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Aircraft |
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The Old Flying Machine Company Duxford Airfield Cambridge CB22 4QR Great Britain Tel: +44 1223 836705 Fax: +44 1223 834117 Ask for Sarah Hanna or Laura Wetton |
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Spitfire Mk IXB
Introduction | History | Specification | Film Credits
NOTE: OFMC DOES NOT OFFER PASSENGER FLIGHTS IN THIS AIRCRAFT
The
most famous military aircraft of all time and one of the most beautiful ever
built, the Spitfire is perhaps chiefly remembered as the symbol of the Battle of
Britain. The Spitfire was developed by Supermarine’s brilliant chief designer,
R.J. Mitchell, and was the only British type in continuous construction
throughout World War II. The RAF’s first Spitfires were delivered to No 19
Squadron at Duxford in 1938 and by July 1940, on the eve of the Battle of
Britain, nineteen RAF squadrons were equipped with the new fighter. During WWII,
thanks to constant improvements and modifications, the Spitfire was never
outclassed as a short-ranged piston-engined interceptor apart from a brief
period in 1941-1942, when it first encountered the Focke-Wulf FW-190. When
production finally ceased in 1949, more than 22,000 Spitfires and Seafires (the
naval version of the Spitfire) had been built in some forty different variants.