|
Spitfires
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the war. The Spitfire remains popular among enthusiasts. Around 70 remain airworthy, and many more are static exhibits in aviation museums throughout the world. The Spitfire was a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928. Mitchell modified the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing (designed by Beverley Shenstone) with innovative sunken rivets to have the thinnest possible cross-section, achieving a potential top speed greater than that of several contemporary fighter aircraft, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death in 1937, whereupon his colleague ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spitfire G-AWGB Landing At Biggin Hill Airfield
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the war. The Spitfire remains popular among enthusiasts. Around List of surviving Supermarine Spitfires, 70 remain airworthy, and many more are static exhibits in aviation museums throughout the world. The Spitfire was a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928. Mitchell modified the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing (designed by Beverley Shenstone) with innovative sunken rivets to have the thinnest possible cross-section, achieving a potential top speed greater than that of several contemporary fighter aircraft, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continued to refine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spitfire Fly Past At RAF Halton
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the war. The Spitfire remains popular among enthusiasts. Around 70 remain airworthy, and many more are static exhibits in aviation museums throughout the world. The Spitfire was a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928. Mitchell modified the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing (designed by Beverley Shenstone) with innovative sunken rivets to have the thinnest possible cross-section, achieving a potential top speed greater than that of several contemporary fighter aircraft, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death in 1937, whereupon his colleague ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Surviving Supermarine Spitfires
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force along with many other Allies of World War II, Allied countries throughout the Second World War and afterwards into the 1950s as both a front-line fighter and also in secondary roles. Many smaller countries purchased Spitfires as the major industrial nations phased out propeller-powered aircraft in favour of new jets. When these smaller nations started to update their air forces, many of their Second World War aircraft were sold on the open market to individuals or for scrap. Museums and private collectors began to acquire these Spitfire and Seafire aircraft, and today many survive in these collections around the world. This article lists surviving Spitfires and Seafires, according to their geographical location and the condition that they are in. Surviving aircraft Australia ;Airworthy * Spitfire Mk.VIIIc ''MV154'' (VH-A58). It is based at Archerfield Airport, Archerfield in Bri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supermarine Spitfire (Griffon-powered Variants)
The Rolls-Royce Griffon engine was designed in answer to Royal Navy specifications for an engine capable of generating good power at low altitudes. Concepts for adapting the Supermarine Spitfire, Spitfire to take the new engine had begun as far back as October 1939; Joseph Smith (aircraft designer), Joseph Smith felt that "The good big 'un will eventually beat the good little 'un." and Ernest Hives, 1st Baron Hives, Ernest Hives of Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce thought that the Griffon would be "a second power string for the Spitfire". The first of the Griffon-engined Spitfires flew on 27 November 1941. Although the Griffon-engined Spitfires were never produced in the large numbers of the Merlin-engined variants they were an important part of the Spitfire family, and in their later versions kept the Spitfire at the forefront of piston-engined fighter development. This article describes the Griffon-powered Spitfire variants. Wing types The majority of Spitfires from the Mk VII ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supermarine
Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer. It is most famous for producing the Spitfire fighter plane during World War II. The company built a range of seaplanes and flying boats, winning the Schneider Trophy for seaplanes with three consecutive victories (in 1927, 1929 and 1931). After the war, the company produced a series of jet fighters. Overview Supermarine was founded in 1913 as Pemberton-Billing Ltd. The company was located on the River Itchen, Hampshire, River Itchen close to Woolston, Southampton, on ground purchased by the British aviator and inventor Noel Pemberton Billing to construct motor launches. Pemberton-Billing produced two prototype Multiplane_(aeronautics)#Quadruplanes, quadruplanes designed to shoot down Zeppelins—the Supermarine P.B.29 and the Supermarine Nighthawk. Both aircraft were fitted with the recoilless Davis gun. The Nighthawk had a separate Propulsion, powerplant to power a searchlight.The World's Worst Aircraft James Gilbert Pemberton-B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supermarine Seafire
The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Hurricane variants#Sea Hurricanes, Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised aircraft, navalised version of the Spitfire's stablemate, the Hawker Hurricane. The name Seafire was derived from the contraction of the full name of Sea Spitfire.Andrews and Morgan 1987, p. 247. A carrier-capable version of the Supermarine Spitfire had been proposed by the British Admiralty, Admiralty in May 1938. Despite a pressing need to replace various obsolete types in the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), some opposed the idea, including Winston Churchill, although these disputes were often a result of the overriding priority for land-based Spitfires instead. During 1941 and early 1942, the Admiralty again requested naval Spitfires, resulting in an initial batch of Seafire Mk.Ib fighters in late 1941, which were mainly used to gain experience operating ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Britain
