Numeracy: Team Spitfire! Working Scientifically

Welcome to Imperial War Museums. My name is Ngaire, and part of my job is making sure the wonderful collections here at the museum get out from our galleries to you. So here at IWM, we have millions of objects which help us to learn about people's lives in times of conflict. Some of these objects are very small, like this First World War medal, while some of our biggest objects are aircraft.  

The first powered aeroplane was flown in 1903 by the Wright brothers in America. A piece of fabric from the original wing coverings of the Wright Flyer can be seen at IWM Duxford. After their maiden flight, several people around the world started developing aircraft design and just seven years after the first flight by the Wright brothers one aeroplane successfully flew across the English Channel in 1909.  

During the First World War fought between 1914 to 1918, aeroplanes were used for reconnaissance which means that pilots flew their planes over enemy sites to report the enemy's positions. Planes were also used for fighting and bombing and you can learn more about the First World War in the air by visiting some of our other resources on the learning pages of our website.  

So, airplane design developed very quickly and by the start of the Second World War in 1939 less than 40 years after the first flight by the Wright brothers there were many different types of aeroplanes designed to carry out different types of warfare. One of the Second World War’s most famous fighter planes was the Spitfire.  

Developed by the British and used by the Royal Air Force, the Spitfire was a small highly manoeuvrable aeroplane. Both exceedingly fast and agile it had one seat and as a fighter aircraft it was fitted with machine guns in its wings for shooting down enemy aircraft in the skies. The Spitfire was very important in the battle of Britain and its design continued to be developed during the Second World War to make it even faster and better.  

The Spitfire had a very powerful engine which is one of the reasons it could fly so fast, but the plane also used a special American fuel which gave it even more power in the air. This extra speed was crucial to the Spitfire outperforming the German fighter planes during the Battle of Britain which started in July 1940 and lasted for three months until hard-fought victory came in October 1940.  

Here at Imperial War Museums London, we have this Spitfire hanging from the ceiling, but we also have our very own fully airborne Second World War Spitfire. It's known as Spitfire N3200. The numbers are its own unique serial number, and every Spitfire has its own serial number. It's based at IWM Duxford in Cambridgeshire which used to be RAF Duxford. It was actually the very first Royal Air Force base to have Spitfires. Spitfire N3200 has a remarkable story which I think you'll find fascinating. 

John Delaney [Head, Second World War and mid 20th Century Conflict]: The aircraft behind me is a Spitfire 1A which is the only flying exhibit owned and operated by the Imperial War Museums.  

This is a Spitfire which is an eight-gun Browning version which is the mainstay Spitfire aircraft of that period. It was flown by squadron leader Jeffrey Stevenson who was the squadron leader of 19 Squadron at the time and unfortunately flew it on its one and only mission and was shot down and crash landed on the beach at Sangatte near Calais as part of the Operation Dynamo Dunkirk evacuation. The letters on the fuselage ‘QV’ relate to 19 Squadron which is the squadron based out of Duxford in fact this very aircraft flew from this very hangar on the day it was lost.  

After the aircraft was shot down and crash landed on the beach at Sangatte it became something of a tourist attraction for the German soldiers in the area and they all used to go along and have their photographs taken with it crashed on the beach and inevitably they would take a souvenir i.e. part of the aircraft they'd take away with them as a souvenir on the day and as the war went on more and more of the aircraft went missing and the remaining superstructure and the engine and the cockpit section sank underneath the beach and remained there until 1986 when it was recovered it was brought back to the United Kingdom in 2000 and it took fourteen years almost to the day for it to be restored back to flying condition. It flew again in March 2014. 

This is one of only four flying Spitfire 1A's left in the world of the Battle of France/Battle of Britain era so it's very important and gives a real sense of what an aircraft looked like and sounded like when it was flying. And this one regularly flies out of Duxford on Air Show days to demonstrate to the public the sounds of a Spitfire flying over your head in the Battle of Britain.  

Ngaire: Thanks John, that really is an incredible story and it's amazing to see those old photographs of N3200 after it crashed on the beach. It really demonstrates how important science and engineering skills are especially when restoring pieces of history.  

As John mentioned, nowadays the Spitfire is a popular attraction at Air Shows right across the world because of its speed and agility. It can do all sorts of stunts and people love to watch it fly. Certainly, at IWM's very own Air Show at Duxford, the Spitfire display is one of the main events.  

So, what's our challenge to you? Well, Anna Walker is a pilot who owns her very own aeroplanes. She wants you to imagine that you are the ground crew of a Spitfire display team. You have been asked to plan a stunt flight display. Everything you need, from working out what manoeuvres you'll do to how much fuel you'll need is on the downloadable worksheet.  

Make sure you get that pilot safely back on the ground again. Good luck team Spitfire. Chocks away!