• A new addition in the Art & Memorabilia gallery is the latest drawing by Pavel Rampír from the Czech Republic. This one shows the Last The Last Flight of W/O Arnost Mrtvy of No. 313 (Czech) Squadron.
  

Labels: site updates

• A new set of images has been added in the Gallery section. It is a seletion of images from the 2008 Flying Legends show which took place last month in Duxford. Enjoy.

Labels: site updates, warbirds

• I'm particularly glad that my first full review is of a book which no doubt breaks some new ground in our collective state of knowledge about the Spitfire. Read more about Spitfire Mk. IX & XVI Engineered by Paul H. Monforton.
  

Labels: reviews, site updates

• New in the Scale Modelling section is a new 1/48 Spitfire Mk. Vb built from the immortal Tamiya kit. This one is modelled by Ken Gowans.
  

Labels: modelling, site updates

• A new addition to the Modelling section is Fabrice Fanton's Spitfire HF Mk. VI Conversion in 1/48 Scale - using Tamiya Spitfire and Pavla resin set.
  

Labels: modelling, site updates

• 2008 Airshow Season Underway. An inspirational collection of Spitfire images from various UK shows. Photography by Andrew G Leonard.
  

Labels: site updates, warbirds

A new photo gallery has been added to the site today.

• Shuttleworth Collection's AR501 is a collection of photographs depicting the Spitfire LF Mk. VC, AR501 NN-A, operated by the Shuttleworth Trust and a popular focal point of the collection's air displays at Old Warden. The images, which show both the aircraft and its various details, have been kindly provided by Mark Mills.
  

Labels: reference, site updates, warbirds

• A new article in History Articles is dedicated to Uncle Sam's Spitfires - Tom Cleaver's summary of the Spitfire's career in the USAAF service. Although the aircraft was never given a US designation, the USAAF used over 600 Spitfires during the war and it had a long and succesful service record with 31st and 52nd Fighter Groups.

Labels: history, site updates

• Mark Davies' presents an in-depth review of the allegedly ultimate 1/72 Spitfire kit - the Czech Master Resin 1/72 Spitfire LF Mk. IXE.
  
  
• We have also a Trumpeter Spitfire Mk. V in 1/24 scale Model by Darron Edwards.

Enjoy.

Labels: modelling, site updates

• Spitfire Mk. XVI at Flydagen Kjeller, 2008 - Swedish-owned RW386 phtographed at the air display in Norway

Labels: site updates, warbirds

• Among the History Articles, new additons are the two concluding parts of 1941: The Difficult Year - Day Air Operations by Fighter Command, November 1940 - December 1941, an account by Sholto Douglas, C-in-C of Fighter Command in the described period.
  
  
• New pair of models has been added in the Modelling section; both represent the Spitfire Prototype K5054, albeit in two different finishes. By Mark Davies.
  

Labels: history, modelling, site updates

• A new addition in History Articles is part 3 of AVM Sholto Douglas' report 1941: The Difficult Year. This part covers the first offensive operations (Rhubarbs and Circuses) of the RAF after the Battle of Britain.
  
  
• A new image has also been added in the Historic Photographs section. Clipped, cropped, clapped - YO-Q offers a picture and a story about an interesting Spitfire LF Mk. Vb.
  

Labels: history, site updates

• In many respects, 1941 was one of Fighter Command's most difficult years. Delpeted during the Battle of Britain and still the sole line of Britain's defence, the condition of RAF's fighter arm remained rather fragile throughout the year. Yet the command was ordered on the offensive with the limited means there were at hand.
  
  I'm pleased to introduce 1941: The Difficult Year, a report written by AVM Sholto Douglas, the Commander-in-Chief of the Fighter Command during that period, and one of the orchestrators of the Circus offensive. This detailed account brings to light the many factors governing the conduct and success of operations at the time.
  
  Today we're posting the first two parts of this feature, with parts 3..5 to follow soon.
  

