force [i] of South Africa [i].... 

  and Royal New Zealand Air Force Royal New Zealand Air Force

The Royal New Zealand Air Force is the air force [i] arm of the New Zealand Defence Force [i]... 

 . It was one of only a few foreign aircraft to see service with the United States Army Air Forces United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was a part of the U.S. Army [i] during World War II [i] ... 

. Several European countries also operated Spitfires based in the UK, including French, Norwegian Royal Norwegian Air Force

Luftforsvaret or the Royal Norwegian Air Force is the air force [i] of Norway [i]. ... 

, Polish Polish Air Force

At the beginning of the Invasion of Poland [i], by September 1 [i], 1939 [i], all the Polis ... 

, Dutch Royal Netherlands Air Force

The Royal Netherlands Air Force, Dutch [i] Koninklijke Luchtmacht, is the aviation br ... 

 and Czechoslovakian squadrons in the RAF Czech Air Force

The Czech Air Force is the air force [i] branch of the Czech Republic [i] Army. ... 

.

The RAAF, the Royal Indian Air Force Indian Air Force

The Indian Air Force is the air-arm [i] of the Armed Forces of India [i] and has the prime resp ... 

 and the RAF also used Spitfires against Japanese forces Empire of Japan

????? Dai Nippon Teikoku Empire of Great Japan
... 

 in the Pacific theatre Pacific War

The Pacific War was the part of World War II [i] — and preceding conflicts — that occurred i... 

.


There is evidence that the Luftwaffe also used captured Spitfires to attack Allied targets: one such episode was the strafing of civilians from the village of Grendon, Northamptonshire Grendon

Grendon is a small village [i] in rural Northamptonshire [i], England [i] on the borders of Buckinghamshire [i] ... 

 in 1940.

Following World War II, the Spitfire remained in use with many air forces around the world, including the Belgian Air Force Belgian Air Force

... 

, Union of Burma Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy Royal Canadian Navy

The Royal Canadian Navy was the navy [i] of Canada [i] from 1911 [i] until 1968 [i] when the three Canad ... 

 as the Seafire, Czech Air Force Czech Air Force

The Czech Air Force is the air force [i] branch of the Czech Republic [i] Army. ... 

, Danish Air Force Danish Air Force

The Royal Danish Air Force is the air force [i] of Denmark [i], it is an expeditionary Air Force, with c ... 

, Egyptian Air Force Egyptian Air Force

The Egyptian Air Force, or EAF, is the aviation branch of the Egyptian armed forces [i] ... 

, Armee de l'Air French Air Force

The French Air Force is the air force branch of the French Armed Forces [i]. ... 

 and the French Navy French Navy

The French Navy is the maritime arm of the French military [i] and the largest Western European [i] navy [i] ... 

 Aeronavale Aviation Navale

The Aviation Navale of the French Navy [i] includes 162 airplanes and 6,800 men, both civilians and ... 

, Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, Irish Air Corps Irish Air Corps

Irish Air Corps provides the air defence function of Oglaigh na hireann, in support of the Army [i] ... 

, Israeli Air Force Israeli Air Force

The Israeli Air Force is the air force [i] of the Israel Defense Forces [i] and currently operates aroun ... 

, Italian Air Force Aeronautica Militare

The Aeronautica Militare Italiana is the Italian [i] air force [i]. ... 

, Royal Netherlands Air Force Royal Netherlands Air Force

The Royal Netherlands Air Force, Dutch [i] Koninklijke Luchtmacht, is the aviation br ... 

, Royal Norwegian Air Force Royal Norwegian Air Force

Luftforsvaret or the Royal Norwegian Air Force is the air force [i] of Norway [i]. ... 

, Royal Thai Air Force Royal Thai Air Force

The Royal Thai Air Force is the air force [i] of Thailand [i]. The name in Thai is Kong Tab Arr Kad Th ... 

, Portuguese Air Force Portuguese Air Force

The Portuguese Air Force or FAP is the air force [i] of Portugal [i].
... 

, Swedish Air Force Swedish Air Force

The Swedish Air Force is the air force [i] branch of the Swedish Armed Forces [i], the military of Sweden [i] ... 

, Syrian Air Force Military of Syria

The President of Syria [i] is commander in chief of the Syrian [i] armed forces, comprising some 320,000 ... 

