Spitfire display scheduled to take place in Yorkshire this weekend - location and timing details
A Spitfire display is scheduled to take place in North Yorkshire this weekend.
The Real Aeroplane Club said that Supermarine Spitfire EE602 will be displaying alongside the Normandy Spitfire at Breighton Airfield’s 1940s Weekend ‘G for George’ on Saturday 15 August.
The Spitfire display has an approximate time of 5pm (subject to weather and serviceability).
Role and history of the Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire was critical in defeating Luftwaffe air attacks during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The RAF says more Spitfires were built than any other British combat aircraft before or since World War Two - 20,341 in total.
A prototype Spitfire featured at the 1936 RAF Display at Hendon, but production Spitfires did not enter service until August 1938. By the outbreak of war, a year later, nine squadrons were equipped. By July 1940, RAF Fighter Command had nineteen Spitfire MkI squadrons available.
The RAF writes that the Spitfire MkI proved to be the only British fighter capable of meeting the Messerschmitt Bf109E on equal terms.
Further improvements in performance were made by fitting new type propellers, known as constant speed units, and modifying the Merlin engine to run on 100 octane fuel.