Labels: history, site updates

• The Variants and Technology section was enhanced with two important reference features. A two-part Concise Guide To Spitfire Wing Types provides an overview of of the basic wing types of the Spitfire and the differences between them. Inherently related to Spitfire wing design is also The Hispano Cannon, the weapon which gave the aircraft the punch and a characteristic element of its silhouette.
  
  
• Four new colour profiles added during the month in Camouflage & Markings were NH550, in Royal Norwegian Service accompanied by another Norwegian Reconnaissance Spitfire, EP706 - The Malta Defender Spitfire Mk. Vc and "Bogle" Bodie and his Spitfire Mk. I, X4321.
  
  This adds up to six new reference articles, a good record indeed, with no less than three additional features currently waiting to be published.
  
  
• The pace in the History Articles section was rather more leisurely, with two articles added. Independent Air Force - Tracing the Origins of the RAF, an essay by Brett Holman and A Lifetime of Aviation, another essay by Martin Waligorski.
  
  This month I will be adding much more in this section, with five-part coverage of the 1941 Circus offensive as a main theme.
  
  
• Images added to the Historic Photographs section were: a portrait of Sqn/Ldr Jiří Maňák,
  photos of RAB Spitfire of W/Cdr Berg, UZ-Z of No. 306 Squadron, Northolt, Spitfire Mk. VII in the United States, launch of Operation Bowery and K5054 prototype prior to her maiden flight.
  


• The Video Section grew with just about as many videos, including the footage of Mark Hanna leading Spitfire formation display, Spitfire in IL2, Best of Chino's contraprop Spitfire Mk. XIX and Public debut of Seafire Mk. XVII SX336.
  
  
• The new Gallery Section, established at the beginning of the month, grew up rapidly and is already offering several hundred quality images. Collections added this month were: Spitfire Models by Tim Prosser, images from Old Warden 2007, The Joy of Flight Testing the Spitfire Mk. V BL628, Seafire Mk.XVII SX336, 90th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force, April 2008 celebration flypast over London, BBMF 50th Anniversary, 2007 and finally Ronnie Olsthoorn Photo Gallery with many beautiful Spitfire images.
  
  I'm happy that the technology behind the galleries worked out. Image collections I have been receiving from our visitors since last autumn can now finally be posted online and I will continue to do so during the months to come.
  
  
• Modellers have proven to be eager and knowledgeable supporters of this site. Their interest was demonstrated last month through a collection of 1/72 Spitfire Models by Tim Prosser , Spitfire in Saigon, a tribute to the Memory of A/C Paul Webb, Tamiya Spitfire Mk. V backdated to Mk. Ib, Kenley Wings beer-carrying Spitfire and another Malta Spitfire Mk. V.
  


• Another group which keeps giving this site a "push" are aviation artists; many new great pieces can be enjoyed in the Art & Memorabilia gallery and Pavel Rampír has been spoiling us with an entire series of drawings. Enjoy A portrait of Clive Caldwell, Spitfire Mk. VIII in Italy, "The Last", Chasing the V-1, "The CO's Query", Typhoon trouble, Beware of the low-flying Mosquitos, "Se va la Primera". For collectors, there was also a set of RAF 90th Anniversary poststamps.
  

Summarizing, it is apparent that April was one of the most fruitful months on the Spitfire Site so far. It is fantastic, and showed up well through the editorial workload - I had a hard time coping with all the material I've been receiving. I'd like to direct a warm thank you to everyone who contributed their work and material to make it happen. My apologies to those few who are still waiting to get their contributions published - none has been forgotten and they will appear online as soon as I can possibly manage.

The RAF Anniversary Festival will continue for some time to come, so please keep the articles and photos coming.

In the meantime, I'm into some serious programming trying to establish a discussion forum for all of us Spitfire buffs. I'll keep you posted.

Labels: history, modelling, reference, site updates, videos, warbirds, webmaster

Many thanks to all the contributors and please keep them comin'!

