Supermarine Spitfire
Model Airplane News Cover Art for June, 1943 and December, 1957
by Jo Kotula
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The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries through the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used into the 1950s both as a front line fighter and in secondary roles. It was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft and was the only Allied fighter in production throughout the war.

Supermarine Spitfire Fighter
The Famous Elliptical Wing
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The Spitfire was designed as a short-range high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works. He continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith became chief designer. The Spitfire's elliptical wing had a thin cross-section, allowing a high top speed necessary for home defence against enemy bombers.

After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire became the backbone of RAF Fighter Command and saw action in the European Theatre, Pacific Theatre and the South-East Asian theatre. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire saw service in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber, carrier-based fighter, and trainer; it was built in many different variants, with two different types of engine and several wing configurations.

Here is an article comparing Britain's two top fighters: the Hurricane and the Spitfire. It appeared in Popular Mechanics

Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire compared
Popular Mechanics November, 1939
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The Spitfire will always be compared to its main adversary, the Messerschmitt Bf 109; both followed similar design philosophies of marrying a small, streamlined airframe to a powerful liquid-cooled V12 engine. Since it is a revered object in Britain, there are plenty of Spitfires in operating condition. Here is a video featuring several of them flying in formation.

The Cleveland Company offered modelers the unique ability to see the differences between thes two famous airplanes by building detailed models of each. Here is the Cleveland "Master Kit" for the Spitfire.

     



Cleveland Model of the Supermarine Spitfire Fighter
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Here is the less complicated "Industrial Training" (IT) version of the kit. Do not confuse "IT" kits with Master kits -- the latter are quite a bit more valuable!

     

Supermarine Spitfire
Cleveland Industrial Training kit
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You can buy the plans and patterns that will enable you to make this model right now. Click Here to go to the exact location on the Cleveland Website to get them.

  

Supermarine Spitfire on the Cleveland Site

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