Supermarine Spitfire
A graceful aircraft whose wide elliptical wings, curves, and rounded components flowed smoothly into each other in an elegant whole, the Supermarine Spitfire was a masterpiece of aerodynamic engineering, and perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing airplane of WWII. It was considered remarkably easy to handle, and that, combined with its physical appeal and superb performance, turned it into a legend.
Moreover, the Spitfire was remarkably durable. As Spitfire pilot John Vader wrote: “Spitfires have hit the ground, touched the sea, bashed through trees, cut telegraph and high tension wires, collided in the air, been shot to pieces, had rudders and parts of wings fall off, and have yet made safe landings, with or without wheels.”
Designed as a high-performance short-range interceptor to supplement the Royal Air Force Fighter Command’s mainstay, the Hawker Hurricane, the Spitfire combined lethality with beauty and toughness and proved a superb defensive fighter in the Battle of Britain, July to October, 1940. During that dark summer, the Spitfire emerged as the iconic symbol of British defiance as that country stood alone against the German juggernaut.
Although the RAF had more Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain than it did Spitfires, the Spitfire’s superior performance resulted in a lower attrition rate and a higher kill to loss ratio. As a result, during German raids on Britain, Spitfire squadrons were generally tasked with engaging Luftwaffe fighters and keeping them occupied, while flights of Hurricanes dove in to savage the now undefended German bombers.
Perhaps the greatest compliment to the Spitfire came during that fray, when Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering, growing frustrated by the inability to crush British resistance, berated a gathering of his exhausted and weary fighter commanders, taking them to task for failing to defeat the enemy despite a numerical superiority over the RAF. When he reportedly asked just what more he could do to speed up victory, one of them replied bitterly: “Give me a squadron of Spitfires!” After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire began to replace the Hurricane as the backbone of the RAF’s Fighter Command for the remainder of the war.
The plane’s design proved sufficiently rugged and adaptable to permit the use of increasingly powerful engines as the war progressed. That led to a steady increase in the Spitfire’s performance and capabilities throughout the conflict. Aside from machine guns, different versions were equipped with cannons, rockets, or bombs. In addition to its primary role as interceptor, the Spitfire successfully served in other roles, such as fighter-bomber, reconnaissance, and trainer. It was the most produced British aircraft of the war, with over 20,000 manufactured during the conflict.