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The first of 100 Supermarine-built production aircraft started appearing in October 1942; two RAF squadrons in total were equipped with the XII. Mk XIIs were manufactured from Mk Vc and Mk VIII airframes: early production aircraft had the fixed tail wheels, Dunlop AH2061 pattern "five spoke" mainwheels and small elevator balances.
Also, in June 1938, the Heinkel He 100 V2 set a new record of 394.6 mph (635.0 km/h), which was very close to the maximum speed the as yet unflown Speed Spitfire was likely to achieve; the first flight of the modified Spitfire took place on 11 November 1938 and, in late February 1939, the maximum speed reached was 408 mph (657 km/h) at 3,000 ft ...
Jeffrey Quill's long association with the Spitfire began when, aged 23, he made his first flight in the prototype fighter K5054 on 26 March 1936 – Mutt Summers having made the maiden flight three weeks earlier – and his priority was to get the Spitfire cleared for acceptance by the RAF.
A year later he became chief test pilot to the Supermarine Aviation Works (which had been taken over by Vickers in 1928) and in that capacity flew the first Supermarine Spitfire in 1936. Summers tested numerous fighters and bombers through the 1930s. He flew the prototype of Barnes Wallis's geodetic aircraft the Vickers Wellesley bomber in June ...
The Supermarine Spitfire was developed in the mid-1930s as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by chief designer R. J. Mitchell. Only one prototype was made, receiving the military serial K5054. Following its first flight on 5 March 1936, pilot "Mutt" Summers made his famous but oft-misunderstood remark, "I don't want anything ...
No. 340 (Free French) Squadron RAF was formed at RAF Turnhouse in Scotland on 7 November 1941 as part of Le Groupe de Chasse IV/2 (Fighter Group 4-2) "Île-de-France". The squadron was first equipped with Supermarine Spitfire Mk I fighters and consisted of two flights - A Flight ("Paris") and B Flight ("Versailles").
The First of the Few (also known as Spitfire in the US and Canada) (1942) is a British film produced and directed by Leslie Howard, with Howard in the starring role of R. J. Mitchell, and David Niven playing a composite character based on the Schneider Trophy pilots of 1927, 1929 and 1931, and the Supermarine test pilot Jeffrey Quill.
On 24 February 1943, the first of the Rolls-Royce Griffon engined Spitfire variants, the F Mk XII was accepted into RAF service, with the first examples being delivered to 41 Squadron. The first operational flight was made on 3 April, with the Mk XII's first victory, a Junkers Ju 88 occurring two weeks later. [ 77 ]