Having earlier created the Supermarine series of aircraft to win the Scneider Trophy, the legendary Supermarine Spitfire was designed as a private venture by the company's chief designer, Mitchell. The prototype, powered by the Rolls Royce Merlin engine, first flew in March 1936. Together with the Hawker Hurricane, it formed the backbone of Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain in August/September 1940. At the start of that conflicte there were 19 RAF Squadrons equipped with Spitfires and 32 Squadrons with Hurricanes.

---

Size: 1939px × 1289px
Photo credit: © ART Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: a580, aircraft, airforce, christchurch, dslr, ication, lf, photograph, sony, spitfire, supermarine, world, xv1e, zealand