• In Historic Photographs, we celebrate two foreign personalities who served with the RAF, Czech Sqn/Ldr Jiří Maňák and Norwegian Rolf Arne Berg.
  
  
• Another great Spitfire pilot is commemorated in the Art & Memorabilia gallery through a portrait of Clive Caldwell, one more great submission by Pavel Rampír.
  


• In Scale Modelling, we have a photo gallery of Spitfire Models by Tim Prosser, now complete with sixty-five(!) 1/72 Spitfire and Seafire models presented in realistic settings and lifelike photography.
  
  
• Other models presented today are Spitfire in Saigon by Brian Ballew and a personal tribute to the memory of A/C Paul Webb by Chris Doherty.
  
  
• In Photo Galleries, there is another set of images from Old Warden 2007 air display season. Photography by Rover75.
  


• Looking into the Event Calendar clearly shows that the airshow season begins now, with many interesting events in the UK and France scheduled for May.

In all, this update includes 75 web pages, which together with the recent update of the IPMS Stockholm Magazine (also posted yesterday) is clearly a personal record. I hope that you will enjoy the results!

Labels: history, modelling, site updates, warbirds

• Spitfire Mk. VIII in Italy, a new pencil drawing by Pavel Rampir.
  
  
• Not a new addition, but one item to which I would like to draw your attention again, is this photo of No. 306 Squadron Spitfire Mk. IX. The new element is the excessive commentary added by an anonymous visitor. I once wrote that I'd like every picture in the Historic Photos gallery to tell a story, and this is a great example of how much can be achieved with a common effort. Thanks everyone who have added their comments to various photos so far.

It is also the Polish pilot's names in the above article that prompted me to work with the first technical issue during the weekend. With the default character set (Western European) hitherto used on this site, some of these peculiar Polish letters were not supported, refusing to show up correctly in the browser. The solution was converting the entire side to Unicode (UTF-8) standard, and this has been done during an evening's work. Now, there's no more guessing about the name of Żulikowski - well, maybe the pronunciation, but not the spelling :)

This addition and some of the email I've been receiving recently also show that there's a need for a discussion forum on this site. I have spent some time reviewing the available software for this purpose. There's plenty of sophisticated shrink-wrap bulletin board solutions available these days, but to begin with and test the feasibility of the idea, I'd rather have something more simplistic and easily accessible for the users. Thus we will start with a simple discussion forum, eventually dressing it up in features or converting to full BB standard as future interest grows. I think I have now an outline of suitable design, and should be able to set up a forum feature in a week or two.

Lastly, there have been issues with a commenting feature of the blog posts. Several users have pointed out that this function is not as easy to use as one might expect. It is hard for me to pinpoint exactly what the problems are, but the fact remains that the user interface for signing one's entry is unnecessarily confusing. This is enough for me to start looking for alternative solutions. This, however, will be my second priority after the discussion forum.

Labels: site updates, webmaster

• Backdating Tamiya Spitfire Mk. V to Mk. Ib is the subject of this short feature by Tolga Ulgur. Tolga used Ultracast resin accessories for this neat conversion.

Labels: modelling, site updates

• New in Historic Photographs section is the nice photo of Spitfire Mk. IX, UZ-Z of No. 306 Squadron phtotographed in Northolt.
  
  
• Another photograph today shows Spitfire Mk. VII in the United States. This aircraft should be well known to those who visited mithsoniat Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

Labels: history, site updates

• The launch of Operation Bowery
  
  
• K5054 prototype prior to maiden flight
  

Also, if you enjoy plastic models, here's one surfing tip not to be missed. Spitfire is the current theme on one of Hyperscale's Theme Pics forum. Visitors of that prolific modelling site have been invited to post photos of their Spitfire models, and there is plenty of them to see!

Labels: history, modelling, site updates

• The Joy of Flight Testing is a pictorial story of a successful conclusion to the restoration of Spitfire Mk. V BL628, documented by Andy Hosking.

