The Spitfire Documentary Films

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter airplane that was used by the Royal Air Force and many various other Allied nations during and after the Second World War. The Spitfire proceeds to be a popular plane, with around 53 Spitfires being airworthy, while lots of even more are fixed exhibits in air travel museums all over the world. The Spitfire was developed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor plane by R. J. Mitchell, primary developer at Supermarine Aviation Works (which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928). According to its function as an interceptor, Mitchell created the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical machine wing to have the thinnest feasible cross-section; this thin wing allowed the Spitfire to have a greater top rate than a number of contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continuouslied refine the style up until his death from cancer cells in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith took control of as main developer, supervising the development of the Spitfire with its great deal of versions. During the Battle of Britain (July-- October 1940), the Spitfire was viewed by the public to be the RAF fighter, though the more numerous Hawker Hurricane bore a higher proportion of the trouble versus the Luftwaffe. Nevertheless, as a result of its greater efficiency, Spitfire units had a lower attrition rate and a greater victory-to-loss proportion than those flying Hurricanes. After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire replaced the Hurricane to become the foundation of RAF Fighter Command, and viewed action in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific and the South-East Asian theatres. Much enjoyed by its pilots, the Spitfire offered in many functions, consisting of interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fitness instructor and fighter-bomber, and it continuouslied offer in these duties until the 1950s. The Seafire was a carrier-based adjustment of the Spitfire which offered in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 via to the mid-1950s.