Mitchell, (born May 20, 1895, Talke, near Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, Eng. —died June 11, 1937, Southampton, Hampshire), British aircraft designer and developer of the Spitfire, one of the best-known fighters of World War II and a major factor in the British victory at the Battle of Britain.
The Spitfire is the most famous British fighter aircraft in history. It won immortal fame during the summer months of 1940 by helping to defeat the German air attacks during the Battle of Britain.
The Vickers Supermarine Spitfire, designed by Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd initially on a private venture basis, was highly influenced by a desire to offer a higher performance than had been previously achieved by the F. 7/30 design.
The iconic Supermarine Spitfire was critical in defeating Luftwaffe air attacks during the Battle of Britain in 1940. More Spitfires were built than any other British combat aircraft before or since World War Two - 20,341 in total. There are six Spitfires on the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
Beverley Strahan Shenstone MASc, HonFRAes, FAIAA, AFIAS, FCAISI, HonOSTIV (10 June 1906 – 9 November 1979) was a Canadian aerodynamicist often credited with developing the aerodynamics of the Supermarine Spitfire elliptical wing.
Brad Pitt is an accomplished pilot and in addition to having mastered the more common or garden aircraft, he owns a World War II-era Supermarine Spitfire.
A year later the Spitfire VC-equipped No 1 Fighter Wing, RAAF, faced the battle-hardened 202nd Kokutai of the IJNAF, equipped with A6M2 Zero-sens, over Darwin. This was a grueling campaign between evenly matched foes, fought in isolation from the main South Pacific battlegrounds.
Around 240 are known to exist. Of these, around 60 are airworthy. 70-odd are used for static display and around 110 across the world are either held in storage or are being actively restored.
The Spitfire's steady pace of development meant that it always remained a formidable adversary to any opponent. Even the world's first jet fighter, the Me262, was first shot down by a Spitfire.
After flying high over Britain in the Spitfire, Broch heaped praise on his former adversary's formidable fighter plane: “The Spitfire was greatly respected. With these machines you have a feeling of being free, and being able to do what you want.”
The Germans held the Spitfire and Hurricane in high regard during World War II. They respected the speed, maneuverability, and firepower of these British fighter planes. The Spitfire, in particular, was known for its iconic design and played a crucial role in the Battle of Britain.
The 'Messer-Spit' was fortunately never replicated during the war, as the Nazis did not know how to build a Spitfire, but may well have impacted the outcome if it had been brought into production.
However, some of the most advanced and lethal fighter jets currently in service are: The F-22 Raptor, a stealth air superiority fighter developed by the United States. It has superior speed, maneuverability, and stealth, as well as a powerful array of weapons and sensors.
The Mosquito reached 408 mph in level flight, which was faster than the operational version of the Spitfire at the time, whose top speed was 370 mph. After this demonstration flight, the airplane almost failed its acceptance for the Royal Air Force.
RAF troop strength had declined significantly by the second decade of the 21st century as part of an overall force-reduction strategy implemented by the British military. With some 35,000 troops and fewer than 150 fixed-wing combat aircraft, the RAF was a smaller, more-focused force than it had been in previous years.
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 LF Mk IX, MH434 in 2018 in the markings of its original unit No. 222 Squadron RAF.
All of the aspects of the design could be understood by a typical mechanical engineer. Today's technology is millions of times more complex and more capable than the spitfire. In today's money, a Supermarine Spitfire costs about $1m.
The Bf 109 was arguably the best fighter in the world in 1940. It was faster than the Spitfire at high altitude, could dive more rapidly and carried a more effective armament of two cannon and two machine guns.
But the P-51 was sufficiently faster than the Merlin engined Spitfires to use “boom and zoom” tactics to reliably defeat the Spit in the same way as the Spitfire, Wildcat, P-40, P-38 and many other fighters could deal with the much more agile Japanese Zero.
Eddie Izzard said that he got his pilot licence because when he was younger he was scared of flying and used to throw up on planes. Well, that is one way to cure a fear of flying… He also said it only took him 5 weeks of intense work to get his PPL!
Spitfire AA810 is one of the rarest of the breed, and was typical of the other aircraft on the unit in that it was flown by a number of different pilots through its operational history.
