Calshot and the Schneider Trophy

This blog post isn't actually about Spitfires, but it's closely linked to its 'birth', so bear with me!

RJ Mitchell was the brains behind the Spitfire, but before that he designed other planes at Supermarine. And some of those planes were racing seaplanes, used in the Schneider Trophy in the early 20th century. These races attracted vast numbers of spectators!

In the last two years in which these Schneider Trophy races were held, 1929 and 1931, the race was held at Calshot. Great Britain won the trophy for eternity in 1931, having won it three times in a row. 

And the planes that secured the Schneider Trophy were the Supermarine S6 (in 1929) and S6B (in 1931).

Time for us to pay a visit to Calshot as it is now!

Upon entering Calshot Spit, there is a mural of a Supermarine S6B.

Look closer: the mural consists mostly of sea shells ...

A bit further along the Spit, a nod to RJ Mitchell!

In Calshot Castle itself there are some exhibits of the Supermarine planes and the Schneider Trophy, including this model and a nice painting:

Having seen where the Supermarine S6B once flew, time to go back to Solent Sky Museum, as they have a genuine Supermarine S6!

Also a replica of the Schneider Trophy (the real Trophy is in London)

Can't say it's a thing of beauty, but that's my personal opinion ...

Obviously, I couldn't not take another picture of the resident Spitfire while at Solent Sky ...

... and of a replica of the prototype!

Can't imagine this will be our final visit to Solent Sky. After all, have to get a picture of me with my "I don't snore ..." shirt in front of the Spitfire!

And if you want to read more on the history of the Schneider Trophy, this is a good book to get:

Spitfire Makers plaque #11

Another Spitfire Makers plaque, another invitation for the unveiling!

The Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft factory was involved in, among many other aircraft, the construction and repair of Spitfires from the start of WW II. After in was bombed in 1940, and subsequently reconstruction, it was important for the construction of Seafires.

Plaque #11 was to be unveiled at the site of the Cunliffe-Owen factory. As usual, the unveiling ceremony included a presentation from Alan Matlock, the chairman of the charity on the history of the factory.

And then it was time for the actual unveiling of the plaque.

The unveiling was done by a representative of Hendy, who sponsored the plaque, and the daughter of someone who worked in the Cunliffe-Owen factory.

So here it is, plaque #11!

A few hundred meters from the site of the plaque is a memorial to those who lost their lives in the bombing ..

Now if you are an avid follower of this blog, you may have realised I blogged about plaque #9, but not #10 .... Did I miss #10? Yes and no, watch this space ...

Daedalus airport

When we are practicing flying sport kites with our L-katz team at Stokes Bay, we occasionally see a Spitfire fly over, do some aerobatics and then return again in the direction of Daedalus airport. 

Recently, an approaching storm made us cancel team-flying for the day, but we decided to meet up with the team anyway, for lunch, in the cafe on Daedalus airport.

After we parked the car, and walked along Daedalus Drive ...

... we saw a few small airplanes parked.

And then, as we got closer to the cafe and the observation area, we saw the Spitfire parked, preparing to take off!

'Our' Spitfire has registration BS410, and a bit more on its history can be found here. During lunch, the aircraft refuelled, and then took off again, with another passenger.

A few video snippets of 'our' Spitfire taxi-ing and taking off are here:

In all, the best lunch at Cafe 05 we could have hoped for!

And, sorry (not sorry), but this picture just had to be taken ....

Secret Spitfires in Salisbury

When the Supermarine factory in Southampton was bombed in September 1940, dispersal of Spitfire production wasn't just in and around Southampton. Salisbury also became an important hub for this, and many of the secret Spitfire sites in Salisbury have also seen a plaque being unveiled in memory of this. 

So time to head to Salisbury to try and see them all!

Old George Mall car park is now where Wessex Motors Garage once stood. Fuselages and tail units were made here.

McCarthy and Stone retirement homes in Castle Street are now on the site of Anna Valley Motors Garage. Again, fuselages and tail unites were made and assembled here. 

At 141 Castle Street was the Wilts and Dorset Bus Garage, where wing production took place. 

At 152 Castle Street was the entrance to the Wilts and Dorset Bus Depot. This was used for assembly of fuselages and fitting of engines.

At Watt & Vincent, now A.J. Waters garage, on Devizes Road, fuel tanks were built; despite walking around, we somehow missed finding the plaque here ...

Supermarine built 'factory #1' where Salisbury RFC at Castle Road is now. Fitting out of fuselages as well as engine installation happened here. 

Nearby, where Janspeed is now, Supermarine built 'factory #2', where component assemblies and wings were built.

Further north, at Highpost, where the The Stones Hotel is now, was the place for Air Traffic Control,  and accommodation for High Post airfield.

The area for final assembly and flight tests was where Highpost Business Park is now.

Similarly, final assembly and flight tests also took place where the Wiltshire Flying Club was; the site is now occupied by Chemring, Highpost.

And those were all the sites with plaques that we were aware of. But next to where 'factory #1' and 'factory #2' were is now also a Secret Spitfire memorial, a full-size fibreglass replica of the Mk IX flown by Johnnie Johnson.

Next to the memorial is a bench in memory of Ethem Cetintas, one of the authors of the Secret Spitfires book, who passed away a few years ago; notice the shape of the seat and back ...

As we drove away from Salisbury, on our way to the final site, we couldn't not take a picture of a road sign on what used to be the Old Sarum airfield ...

That final site we wanted to visit is the site of Chattis Hill airfield. Two hangars were built here to be used for final assembly, and aircraft were tested here for flight.

Appropriately, the lane along the site of the airfield is called 'Spitfire Lane'.

The site is in private hands, so we couldn't walk around, but as far as I'm aware, not much of the airfield is left other than it being, well, a field.

Driving back towards Stockbridge, we saw this sign along the road, so had to stop to take a picture. Other than carrying the Spitfire name, The Spitfire Shoot has nothing to do with actual Spitfires ...