Labels: site updates, warbirds

• A new gallery for today is devoted to Seafire Mk.XVII SX336, a unique airworthy Griffon-powered Seafire. Photography by Mark Mills.
  
  
• I have also reworked two previous galleries to increase the picture size: BBMF 50th Anniversary, 2007 and Ronnie Olsthoorn Photo Gallery. I'm pleased with the result and think that both these galleries are well worth a second look.

Enjoy.

Labels: site updates, warbirds, webmaster

• Five new items have been added in the Art & Memorabilia gallery. First to go is Chasing the V-1, a dynamic scene showing a duel between the Sptifire Mk. XIV and a buzz bomb.
  
  
• "The CO's Query" commemorates No. 32 Squadron's role in Greece, and the tradition of using "?" instead of an aircraft identification letter.
  
  
• Typhoon trouble - the Tiffy, a forced landing and a rather fortunate pilot.
  
  
• Beware of the low-flying Mosquitos - beating up an airfield with two Merlins.
  
  
• "The Last" is a portrait of the final production PR Spitfire, the Mk. XIX.

Labels: site updates

• Preparing yesterday's addition in the Variants & Technology section about the Spitfire wing types, I noticed that I could fairly easily add another short pictorial about the Spitfire's main armament, the Hispano Cannon - so I here it is.
  
  
• Also, I have added another excellent profile artwork of Olve Dybvig, showing NH550 in Royal Norwegian Service. Post-war Norwegian fighter units retained living connection with their wartime history and the RAF.

I'm happy to see that contributions from the readers keep flowing in, but we'd like to see even more, so don't hesitate!

Labels: history, reference, site updates

• A new addition in the Variants & Technology section is a two-part Concise Guide To Spitfire Wing Types. A well-researched piece of writing by Jeff Web coupled with digitized copies of old maintenance manuals creates a commendable piece of reference. Highly recommended to modellers!
  
  
  
• Our Video collection has been enriched with three new clips:
  
  
  
  • Mark Hanna leads Spitfire formation display
  
  
  • Spitfire in IL2
  
  
  • Best of Chino's contraprop Spitfire Mk. XIX



• Last but not least, "Se va la Primera" a fantastic new painting by Vladimir Urbanek, in the new addition in Art & Memorabilia gallery.

Keep them coming!

Labels: reference, site updates, videos, warbirds

• The story of Norwegian Reconnaissance Spitfires is described and exemplified by the colour artwork kindly submitted by Olve Dybvig.

Labels: history, reference, site updates

• Two new additions in the Camouflage & Markings section are colour profiles of EP706 - The Malta Defender and Battle of Britain Spitfire Mk. I, X4321.
  
  
• In the Video section, we have a new clip showing the recently restored Seafire Mk. XVII SX336.
  
  
• We have also two new Spitfire models for your viewing pleasure today: Kenley Wings by Hans-Peter Tschanz and Malta Spitfire Mk. V by Charlie Wall.
  

Labels: modelling, reference, site updates, videos

What is the RAF 90th Anniversary Festival?

Simply speaking, we're aimig at creating a broad collection of articles, memories, photographs, documents, drawings, art and other material connected to the Royal Air Force and its long history. It is our hope that it can be developed by collective voluntary effort, whereupon visitors, friendly bloggers and webmasters submit any suitable material and the Spitfire Site acts as host, putting it all together.

The history of the Royal Air Force suggests different things to different people, so this festival aims to be as inclusive as possible. This means that we'll accept anything fitting into its main subject, not only the Spitfire, Fighter Command or World War II.

The festival means that material can be submitted by anyone - meaning you, the readers.

What kind of submissions are we looking for?
- Articles, essays or other forms of writing
- Photographs, individual or collections
- Personal recollections or experiences of your relatives / friends
- Documents, letters etc.
- Drawings, artwork
- Photos of collectibles
- Scale models
- Book & movie reviews

If your material has already been published elsewhere on the web, don't worry. We will still gladly post it here to make the collection available in one place. Should you prefer to link to your original page or site, we can do that, too. Naturally, all sources will be properly credited.

