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Supermarine Type 300, QuickTime movie, 1.4Mb, 320x240.
| | Supermarine Type 300 (Spitfire Mk I)
Spitfire Mk I: Certainly the best known British warplane of World War II (1939-45) and probably the most famous British aeroplane of all time, the Spitfire was a classic example of the adage 'if it looks right, it is right'. This great fighter, which was still under fruitful development at the end of the war, was already in moderately large-scale service at the very beginning and possessed handling characteristics and performance to match its thoroughbred looks.
Like its partner, the Hawker Hurricane designed by Sydney Camm, the Spitfire was the result of a single man's genius. This man was Reginald J.Mitchell, the chief designer of Supermarine Aviation Ltd. This had been established in 1913, and in 1928 became part of the Vickers industrial empire when it was bought by Vickers (Aviation) Ltd. and became the Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd. before being transferred in 1938 to Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd.
As might be expected from its name, Supermarine originally specialized in the design and construction of marine aircraft, mostly in the forms of flying boats and amphibian flying boats. Mitchell had been involved in several of these types, but came to the fore as the chief designer of the S.5, S.6 and S.6B racing floatplanes with which the UK finally secured outright victory in the prestigious Schneider Trophy racing series before the S.6B secured a world air speed record of 353.9 kt (307.5 mph; 655.8 km/h) in September 1931. | |  |
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