Features
We explore the Spitfire's starring role in great war movies, remember the Battle of Britain, interview one of the plane's early test pilots, and listen to that Merlin engine roar.
The Merlin Engine
Like the regularly evolving Spitfire plane itself, the Merlin was strictly speaking not one engine but many. Considered to be one of the finest piston engines ever conceived, successive versions powered not only the Spitfire, but the Hawker Hurricane, de Havilland Mosquito, Mustang, the Lancaster and York bombers – and others. Perhaps the only aircraft engine to have become famous, it was named after Britain's smallest falcon (Falco columbarius), the merlin.
Spitfire Test Pilots
When you think of the Spitfire, do you think of the Battle of Britain? Perhaps you think of Castle Bromwich in Birmingham, where the planes were built? If you’re a real fanatic, you will have heard of its designer, RJ Mitchell, who died in 1937 – two years before war broke out.
Alex Henshaw: Interview with a Test Pilot
Alex Henshaw MBE was chief test pilot at the Spitfire factory in Castle Bromwich. He spoke to ICONS about his world records, his lucky escapes and how low he really flew an inverted Spitfire down Broad Street in Birmingham in September 1940.
RAF Fighter Pilots
Second world war fighter pilots achieved celebrity status for their breathtaking skill and heroics. Probably the most famous was Douglas Bader, who lost both legs in an aircraft accident long before the war even began, but remarkably rejoined the Royal Air Force in 1939 and led 242 Squadron in the Battle of Britain.
The Battle of Britain
The battle in which the Spitfire and Hurricane fighter planes took part was one of the most decisive of the second world war. It had been preceded by the invasion and occupation of northern France by the German army, and the rescue of what remained of the British Expeditionary Force from the beaches of Dunkirk. Western Europe was in retreat before the might of the expansionist Nazi forces. The invasion of the British Isles looked imminent…
Airfix Models
For many a small boy (and the occasional girl), the closest they would come to seeing a Spitfire would be to build a small replica from a modelling kit. Just as the plane itself came to be the predominant British combat fighter above all others, so one company achieved unrivalled supremacy for a particular generation in the modelling market.
Spitfires at the Movies
The Spitfire has featured in many great films. Here ICONS turns film reviewer.
The First of the Few
“It’s got to do 400 miles an hour, turn on a sixpence, climb 10,000ft in a few minutes, dive at 500 without the wings coming off, carry eight machine guns…”
Ten things...
Some interesting facts to surprise even the most ardent Spitfire enthusiast
Andrew Nahum interview
ICONS went along to the Science Museum in London to talk to Professor Andrew Nahum, curator of the Spitfire exhibit, which is on show there until 2007
