80th Anniversary for Spitfires
A Spitfire flew over Southampton Water and the site of the Super marine factory in Woolston, where thousands of The World War Two fighters were manufactured. A flypast to mark the 80th anniversary of the Spitfire’s first flight has taken place over the Hampshire coast. The plane took off from the airport shortly before 12 :00 GMT after short delay due to cloudy weather conditions, and retraced the route taken by the Prototype 80 years earlier heading along the Hampshire coast and overflew Mitchell’s grave at South Stoneham Cemetery and onwards to Portsmouth before returning safely to Southampton Airport.
The first prototype, K5054, designed by RJ Mitchell, took off from Eastleigh Aerodrome on March 5, 1936.
During World War Two, Spitfire proving critical, the Super marine factory was targeted by the Luftwaffe to destroy production facilities.
A second spitfire flypast over Mayflower Park in Southampton, organized by Solent Sky Museum, took place later on Saturday evening. K5054 Spitfire was developed from the Schneider seaplanes and powered by Rolls Royce Merlin engine. It took off from Eastleigh Aerodrome, now Southampton Airport on March 6, 2036. After RJ Mitchell died in 1937, his successor Joe Smith developed the fighter to make it faster and more powerful. Mk1 Spitfires entered the RAF service with No.19 Squadron in August 1938, which proved to have the decisive advantage fighting the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain with increased speed, manoeuvrability and firepower.