Supermarine Spitfire

Recordings

Supermarine Spitfire MKIIa, P7350 of the BBMF

This is a recording of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's MKII Spitfire. This Spitfire was flown during the Battle of Britain.

Recorded May 2008 at The Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden, Bedfordshire, UK, where it flew without the rest of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Supermarine Spitfire MK XI, August 2009

Supermarine Spitfire MK XI , (c) James HuckleSupermarine Spitfire MK XI serial number PL 965 left the Aldermaston factory in mid 1944. Built as a MK XI photo reconnaissance aircraft, she was designed to operate at high altitudes (over 30,000 ft) and at high speeds of over 400 mph and as such was the fastest of all the Merlin powered Spitfires. She was allocated to No.9 MU Cosford on 1st October 1944 and then ferried to No 34 wing and thence allocated to16 Squadron, which at the time, was a forward squadron, based at Melsbroek airfield, near Brussels in Belgium as part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. She proudly wore the identifying code "R" for Robert. - http://www.hangar11.co.uk/spitfire.phpSupermarine Spitfire MK XI PL965/R G-MKXI recorded August 2009.


Supermarine Spitfire MK XVI, August 2008

Supermarine Spitfire MKXVI flying at Little Gransden, August 2008.

VS361 Spitfire LF XVIE TD248 7426M G-OXVI CR-S

MKX1 Spitfire PL965, Starting up

MKX1 Spitfire PL965 (G-MKXI), Starting up prior to taxi and the start of a display. Recorded August 2008 at the Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden. This Spitfire is operated by Hanger 11 from North Weald.

Supermarine Spitfire MK XI serial number PL 965 left the Aldermaston factory in mid 1944. Built as a MK XI photo reconnaissance aircraft, she was designed to operate at high altitudes (over 30,000 ft) and at high speeds of over 400 mph and as such was the fastest of all the Merlin powered Spitfires. She was allocated to No.9 MU Cosford on 1st October 1944 and then ferried to No 34 wing and thence allocated to16 Squadron, which at the time, was a forward squadron, based at Melsbroek airfield, near Brussels in Belgium as part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. She proudly wore the identifying code "R" for Robert. - http://www.hangar11.co.uk/spitfire.php

MkVc Spitfire, AR501

Supermarine Spitfire AR501The Shuttleworth Collection's MKV Spitfire, AR501. Recorded August 2006. I think this was one of the last displays of the aircraft before going into the workshop (for what looks like) a complete rebuild. It's probably never going to sound the same again!

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries through the Second World War and on into the 1950s as a front line fighter and in secondary roles. It was produced in greater numbers than any other Allied fighter design and was the only Allied fighter in production throughout the war.

Supermarine Spitfire PRXI G-MKXIThe Spitfire was designed by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, since 1928 a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrongs. He continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith became chief designer. Its elliptical wing had a thin cross-section, allowing a higher top speed than the Hawker Hurricane and many other contemporary designs.

The distinctive silhouette imparted by the wing planform helped the Spitfire to achieve legendary status during the Battle of Britain. There was, and still is, a public perception that it was the RAF fighter of the battle, although the more numerous Hurricane actually shouldered a greater proportion of the burden against the Luftwaffe.

After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire became the backbone of RAF Fighter Command and saw action in the European Theatre, Pacific Theatre and the South-East Asian theatre. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire saw service in several roles and was built in many different variants.

The Spitfire will always be compared to its main adversary, the Messerschmitt Bf 109; both were among the finest fighters of their day and followed similar design philosophies of marrying a small, streamlined airframe to a powerful liquid-cooled V12 engine. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire

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Comments

  • Very informative. I learnt a lot and the recordings bought the plane to life whilst reading their history.
    It makes one proud to be British and proud of our engineering greatness.!
    Thank very much.

    Posted by Geoff Grandy, 06/08/2010 5:38pm (28 days ago)

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