, Turkish Air Force Turkish Air Force

The Turkish Air Force is the aviation branch of the Turkish Armed Forces [i].
... 

, Rhodesian Air Force, and the SFR Yugoslav Air Force.

Spitfires played a major role in the Greek Civil War Greek Civil War

The Greek Civil War was fought between 1946 [i] and 1949 [i], and posed as the first example of a post-w ... 

, flown by the RAF and SAAF during 1944 and 1945, and by the Hellenic Air Force Hellenic Air Force

The Hellenic Air Force is the primary air force [i] of Greece [i]. ... 

, from 1946 through the end of the war in 1948.

Spitfires last saw major action during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War 1948 Arab-Israeli War

}
|-
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The 1948 Arab-Israeli War, referred to as the "War of Independence" or as the "War o... 

, when — in a strange twist — Israeli Air Force Israeli Air Force

The Israeli Air Force is the air force [i] of the Israel Defense Forces [i] and currently operates aroun ... 

 Spitfires flown by formerly RAF Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the air force [i] branch of the British Armed Forces [i].... 

 pilots in World War II like Ezer Weizman Ezer Weizman

Ezer Weizman was the seventh President of the State of Israel [i]. ... 

 were engaged by Egyptian Egyptian Air Force

The Egyptian Air Force, or EAF, is the aviation branch of the Egyptian armed forces [i] ... 

 Spitfires and Royal Air Force Spitfires. However, some air forces retained Spitfires in service until well into the 1960s.

Speed and altitude records



During the spring of 1944, high-speed diving trials were being performed at Farnborough Farnborough, Hampshire

Farnborough is a town [i] in the Hampshire [i] borough of Rushmoor [i] in South East England [i]. ... 

 to investigate the handling of aircraft near the sound barrier Sound barrier

In aerodynamics [i], the sound barrier is the transition at transonic [i] speeds from subsonic [i] to supersonic [i] ... 

. 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 Dowty Rotol

Dowty Rotol is the final incarnation of three major British [i] aviation supply firms, Dowty ... 

 propeller was fitted to prevent overspeeding. It was during these trials that EN409, flown by John Martindale, reached 606 mph in a 45-degree dive. Unfortunately the engine/propeller combination could not cope with this speed and the propeller and reduction gear broke off. Martindale successfully glided the 20 miles back to the airfield and landed safely.

"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

On 5 February 1952 a Spitfire Mk. 19 of No. 81 Squadron RAF based in Hong Kong Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is one of the two special administrative regions [i] ... 

 achieved probably the highest altitude ever achieved by a Spitfire. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Flight Lieutenant

Flight Lieutenant is a junior commissioned [i] rank in the Royal Air Force [i]... 

 Ted Powles, was on a routine flight to survey outside air temperature and report on other meteorological Meteorology

Meteorology is the scientific study of the atmosphere [i] that focuses on weather [i] ... 

 conditions at various altitudes in preparation for a proposed new air service through the area. He climbed to 50,000 feet indicated altitude, with a true altitude of 51,550 feet , which was the highest height ever recorded for a Spitfire. However, 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 feet . He landed safely and there was no discernible damage to his aircraft. Evaluation of the recorded flight data suggested that, in the dive, he achieved a speed of 690 mph or Mach 0.94, which would have been the highest speed ever reached by a propeller-driven aircraft. Today, it is generally believed that this speed figure is the result of inherent instrument errors and has to be considered unrealistic.

Planes remaining in use


About 50 Spitfires and a few Seafires remain airworthy, although many air museums have static examples. The RAF Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the air force [i] branch of the British Armed Forces [i].... 

 maintains some for flying display and ceremonial purposes in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is a Royal Air Force [i] flight which provides an aerial display g ... 

 at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England [i]. ... 

.

The Temora Aviation Museum in Temora, New South Wales, Australia, has an airworthy Supermarine Spitfire Mk VIII, which is flown regularly during the museum's flying weekends.

Area51Aviation, a British company specializing in ex-military aircraft have both a Spitfire and Seafire at their Home Airfield at North Weald Airfield .

The Black Spitfire is a black-painted Spitfire which belonged to Israel Israel

Israel , officially the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia [i] on the so ... 

i pilot and former president Ezer Weizmann Ezer Weizman

Ezer Weizman was the seventh President of the State of Israel [i]. ... 

