The British Supermarine Spitfire

The British Spitfire

The British Spitfire, known as the Supermarine Spitfire was a World War 2 fighter aircraft employed by the RAF. A total of 12,351 were produced between 1938 and 1948 at a cost of around 12,600 British Pounds each. I believe the conversion rate of pounds per dollar was 1 pound for 4 US dollars, back then.

The Supermarine Spitfire was a thoroughbred racehorse of an aircraft. The Spitfire had a supercharged Rolls Royce Merlin power plant, with almost 1500 hp. The Spitfire had a maximum speed of nearly 380 mph, a climb rate of 2,665 feet per minute and a service ceiling of 35,000 feet. It used a characteristic elliptical wing design.

The Spitfire was designed as a short range interceptor, particularly to intercept enemy bombers. The Spitfire is well known for its service during the Battle of Britain, eclipsing the less famous British Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft that actually was more effective in that battle. The Supermarine Spitfire's foes in the air were the German Messerschmitt's and Focke-Wulfs

The Supermarine Spitfire was armed with two-20 mm Hispano autocannons and four .303 Browning machine guns. The Spitfire could also carry two- two hundred-fifty lb bombs.

Supermarine Spitfire painted with the black and white D-Day invasion stripes.