Supermarine Spitfire

The Supermarine Spitfire was designed by the Schneider Cup-winning Reginald J Mitchell and first flew in March 1936. The aircraft was originally going to be called the Shrew but was quickly renamed as the Spitfire. The Spitfire used a unique elliptical wing shape that combined with innovative sunken rivets, gave the aircraft a higher top speed than most, if not all, other fighters of the time. In total, 20,351 Spitfires were built and remained in military service until 1961, when the type was retired by the Irish Air Corps. 

During 1962 the RAF faced a situation over Malaysia and Indonesia where Malaysian based RAF English Electric Lightnings may have to engage Indonesian P-51 Mustangs in air combat. In order to test the Lightning's effectiveness, the BBMF flew one of their Spitfires (PS853) in mock-combat dogfights against them. Today, the BBMF operate a fleet of five Spitfires of various variants. 

It would not be an Air Tattoo without the participation of the BBMF. This year, the squadron will be sending one of its Spitfires in support of our ‘Fighter Meet’ theme, which will be displayed alongside one of their Hurricanes and their recently repainted Dakota. 

Photo Credit: Rich Cooper