Supermarine Seafire

Recordings

Supermarine Seafire Mk.XVII, May 2009

Supermarine Seafire , (c) James HuckleSupermarine Seafire Mk.XVII G-KASX / SX336 (cn FLWA 25488) recorded May 2009.  The aircraft is operated by Kennet Aviation based at North Weald. 

Supermarine Seafire, June 2007

Supermarine Seafire Mk.XVII G-KASX / SX336 recorded June 2007. The aircraft is operated by Kennet Aviation based at North Weald.

Supermarine Seafire, Old Warden 6th June 2010

Kennet Aviation's Supermarine Seafire recorded at Old Warden on the 6th June 2010.

The Supermarine Seafire was a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire specially adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. The name Seafire was arrived at by collapsing the longer name Sea Spitfire.

Supermarine Seafire, May 2009 (c) J Huckle, 2009The Admiralty first showed an interest in the idea of a carrier-borne Spitfire in May 1938 when during a meeting with Richard Fairey of Fairey Aviation the proposal was made that his company could design and build such an aircraft. The idea met with a negative response and the matter was dropped. As a result the FAA was forced into having to order Blackburn Rocs and Gloster Sea Gladiators both of which proved to be woefully inadequate.

The matter of a sea-borne Spitfire was raised again in November 1939 when the Air Ministry allowed a Commander Ermen to fly a Spitfire I. After his first flight in R6718 Ermen learned that Joseph Smith, Chief Designer at Supermarine had been instructed to fit an "A-frame" arrestor hook on a Spitfire and that this had flown on 16 October; a drawing of this aircraft had been shown to the FAA on 27 October. After further discussions Supermarine submitted a drawing of a Spitfire with folding wings and an arrestor hook. In this case the wings were designed with a fold just outboard of the undercarriage bays; the outer wings would swivel and fold backwards, parallel with the fuselage. On 29 February 1940 the Admiralty asked the Air Ministry to sanction the production of 50 folding wing Spitfires, with the first deliveries to start in July. However, for various reasons Winston Churchill who was First Lord of the Admiralty stepped in and cancelled the order. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Seafire

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