It’s a good way of creating a sense of community around RAF history, cross-promoting good resources on the web and offering future readers the best material on this worthy topic.

The festival is planned to last until May or June 2008, depending on the scale of public response.

Please help us to spread the news about RAF 90th Anniversary Festival on your favourite discussion forums, blogs and sites around the web. It will help us greatly to succeed with our aim. Thank you!

All submissions should be directed to

• In history articles, Brett Holman traces the origins of the birth of RAF as the Independent Air Force.
  
  
• Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding is the subject of our second article today. A Lifetime of Aviation describes the very beginnings of his aviation career and reflects upon the development witnessed by Dowding during his military career. By Martin Waligorski.
  
  
• In Photo Galleries you can find a collection of stunning photographs from the BBMF 50th Anniversary air display at Duxford, 5 May 2007. By Rover75.
  
  
• Spitfire images by Ronnie Olsthoorn is our second gallery entry in this update, with many stunning images.

Enjoy.

Labels: history, site updates, webmaster

Thank you for a fine and informative website. We particularly enjoyed the video section.

But no music !

Please have a listen to our song : " Mr Mitchell's Angel" - a tribute to the Spitfire, to those who built it, to those who flew in it, and above all to its creator, RJ Mitchell.

Ivor & Kevan Bundell

• Ivor & Kevan Bundell - "Mr. Mitchell's Angel", available for online listening as well as MP3 download.
  
  
• We have also four great new Spitfire movie clips in the Video section:
  • Spitfire Tribute
    
  • Merlin Sounds over Beachy Head
    
  • Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in Formation
    
  • Tribute to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

Labels: site updates, warbirds

• If you're interested in RAF history of the World War II period, you should have heard about Sutton harness. But what exactly was the Sutton harness, and how did it work? Olav Hungnes provides an explanation in his article The Sutton Harness on the Spitfire.

Labels: reference, site updates

• In the Articles section, a report about the most recent Spitfire excavation undertaken this month in County Durham in North-East England. Spitfire Emerges From its Peat Bog Grave - About Spitfire Mk. II P8563. Written by Elfrieda Waren (welcome onborad, Elfrieda!).
  


• The Historic Photographs section has been enhanced with a set of photographs entitled Homecoming, showing the arrival of No. 312 (Czechosolovak) Squadron in Czechoslovakia after VE-day.

Labels: history, site updates

• First of all, there is a new section - Event Calendar. My intention is to share and spread information about the events interesting for a Spitfire enthusiast: airshows, exhibitions, modelling contests, meetings, museum events. To start with, I have assembled a list of this year's airshows which offer a chance to see a Spitfire in the air, in UK and worldwide.
  
  If you want any other event to be included, do not hesitate to email me, stating the name, time, location and short description of the event and I will add it to the calendar.
  
  
• Today there are also three new additions in our Art & Memorabilia gallery. Spitfire artwork of Pavel Rampir, "Spitfires over Darwin" by Noel Barnes and "Eagles Above Dieppe" by Vladimir Urbanek. Pavel Rampir is a debuting contributor to this site and we're glad to have him onboard.
  
  
• I have also reviewed the previous article Jungle Survivor - A Spitfire Pilot's Escape from Japanese-Occupied Borneo, adding new quotes and some additional clarifications in the initial part of the text. If you haven't read this feature before, now is the perfect time to do it.
  

Labels: history, site updates

• I'm glad to be able to deliver the second rather sizable addition for this week. Considering the subject of our site, it was inevitable that we would include a story about Reginald J. Mitchell, the engineering genius behind the Spitfire. Personally I'm not very fond of formal "encyclopedia-style" biographies, so I'm particularly glad to present John Dell's essay which takes on a rather personal view of Mitchell's life and achievements. Enjoy his two-part story Mr. Mitchell, Designer of the Spitfire - In Memory of a Brilliant Mind in the Articles section
  
  
• In Modelling, we have a beautiful 1/32 Spitfire Mk.II "Borough of Lambeth" modelled by Hans-Peter Tschanz from Switzerland.

