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Supermarine Spitfire |
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The
Supermarine Spitfire is often regarded as the most famous British
airplane of World War II. Belgians, Free French, Poles, Czechs,
Americans, and British Commonwealth countries used the fighter.
The Eagle Squadron was one of the best known of these foreign
units. Composed of American volunteers, the first Eagle Squadron
was officially formed on October 19, 1940. They flew Hurricanes
until they could be equipped with Spitfires. When the United
States entered the war, there were three squadrons of Eagles. On
September 29, 1942, these squadrons became the 334th, 335th, and
336th Squadrons of the 4th Fighter Group of the U.S. Eighth Air
Force and were re-equipped with American fighter craft.
Spitfires took part in operations in the Middle East, North
Africa, India, Burma, Australia, and Russia. The neutral
governments of Portugal and Turkey were also equipped with
Spitfires. When the war ended, the Spitfire was the only airplane
that had been in continuous production throughout the war—20,351
had rolled off the assembly lines.
The Spitfire was the end product of many
years of design development at the Supermarine works at Woolston,
England. There, Reginald J. Mitchell designed racers to enter in
the Schneider Trophy Races, with the British government
subsidizing the project. Mitchell designed every British winner
after World War I, and on September 13, 1931, his S.6B brought the
Schneider Cup permanently home to Britain by winning the third
consecutive race. See Supermarine
Racer
The Supermarine Spitfire is on
display at the National Air and Space Museum in the World War II
Aviation exhibition. One is also on display at the Air Force
Museum in Dayton, Ohio.
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Supermarine
Spitfire Mk IIB
Beautiful model from our Premier Series. 1/20th
scale. 15" wingspan by 18.5" long.
No. AEG3D-BR. Only $169.95 |
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Supermarine
Spitfire Mk IX
Premier Series. Same size as above.
No. AEG3D-CR. Only $169.96 |
Supermarine
Spitfire Mk I
Premier Series. Same size as above.
No. AEG3D-AR. Only $169.96 |
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Supermarine
Spitfire Mk I
(Shown at left)
From our Deluxe Series. 1/24th scale.
18.6" wingspan by 14.75" long.
No. AEG3D-DX. Only $139.95 |
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Supermarine
Spitfire Mk VB
From
our Standard Series
1/32nd scale. 13.5" wingspan x 11.5"
long.
No. AEG23D-ST. Only $119.95 |
Supermarine
Spitfire Mk 1
From
our Standard Series
1/48th scale. 9" wingspan by 6" long.
No. AEG3D-JR Only $69.95 |
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