Supermarine vliegtuigen: boeken - historie en techniek (1/2)

In 1904 an eccentric inventor, Noel Pemberton-Billing, took an interest in flying machines. In the spirit of the pre-Wright brothers pioneers, he launched himself off the roof of his house in a flight which ended 30 feet directly below.
From these humble beginnings emerged a company that went on to produce the most famous, most instantly recognisable fighting aircraft in the world: the Supermarine Spitfire.

Supermarine's engineering mastermind, R. J. Mitchell, designed an astonishing twenty-four different aircraft during his twenty years at Supermarine. The Spitfire, his greatest creation, earned a legendary status rarely bestowed on mere machines.
After Mitchell's untimely death, and the factory's destruction at the hands of the Luftwaffe, Supermarine forged ahead with radical new designs for the jet age.

The path to the Spitfire and its jet-powered successors is one of the most remarkable journeys in aviation history. From the founding of the first airport, to record-breaking racing seaplanes and year-long flying boat expeditions beyond the frontiers of civilisation, the story of Supermarine is one that has influenced the course of world history.

This book records the history behind the iconic photographs that captured the spirit of this golden age of experimentation and rapidly shifting frontiers of technology and human achievement.

It may be hard to imagine in 2012, but Great Britain was once filled with a plethora of aircraft manufacturers. One hundred years ago, the seeds of many of them were being sown, as the demand for aircraft gained pace following the outbreak of the First World War. Not all survived following the armistice and the subject of this book, Supermarine, only kept going by the skin of its teeth and certainly did not settle into a profitable aircraft manufacturing business until the mid to late 1920s.
However, with the genius mind of Reginald Joseph Mitchell on board, the company could do no wrong and without doubt, the company's most famous and well-known product was the Spitfire.

The colossal orders received for the fighter set the company on a steady post-war course which, once again, was a period that saw other companies fall by the wayside. Following Mitchell's demise, we must not forget the man who carried the baton, Joe Smith, who developed the Spitfire and Seafire into a machine that remained in production for ten years, ultimately ending its service career in Korea. Smith did not just ride on that back of Mitchell's designs and was responsible for the Spiteful, Seafang and the Attacker to name but a few.

This book gives readers an insight into the aircraft produced by Supermarine, and those that did not quite make it, as well as a history of the aircraft company itself.

On 13 September 1931 the Schneider Trophy was won outright for Britain on Southampton Water by Flt Lt John Boothman flying Supermarine S6B, S1595, with a record-breaking average speed of 379.08mph.

Ralph Pegram relates the story of the Schneider Trophy competitions and describes the development of British high-speed seaplane designs.
He examines the anatomy of the S6B (including the Rolls-Royce R engine), as well as giving rare insights into its flying characteristics and how it was maintained, operated and - of course - raced in the final competition.

The Supermarine Southampton was the first in a series of successful flying boats designed by Supermarine's R.J. Mitchell and was the first one to be designed for the RAF after the First World War. Produced between 1924 and 1934 it entered into RAF service in 1925 and became the second longest serving (behind the Short Sunderland) and one of the most successful of the inter-war flying boats.

In an unusual move for the times, the Air Ministry ordered six Southamptons straight from the drawing board as the design had been based on the success of the experimental Supermarine Swan amphibious aircraft. So successful was the aircraft that a further twelve were ordered in July 1925.

The Southampton was a hugely successful aircraft for the RAF, the aircraft's main sponsor, and was used for reconnaissance duties and as a patrol aircraft. It became best known for a series of publicly lauded long-distance flights, the intention of which was partly 'flag waving' and partly for gaining valuable experience of flying boats in remote waters. The 1927 Far East Flight became known for the Southampton's display of its prodigious range and reliability.

The Southampton was a very successful series of flying boats with sales also being made to Argentina, Turkey and Japan almost doubling Supermarine's business in just a few years. A total of eighty-three of all types were built, all of which are revealed in this unrivalled collection of archive images, the majority of which, having been drawn from private collections, have not been published before.