Another new occurrence on the site, introduced yesterday, are commercial ads. Why ads? Well, it is my long-term objective to support - wholly or partially - the cost of the site's operation with ads, and today I'm taking the first step in this direction. I'm not hoping to get a profit - considering the amount of man-hours I'm currently putting into it - but perhaps be able to expand the site with photo galleries, forum and other interactive features, many of which require more sophisticated hosting, more bandwidth or additional software. Time permitting, there's so much more I would like to add.

In this initial period, I will be trying Google textual ads to see how they will perform. Obviously I would like the ads to be relevant to the interests of our visitors. With the Google system, the ads are supposed to be matched automatically with the subject of each page. I understand that it may take one or two weeks for the Google system to "learn" which ads are the right ones, so I'm eager to see how good the results will be.

I hope you will find the ads a meaningful addition to the Spitfire Site.

Labels: history, modelling, site updates, webmaster

• Entitled Spitfire Mk. IX, XI and XVI - Variants Much Varied, Olav's three-part feature analyses all the bumps, blisters and other modifications introduced to the Spitfire Mk. IX/XVI during its long production run.
  


• It's been a while we had a new model on these pages, so I'm pleased to announce the excellent 1/32 Spitfire Mk.II conversion submitted by Swiss modeller Hans-Peter Tschanz.
  

Labels: modelling, reference, site updates

• A new image has been added in Historic Photographs section. This is one of the series showing early Spitfires of No. 611 Squadron at Biggin Hill in December 1942.
  


• New video in the Video Section is the computer animation showing the Spitfire Mk. I cockpit. The level of detail and accuracy in this one is such as to be sufficient to serve as modellers' reference.
  

I have also started a new section of the site, Variants & Technology. Articles in this category will be devoted to the variants of the Spitfire, it's construction and design. I am currently working on preparing the first features and will announce them as soon as they're ready.

Labels: history, site updates, videos

• Jean-Marc Berthe presents colour views of arguably the most important Spitfire of them all - the K5054 prototype.
  
  

On the subject of the Spitfire prototype, a site well worth visiting is www.k5054.com. As name implies, this is site devoted entirely to the Type 300 Prototype K5054, and the initial Spitfire production that followed. Well worth your surfing time.

I'll be away travelling next week and probably away from this blog. I'm looking forward to adding more features when I'm back, maybe including that vast library of walkaround photos that are waiting in my editorial pipeline. See you then.

Labels: history, site updates

• A new two-part article in the History section is entitled Jungle Survivor - A Spitfire Pilot's Escape from Japanese-Occupied Borneo. The article tells the story of F/O Fred Inger, pilot of No. 457 "Grey Nurse" Squadron RAAF, who had to bail out over Borneo and managed to escape back to his unit.
  
  
• A review of Spitfire-related aviation art in the Art & Memorabilia gallery continues. Two new paintings added today are Stanislav Fejfar's Spitfire Mk. VB and Sqn/Ldr McKay's Spitfire Mk. VIII - by Vladimir Urbanek and Noel Barnes respectively.
  
  
• Readers' comments pour now at a steady pace in the Historic Photographs section. Prompted by one of these posts, I have further researched and revised the text accompanying the image of Enigma Bare-metal Spitfire, and I think I'm closer to the definitive description of this aricraft.

Labels: history, site updates

• A new article in the History section is How Blitzkrieg Became the Blitz. Perhaps not strictly about Fighter Command ot the Spitfire, i feel that this essay by Brett Holman is relevant to the overall subject of this site.
  


• In Videos, we have two new clips provided by Stewart Hecht, showing two Canada-based Spitfires filmed during the 2007 Geneseo Air Show.
  

