The Supermarine Spitfire is perhaps the most famous British fighter of World War II. It was an all-metal aircraft with a low-slung wing, characteristic elliptical wings, a classic tail fin and retractable landing gear. The prototype flew on 5 March 1936. The Spitfire proved to be the main aircraft of the Royal Air Force during the war, continuing to operate successfully after the war, remaining in production for 10 years. The history of the Spitfire began on the drawing board of R. J. Mitchell, the lead designer of Supermarine. The first machines entered the RAF units in 1938, but when the Battle of Britain began in the summer of 1940, there were already 19 squadrons of modern fighters on the airfields - together with the slightly older Hurricanes of the Isles, 600 aircraft held the defense. As the war expanded, the Spitfire served wherever the Royal Air Force operated in the Far East, North Africa and Italy, during the Normandy landings and the fighting in France, and finally during the operation in Germany in 1945. For many Britons, it became a symbol of victory in the Second World War. This magnificent machine has at least a dozen production versions. The most important of them are, among others, the first production Spitfire Mk.I with a Rolls-Royce Merlin II engine with a capacity of 1030 hp. It was this machine that made such a remarkable contribution to the Battle of Britain. Many versions of this model were developed, including the PR Mk IA (reconnaissance version) or the PR.IG (armed reconnaissance version). Another interesting version was the Spitfire Mk.V with a Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 engine with a capacity of 1440 hp. Later, Merlin 50 engines were also assembled. Serial production of this version began in 1941 and was the Royal Air Force's response to the appearance of the Messerschmitt Bf-109F. Another very successful version was the Spitfire Mk.IX, equipped with a Merlin 61 engine and a 4-blade propeller.