The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. It was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces."92 Squadron – Geoffrey Wellum." ''Battle of Britain Memorial Flight'' via ''raf.mod.uk.''. Retrieved: 17 November 2010, archived 2 March 2009. It takes its name from This was their finest hour, the speech given by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons on 18 June: "What Maxime Weygand, General Weygand called the 'Battle of France' is over. I expect that the Battle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by the Supermarine Spitfire during the Battle of Britain in 1940, but the Hurricane inflicted 60% of the losses sustained by the ''Luftwaffe'' in the campaign, and fought in all the major theatres of the Second World War. The Hurricane originated from discussions between RAF officials and aircraft designer Sir Sydney Camm about a proposed monoplane derivative of the Hawker Fury biplane in the early 1930s. Despite an institutional preference for biplanes and lack of interest by the Air Ministry, Hawker refined its monoplane proposal, incorporating several innovations which became critical to wartime fighter aircraft, including retractable landing gear and the more powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The Air Ministry ordered Hawker's ''Interce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Messerschmitt Bf 109 Variants
Due to the Messerschmitt Bf 109's versatility and time in service with the German and foreign air forces, numerous variants were produced in Germany to serve for over eight years with the Luftwaffe. Additional variants were produced abroad totalling in 34,852 Bf 109s built. Bf 109 A/B/C/D The Bf 109A was the first version of the Bf 109. Armament was initially planned to be just two cowl-mounted 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns. However, possibly due to the introduction of the Hurricane and Spitfire, each with eight 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine guns, experiments were carried out with a third machine gun firing through the propeller shaft. V4 and some A-0 were powered by a 640 PS (631 hp, 471 kW) Junkers Jumo 210B engine driving a two-blade fixed- pitch propeller, but production was changed to the 670 PS (661 hp, 493 kW) Jumo 210D as soon as it became available. The A-0 was not of a uniform type; there were several changes in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rolls-Royce Griffon
The Rolls-Royce Griffon is a British 37-litre (2,240 cubic inch, cu in) Engine displacement, capacity, 60-degree V12 engine, V-12, liquid-cooled Aircraft engine, aero engine designed and built by Rolls-Royce Limited. In keeping with company convention, the Griffon was named after a bird of prey, in this case the griffon vulture. Design work on the Griffon started in 1938 at the request of the Fleet Air Arm, for use in new aircraft designs such as the Fairey Firefly. In 1939 it was also decided that the engine could be adapted for use in the Supermarine Spitfire (Griffon powered variants), Spitfire. Development was stopped temporarily to concentrate efforts on the smaller Rolls-Royce Merlin, Merlin and the 24-cylinder Rolls-Royce Vulture, Vulture; the engine did not go into production until the early 1940s. The Griffon was the last in the line of V-12 aero engines to be produced by Rolls-Royce with production ceasing in 1955. Griffon engines remain in Royal Air Force servic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rolls-Royce Merlin
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British Coolant#Liquids, liquid-cooled V12 engine, V-12 Reciprocating engine, piston aero engine of 27-litre (1,650 cu in) Engine displacement, capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later called ''Merlin (bird), Merlin'' following the company convention of naming its four-stroke piston aero engines after birds of prey. The engine benefitted from the racing experiences of precursor engines in the 1930s. After several modifications, the first production variants of the PV-12 were completed in 1936. The first operational aircraft to enter service using the Merlin were the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. The Merlin remains most closely associated with the Spitfire and Hurricane, although the majority of the production run was for the four-engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. The Merlin continued to benefit from a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free French Air Force
The Free French Air Forces (, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free French Forces merged with General Giraud's forces. The name was still in common use however, until the liberation of France in 1944, when they became the French Air Army. Martial Henri Valin commanded them from 1941 to 1944, then stayed on to command the Air Army. French North Africa (1940–1943) On 17 June 1940, five days before the signing of the Franco-German Armistice, the first exodus of 10 airmen took flight from Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport to England. Others rallied to General Charles de Gaulle from France and French North Africa between June 1940 and November 1942. A contingent of volunteers from South American countries such as Uruguay, Argentina and Chile was also created, as Free French officials recruited there personally. From a strength of 500 in July 1940, the rank ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
