by Graham Hoyland | Jun 26, 2020 | Books
Many people know that the Supermarine Spitfire had a 27-litre Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. What they might not know, though was that later models of the Spitfire used a 37-litre Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. And almost no-one knows that the Griffon was first run nine...
by Graham Hoyland | Jun 23, 2020 | Books
The vast majority of Spitfires were single seaters. But some Spitfires carried an unexpected passenger as well as the pilot. How? In 1945 Margaret Ada Horton was a WAAF (Fitter Mechanic Airframes) at RAF Hibaldstow airfield, a satellite airfield to RAF Kirton-in...
by Graham Hoyland | Jun 23, 2020 | Books
19 facts about the beautiful Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire was a short-range, high-performance fighter plane designed in the 1930s by Reginald Mitchell, chief designer at the Supermarine Aviation Works in Southampton. 2. Mitchell was diagnosed with bowel cancer...
by Graham Hoyland | Jun 16, 2020 | Books
A Spitfire very nearly broke the sound barrier in 1944. In the 1930s a small number of aero-engineers recognized that the piston-engine and propeller were providing diminishing returns. Despite reductions in drag and increases in efficiency provided by slippery...
by Graham Hoyland | Dec 16, 2019 | Books
Lyme Regis residents called the coiled-up ammonites “snake stones” What did Mary Anning discover? The French naturalist George Cuvier had demonstrated that fossils were the remains of fantastical creatures that no longer roamed the earth, but it was Mary...
by Graham Hoyland | Dec 15, 2019 | Books
What Engine did the Spitfire Have? The Supermarine Spitfire is the most iconic British aircraft of World War Two. It has a unique sound, made by the 12-cylindered engine. Most Supermarine Spitfires had the Rolls-Royce Merlin, a V-12 engine of 27 litres. Later marks of...