The Spitfire Story

The Spitfire Story

Ref: 3642

Price: £14.00

This book is the outcome of many years of detailed research on the evolution of the Spitfire, by the distinguished and best-selling aviation historian Alfred Price. During this time he personally interviewed those involved in the design, construction and testing of this aircraft, the most famous fighter ever built. The author is particularly indebted to Jeffrey Quill, the former Chief Test Pilot of Supermarine, for his revealing comments on almost every stage of the story. The resulting work goes into far greater detail on this subject than anything previously published, and can reasonably claim to be the ultimate on the evolution of the Spitfire.
Throughout the book, the author backs his story with first-person accounts drawn from interviews and passages from relevant official documents. Reginald Mitchell was the guiding genius behind the design of the Spitfire. But a host of others share credit for getting this advanced aircraft into production and in service in numbers sufficient to decide the outcome of the action with which it will always be associated: the Battle of Britain.
After the Battle, the Spitfire was developed on a scale unique in the history of aviation. Yet the changes that gave improvements in peformance frequently brought with them unwelcome effects on the aircraft's handling characteristics. The Supermarine test pilots had the task of pinpointing any shortcomings and deciding which were acceptable and which were not. Joe Smith and his design team then had to decide what further modifications were practicable to overcome these problems without causing too great a break in production. The characteristics of each version of the Spitfire, and the difficulties encountered with each, are recounted here in fascinating detail. As a result of this protracted development the Spitfire remained in the forefront throughout the entire era of the piston-engined monoplane fighter, from 1936 to 1948. And at its end the Mark 24 was one of the finest piston-engined interceptor fighters in the world.
To the British people the Spitfire was far more than just a sleek machine. It was, as the author points out, `. . . a symbol of defiance and hope for Britain and her allies in the dark days of 1940, of victory in the air during the years of conflict that followed, and today of nostalgia for those who lived through those hectic times.'
The text is enhanced by the most complete collection of photographs ever published on the evolution of the Spitfire, and superb colour artwork and line drawings by Peter Endsleigh Castle and line drawings by Harry Robinson. Together, these take the reader step by step along the lengthy trail leading from the first tentative proposals for the new fighter, to the time the final production version passed out of service.

Jacket illustration: Birth of a Legend by Gerald Coulson.
This depicts the prototype Spitfire K5054 in May 1936, after painting but before delivery to the Royal Air Force for service trials.

by Alfred Price
Published by Arms and Armour Press 1988 4th impression reprint. 256pp profusely illustrated, with b&w photos, colour 3-views, index. 22x28 very slightly yellowed, otherwise near fine, including d/j.

Note:
"Long" descriptions, where shown, may have been taken from the book's dust jacket notes, and as such are relevant to the date of publication (e.g. any references to "new edition" "previously unpublished photographs" etc.) and not the present.

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