. It is on exhibit in the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatserim and is used for ceremonial flying displays.

Spitfire in the media


Spitfires are featured in several motion pictures

  • Battle of Britain Battle of Britain

    The Battle of Britain was one of the major campaigns of the early part of World War II [i] and is the na ... 

    starring Michael Caine Michael Caine

    Sir Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, CBE [i] , known professionally as Sir Mic ... 

    . Set in 1940, this film features several flying sequences involving Spitfires, as well as a surprising number of other flying examples of WWII era British and German aircraft. The film's production company was "Spitfire Productions, Steven S.A."


  • Piece of Cake starring Tom Burlinson Tom Burlinson

    Tom Burlinson, is an actor and singer working in Australia [i], and has sung in concerts on stage as "Frank Sinatra [i] ... 

    . When it aired on the BBC in 1987, this was the most watched BBC miniseries in history. Based on the novel by Derek Robinson, the six part miniseries covers the prewar era from early 1939 to "Battle of Britain Day," September 15 1940. The series has time to develop its large cast, and depicts the air combat over the skies of France France

    France, officially the French Republic, is a country [i] whose metropolitan territory [i] ... 

     and Britain during the early stages of WWII, though using several flying examples of late model Spitfires in place of the novel's Hawker Hurricanes. There are shots of several Spitfires taking off and landing together from grass airstrips.

Memorials

  • Sentinel, a sculpture by Tim Tolkien in Castle Bromwich, England, commemorating the main Spitfire factory.

Operators

  • Australia Australia

    Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere [i] c ... 

    , Belgium Belgium

    The Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe [i] bordered by the Netherlands [i] ... 

    , Burma Myanmar

    Myanmar, officially the Union of Myanmar is the largest country in geographical area in mainland ... 

    , Canada Canada

    Canada is the world's second-largest [i] country by total area, occupying most ... 

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    Czechoslovakia was a country in Central Europe [i] that existed from 1918 until early 1993 . ... 

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    The Kingdom of Denmark is the smallest and southernmost of the Nordic countries [i].... 

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    [i] country in [[North Africa]... 

    , France France

    France, officially the French Republic, is a country [i] whose metropolitan territory [i] ... 

    , Greece Greece

    Greece

Greece lies at the juncture of Europe [i], Asia [i], and Africa [i]. ... 

, Hong Kong Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is one of the two special administrative regions [i] ... 

, India India

India , officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia [i]. ... 

, Ireland Ireland

Ireland is the third largest [i] island [i] in Europe [i]. ... 

, Isreal, Italy Italy

Italy, officially the Italian Republic , is a Southern European [i] country. ... 

, Netherlands Netherlands

The Netherlands is the Europe [i]an part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands [i] , which is formed ... 

, New Zealand New Zealand

New Zealand is a country in the south-western Pacific Ocean [i] consisting of two large islands and many ... 

, Norway Norway

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, Poland Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country located in Central Europe [i]. ... 

, Portugal Portugal

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic is located in southwestern Europe [i] on the Iberian Peninsula [i] ... 

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Rhodesia was the name of the British [i] colony [i] of Southern Rhodesia [i] after 1965. ... 

, South Africa South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the Africa [i]n continent [i]. ... 

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The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , more commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a Communist state [i] ... 

, Sweden Sweden

The Kingdom of Sweden is a Nordic country [i] in Scandinavia [i]. ... 

, Syria Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in the Middle East [i]. ... 

, Thailand Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia [i], bordering Laos [i] and Cambodia [i] to the e ... 

, Turkey Turkey

Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a Eurasia [i]n country that stretches across the Anatolia [i] ... 

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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country and sovereign state [i] tha ... 

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The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., a... 

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.

Specifications


Spitfire Mk Vb


References

  • Dibbs, John and Holmes, Tony. Spitfire - Flying Legend - The Fighter and 'The Few. London: Osprey Aviation, 1997. ISBN: 1-84176-005-6.
  • Morgan, E.B. and Shacklady, E. Spitfire : The History. London: Key Publishing, 1992. ISBN: 0-94621-910-9.
  • Palfrey, Brett R. and Whitehead, Christopher. . Royal Air Force .
  • Price, Alfred. The Spitfire Story. London: Silverdale Books, 1995. ISBN 1-85605-702-X.

Footnotes


External links

  • - Information about Spitfires still flying today


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