Spitfire stuff @ Southampton Airport

Spitfire Makers plaque #23 was unveiled at Southampton Airport last month, to commemorate the 90-year anniversary of the first flight of the Spitfire, from that very same site (then called Eastleigh Aerodrome). Unfortunately, we couldn't attend this unveiling at the time due to work getting in the way. But we flew to the Netherlands for a double family visit over the Easter days, so that gave us the perfect opportunity to take some pictures of the plaque and the wall it's now situated on.

Information on both RJ Mitchell and 'Mutt' Summers is provided at either side of the plaque(s).

And here is Spitfire Makers plaque #23 in close-up.

Once through security check and customs, in the area near the departure gates, there is a sign pointing towards a 'Spitfire Lounge.

Following the signs through some doors and corridors eventually leads past a large black-and-white image of a Spitfire ...

... and this is as far as I could get, not having a business class ticket!

We flew to the Netherlands in a KLM Cityhopper, from the same place that the first Spitfire flew 90 years ago.

On Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, we met with our respective families; this double family visit was after all the primary reason for going.

And then back home after Easter, again in a KLM Cityhopper. 

Underneath the plane, on the approach to Southampton Airport, is the site of the Supermarine Woolston works, bombed in 1940.

We landed back at Southampton Airport on the day that Spitfire BS410, repainted light blue and sporting the registration of the original prototype (K5054), would depart from Southampton Airport on a 9-leg flight around Britain, celebrating the 90-year anniversary of that very first flight in 1936. 

Fortunately, our own flight had arrived early enough to give us time to get to the top of the multi-storey car park to see 'K5054' take off. We weren't the only people there! 

A teasing light blue wing tip was just visible for some time ...

... and then she taxied towards the runway.

'K5054' ready for take-off! With apologies for the very shaky video ... I had to zoom in quite a bit to 'see through' the metal fence around the car park, and that made it very hard to keep the camera steady.

Off she went on her 9-leg tour of Britain; we'll definitely follow her via Facebook over the coming week!

So in the end, we had a great Easter family break in the Netherlands, book-ended by Spitfire 'stuff'.

Spitfire prototype and the Hythe works

Ninety years ago last month, Supermarine Type 300, the prototype aeroplane that would result in the Spitfire, flew for the first time. I've always kept an eye out for a 1:72 model of Type 300, but without much luck ... Until recently: good things come to those who wait!

The model is actually a metal kit rather than one made from plastic, and has very few parts to assemble.

The Spitfire prototype was originally unpainted, and later painted the well-known light-blue, as seen in models on the roundabout near Southampton Airport, Solent Sky, the full-size replica at Tangmere and the mural in the foyer of the Holiday Inn. So I decided not to paint my model and keep it 'bare metal'.

And here is a picture of the actual prototype in flight, sporting its light-blue livery.

Going off on a slight tangent, in the 1930s, Supermarine owned the Hythe works, across the water from Woolston. This is the place where work on flying boats as well as the initial work on Type 300 took place. 

The Hythe works were closed and sold when the Woolston works started up, but the main building, with its distinctive 'saw tooth' roof, is still standing on the site. 

Time to drive over to that site to take some pictures of where the Spitfire was conceived!

The slipway used for the flying boats is also still there!

And this is standing at the top of the slipway, looking across the water to where the Woolston works used to be (the Itchen bridge of course didn't exist then) ...

'Messerspit'

The 'Messerspit' was a Mk V Spitfire which was captured by the Luftwaffe, and which subsequently had its Merlin engine replaced by a Daimler-Benz engine (as used in the Messerschmitt Bf109). The idea behind this experiment was to see what would happen when combining the superior handling of the Spitfire with the higher power of the Daimler-Benz engine.

Turns out there is a 1:72 model kit of this 'experimental' Spitfire! And so here is the fourth kit for the collection. 

Here is the completed model ...

... and this is a picture of the original 'Messerspit'

K5054 and the replica at Tangmere

Last week was the 90th anniversary of the first flight of the Spitfire prototype, K5054, and, fittingly, there was a talk at Tangmere Aviation Museum about the replica of that aeroplane that they have on display (the original was destroyed in a crash a few years after it first flew, and subsequently scrapped). So back to Tangmere we went, following our latest visit just under a year ago.

We arrived well ahead of time, to give us some time to look around (they have so much on display; no way you can see all in one visit). And, specifically, we wanted to see the Rolls Royce Merlin engine that the museum acquired recently. Here it is!

Would be rude not to pay attention to the Rolls Royce Griffon engine next to it, wouldn't it?

But our main reason for visiting this time was the talk about the replica of K5054, how it came to be, and how it ended up at Tangmere. Whereas I had of course seen the replica aeroplane in previous visits, I knew next to nothing about its history.

The talk was given by Bill Williams, who was the manager of the project to create a replica of K5054.

How it all started in his garage, ...

... how none other than Jeffrey Quill offered advice and parts, ...

... the trials and tribulations of the financial and engineering challenges they faced, ...

... finally resulting in the K5054 replica as it is on display in the Museum today!

Bill gave an excellent talk, very informative and knowlegeable (coming straight from the "horse's mouth", with him having been the project manager) as well as very entertaining, sprinkled with humour throughout.

After the talk, we had to pay homage to the K5054 replica, of course, and take some more pictures.

I couldn't resist getting a Spitfire 90 mug from the museum shop just before we left ...