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What is the Spitfires full name?
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire was an iconic British single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in the Second World War.
What do the letters on the side of a spitfire mean?
The first two letters were the code of the Squadron the aircraft was with, for example, “XT” was 603 Squadron in 1941. The remaining letter was the individual code of that aircraft within the squadron.
What is the spitfire in real life?
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. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, using several wing configurations.
Where did the name Supermarine come from?
Pemberton-Billing used the term ‘Supermarine Southampton’ as their telegram and cable address. In 1916, Pemberton-Billing’s Sales Manager Hubert Scott-Paine purchased Pemberton Billing Ltd and changed its trading name what was previously their telegraphic and telegram address: Supermarine Aviation Works Limited.
Was the Spitfire originally called?
Pilots in the Second World War might have found themselves being ordered to “scramble the Shrews” if the man credited with inventing the Spitfire had had his way.
Who invented Spitfire?
R. J. Mitchell
Supermarine Spitfire/Designers
The prototype Spitfire was designed by R J Mitchell and first took to the air at Southampton Airport on 5 March 1936. With a powerful Rolls Royce Merlin engine and eight machine guns it was a formidable fighting aircraft. Sadly, Mitchell was to die before seeing the aircraft go into operational use.
Why does the RAF have the French flag?
At high speeds, the tail insignia looked like the Iron Cross, and many British soldiers were shooting at the planes, especially when they flew low. The insignia was then changed to a reverse French flag so that the soldiers on the ground could recognise it as friendly, whether or not they recognized it as British.”
How many Spitfires still exist?
Around 240 are known to exist. Of these, around 60 are airworthy. 70-odd are used for static display and around 110 across the world are either held in storage or are being actively restored. Unsurprisingly, it’s the United Kingdom that has the largest number of airworthy Spitfires remaining (30 out of the 60).
How much is a flying Spitfire worth?
A flying-condition Spitfire is worth up to £1-2m compared with £20-50,000 two decades ago.
What is another word for Spitfire?
In this page you can discover 18 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for spitfire, like: tigress, , fokker, shrew, biplane, triplane, , twin-engin, messerschmitt, supermarine and Seafire.