The Supermarine Spitfire remains one of the classic fighter
aircraft of all time, and certainly one of the most instantly
recognizable. In the United Kingdom it has become a part of
folklore- the aeroplane that saved the United Kingdom in the
Battle of Britain. The fact that reality tells a different story
does not diminish the psychological impact it has had over the
years.
To some degree history has been rewritten by its success. In all,
an estimated 22 579 Spitfires served in all spheres of the War
and afterwards, and when whenever a visual reconstruction has
occurred of such events, they were generally rewritten to some
degree around the aircraft available- almost entirely
Spitfires.
That admitted, there remains the fact that the Spitfire was one
of, if not the (line up on your chosen side of THAT
argument), most effective fighter of its time. As an act of
engineering it was at the cutting edge of technology from the mid
1930's until nearly 1950, and was extensively developed. It
encompasses in one aircraft type most of the major developments
of the end of the piston-engined fighter era. For many people it
is simply that the Spitfire is synonymous with the most effective
aero engine of the War, the Rolls-Royce Merlin. Others simply
admire the beautiful lines of the airframe. There is no single
link among the admirers of this line of aeroplanes.
These Pages are intended to provide some facts about the Spitfire line and a few (actually rather a lot: it is quite graphics-intensive. Most pictures are small versions of only a few KB each. Click on the pictures for a larger version.) pictures to illustrate the point.
Here is some information about a range of Spitfire-related topics.
If there is an area of general interest, please let me know, and I shall try to cover it. If you can cover it better than I, that would be even better.