The Supermarine Spitfire was conceived by the brilliant British designer Reginald J. Mitchell, and first flew on 5 March 1936. It was an advanced, low wing single seat monoplane with a very smooth flush riveted metal skin and a long flowing front cowling.
Using the famous Rolls-Royce "Merlin"engine that produced more than 1,000 horsepower, the Mk I Spitfire attained a top speed of 586 km/h. The very distinctive elliptical shaped wing was useful in reducing parasitic drag and allowed a fairly thin wing construction. It carried a large coolant radiator under the starboard wing, and a small oil cooler under the port wing, giving it an asymmetrical appearance when viewed from the front and bottom. The retractable main landing gear also contributed to the smooth lines and gave higher performance. Early Spitfires were armed with eight 7.7mm machine guns, four to each wing.
The early production Mk I Spitfires used a fixed pitch wooden two blade propeller was later replaced with a two-pitch three blade unit.
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