The Iconic Plane
That Fought During the Battle of Britain:
1. What
Makes the Spitfire so special? Its sleek lines, its maneuverability and the
power put out by its Merlin engines. It was almost unmatched in the air during
the early years of the war.
2. The
Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft
by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works in Southampton
. In accordance with its role as an interceptor, Mitchell designed the
Spitfire’s distinctive elliptical wing to have the thinnest possible
cross-section; this thin wing enabled the Spitfire to have a higher top speed
than several contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell
continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, whereupon
his colleague Joseph Smith took over as chief designer, overseeing the
development of the Spitfire through its multitude of variants.
3. The
Germans admired them. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain, Herman Goring
was having a heated exchange with his commanders, frustrated that they weren’t
winning the Battle of Britain as planned. He asked them what they needed to win
and ace pilot Adolf Galland famously responded “I should like an outfit of
Spitfires.”
Here is
the scene dramatized in 'The Battle of Britain' film from 1968:
4. While
the Spitfire was in service, there were 20,351 total built. Today there are
just 179 left today in various states of decay.
5. The
Spitfire was the only Allied aircraft to be built during the entire war.
6.
Because so many Spitfires were built, there were plenty of leftovers after the
war. This meant that when filmmakers produced the iconic film Battle of Britain
in 1968, they could use the actual planes flown in the battles. Many were also
flown by veteran pilots.
7. It was
one of the first airplanes to feature retractable landing gear. This was so new
that many new pilots often crash landed because they forgot to put down their
landing gear, assuming it was already down.
8. The
Spitfire’s maiden flight was on 5 March 1936. It entered service with the RAF
in 1938 and remained there until 1955.
9. Though
it is assumed that ‘Spitfire’ came from the aeroplane’s awesome firing
capabilities, it was also an Elizabethan word that meant someone who had a
fiery character. The names ‘Snipe’ and ‘Shrew’
were also considered for the plane. Thankfully they went with Spitfire!
10. If
you have a pilot’s license and £5500 (about $8500) you can attend the Boultbee Flight Academy in
Kent, England and learn how to fly a real Spitfire. This is on my bucket list.
11. Some
of the planes had modifications made to their under the wing mountings. Instead
of carrying bombs, the planes could carry two small barrels of beer, something
that was very popular with pilots!
12. The
Spitfire continues to be a very popular aircraft, with approximately 55
Spitfires still being airworthy, while many more are static exhibits in
aviation museums all over the world including here in the USA. I’ve seen the
Spitfire inflight twice now and it was an amazing sight – can’t wait to see it
again.
13. A
single spitfire cost £12,604 to produce in 1939 – about £681,000 in today’s
money or about $1.15 Million, which is rather cheap for an aircraft of its
ability!
14. The
maximum top speed of the Spitfire was 363 MPH – quite zippy! It’s range was 991
Nautical Miles but when it was in combat, it’s range was about 410 nautical
miles. It could fly up to 36,000 feet, but the cabin was not pressurized.
COURTESY OF: http://anglotees.com
ot pressurized.