Labels: history, site updates, warbirds

• In Historic Photographs, we have a pair of photographs showing an interesting aerobatics display Spitfire from Czechoslovakia. Readers will note that we're looking for more specific information about this aircraft and its use.
  


• Nostalgia attack awaits in the Video Section - how about watching Spitfires flying to the music of Vera Lynn's The White Cliffs of Dover? Guaranteed to bring the mood of the past years.
  


• New contributions in the Art & Memorabilia gallery have been kindly provided by aviation artists Troy White and Vladimir Urbanek. There are six works in all:
• Skalski's Circus
• "Tiger's Strike"
• "Eagles"
• "Entrevero Total"
• "One Hawk Breaks Up Many Crows"
• "Moesi Illir"
  
  
• Last but not least, we have two new models on display in Scale Modelling section. Both are Tamiya kits: Spitfire PR Mk. IF conversion by Fabrice Fanton and Yellow Nose QV-K modelled by Charlie Whall.

Labels: history, modelling, site updates, warbirds

• Building Xtrakit Spitfire Mk. XII is a pictorial review of this newest injection-moulded 1/72 Spitfire kit. Presented by Magnus Fridsell.
  

I'd like to add a few words about the background of today's addition. Last week I had a pleasure of meeting my Internet friends - two visitors from Norway, Nils and Mats and my modelling club colleague and IPMS co-editor Magnus. Nils and Mats were on the week's visit to Stockholm for archive research.

I have known Nils as a prolific modeller, aviation writer and the founder of Vingtor Decals. Although we had been occasionally corresponding for many years, we haven't previously had the opportunity to meet in person.

Nils is doing a research on courier connections between Britain and Sweden during the war, while Mats was searching for archive material on Junkers Ju 52 use in Scandinavia for a forthcoming Vingtor book. It is always equally surprising to me to see how aviation enthusiasts find plenty to talk about already during their first meeting. This occasion was no exception. It's been a long and very enjoyable evening with Italian dinner and many discussions. I have learned a lot of practical things for my own book project which I will put to good use.

I'm also sure that the results of this meeting will, in one way or another, affect this site. I have already received some interesting information to add the finishing touches to the Rolf Arne Berg article from few days ago. Other submissions from Norway are on my to-do list. And I'm glad to have Magnus newest creation, the Xtrakit Spitfire Mk. XII presented so throroughly on these pages.

Labels: modelling, site updates

• A new image in Historic Photographs section with another great example of hand-painted D-Day stripes is the one showing Spitfire spotters of the US Navy.
  


• I have also added an article by STeven D. Hill telling the history of VCS-7, the only US Navy unit operating Spitfires during the war. Entitled Spitfires of the US Navy, it is available in Articles.
  

Labels: history, site updates

• In Camouflage & Markings, we have a portrait of one of the most colourful Spitfires to be flown in the ETO after D-Day - personal aircraft of Norwegian W/Cdr Rolf Arne Berg.
  


• Today we have also have an addition in Art & Memorabilia gallery. Its a sculpture to be installed at Rolls-Royce factory in Bristol, symbolising both the Merlin and the Spitfire.

The latter sculpture together with other recent works of the same artist can also be seen at Messum’s Fine Art gallery, London, starting on Wednesday 6th February. The exhibition will last until 1st March.

Labels: history, site updates

• The fifth and concluding part of the series Battle of Britain in the Words of Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding. This part describes the various measures undertaken by Fighter Command Headquarters to cope with the shortage of trained fighter pilots.
  
  
• Two new additions have been made also in the Historic Photographs section. These include images of the famous sharkmouth RAAF Spitfires on Morotai.

We have also a technical problem which appeared yesterday. Due to some service interruption on Blogger's side, the label metafeeds are no longer available. In ordinary terms this means that the Historic Photographs, Video and Art & Memorabilia sections cannot be browsed by category at the moment. New additions, however, are available as usual. I'm working on the solution.

Labels: site updates, webmaster