The Spitfire Site - Art & Memorabilia

Spitfire memorial, Northolt

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:19:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

The unveiling of a 1/4 scale Spitfire memorial intended as a tribute to Polish fighter pilots stationed at Northolt during World War II. The location is the Orchard Inn in Ruislip.

During the years 1940-1943, Northolt became home to many Polish fighter squadrons. Polish flying personnel quickly selected the Orchard Inn as their favourite, frequenting it to such a degree that the owner had a sign put up over the counter stating briefly but informatively: ENGLISH SPOKEN.

The people on the photo are the late Sqn/Ldr 'Tad' Andersz and Mike Booth of Flying Legends, who produced the Spitfire in the background, finished as Polish Spitfire Mk. VB. The event took place on 30 October 2007; sadly, the 90yr old Tad sadly passed away one month after this picture was taken.

[Mike Booth]

Propeller mystery

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:36:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

I recently received this photo of a damaged propeller blade from Joop Thuring living in the Netherlands, accompanied by the following letter:

I received this relic a couple of years ago this relic from family members of a local farmer.
They disclosed to me the following. Their farm was located in the vicinity of B.88 airfield in Heesch (the Netherlands). Early in 1945, an Allied fighter crash-landed on their farmland. The same day the aircraft had been removed by an Allied team, which arrived at the spot with some heavy equipment including a crane. No pilot was seen by the locals. The accident occurred at the end of the winter weather of 1945. They have since associated this relic with this incident.
In my humble opinion, the depicted item is characteristic propeller blade - although badly damaged - from a Spitfire. Most likely Mk. IX, but other marks or types cannot be excluded.

Can somebody among the Spitfire experts audience decipher and explain the incomplete code stencilled as can be seen on this picture.

Thank you,
Joop Thuring, B.88 HEESCH, c.q. 126 RCAF (Spitfire)Wing promotor.

"Safe Return"

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:49:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

"Safe Return" is the title of this drawing contributed by Polish artist Radek Jurczyk. The image shows a pair of Spitfires Mk. V of No. 315 (Polish) Squadron.

Pencil on cardboard.
[Radek Jurczyk, used by permission of the artist]

The Great Siblings

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 08:19:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

Our frequent contributor, aviation artist Vladimir Urbanek from the Czech republic sent us this brand-new playful rendition of two great British designs - the Supermarine Spitfire captured overflying its younger namesake, Triumph Spitfire Mk. 3. The RAF camouflage finish on the car was actually used by Triumph in their 1970 advertising campaign.

Pencil on cardboard. The artist's website is available at http://www.multiweb.cz/czfighters/
[Vladimir Urbanek, used by permission of the artist]

"Come and Get Me"

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 08:02:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

"Come and Get Me" is the title of this latest work by Herman Veltorp of the Netherlands. The composition shows a pair of German Messerschmitt Bf 109s climbing in pursuit of a lone Spitfire at altitude.

Airbrush on canvas. The artist's website is available at http://www.airbrushpower.nl/.
[Herman Veltorp, used by permission of the artist]

Memory of Alex Henshaw

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

As famous air-racer and holder of a London-Cape Town record, Alex Henshaw was a celebrity already before World War II. However, he is best remembered today as chief production test pilot for the Castle Bromwich Spitfire factory. In this role, he probably test-flew more Spitfires than anyone else. His aerobatics at ground level were legendary. Also, he was lucky to survive many forced landings and a catastrophic crash in the course of his work.

Alex died on 24 February 2007. Presented here is the commemorative card with his photo in the Spitfire cockpit - at CBAF and 60 years later, in a preserved Spitfire. Signed by himself and kept as memorabilia by Mr. Steve McGregor from Australia.
[Steve McGregor]

Penny Spitfire

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:34:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

The tiny brooch models of aircraft, made from pre-decimal pennies, were commonly seen as gifts hand-crafted by RAF ground crews for their girlfriends, wives or mothers during World War II. The Spitfire was an obvious choice of shape for this jewellery.

This sample has been photographed at Cosford Air Museum.
[Martin Waligorski]

"Evening Victory"

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:30:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

On 16th June 1942, white section of No. 310 Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron RAF with F/Sgt K. Mlejnecky, Sgt K. Janata, F/Sgt L. Srom and Sgt J.Chlup, conducting a convoy partol, intercepted the enemy Junkers Ju-88 (4U+?L) from 3. Staffel/Aufklärungsgruppe 123 in the last hour of daylight (around 10:30 pm double Summer time) near Bridport, Dorset.

"NN-D" was the aircraft of Sgt Janata. The moment has been captured in this new painting by Vladimir Urbanek.

Oil on canvas. The artist's website is available at http://www.multiweb.cz/czfighters/
[Vladimir Urbanek, used by permission of the artist]

Canadians with the 2nd TAF

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:29:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

The newest Spitfire drawing by prolific aviation illustrator Mr. Pavel Rampír from Czech Republic is this scene, showing a Canadian Spitfire LF Mk. IX of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, under attention of the ground personnel.

Pavel Rampír's website is available at: http://www.aircraft.flying.to/
[Pavel Rampír, used by permission of the artist]

Clipped-wing Mk. VB

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:14:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

Another artwork by Pavel Rampír, Czech aviation artist and illustrator of the Revi aviation journal. This pencil drawing depicts a clipped-wing Spitfire Mk.Vb EP644 RY-S of No. 313 (Czechoslovak) Squadron, refuelling and re-arming in the hands of ground crew at Churchstanton, May 1943.

Pavel's website is available at: http://www.aircraft.flying.to/
[Pavel Rampír, used by permission of the artist]

Galland

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

Argentinean artist Piedro Chiappe from Buenos Aires sent us this page from his sketchbook, showing Adolf Galland's Bf 109E in combat with RAF Spitfires over England.

Ink pen on paper.
[Piedro Chiappe, used by permission of the artist]

Lethal Dance

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:34:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

Here is the newest airbrushed piece by Herman Veltorp, entitled "Lethal Dance". The scene depicts Fw Ernst Arnold of 3/JG27 in his Bf109E mixing with with F/O Brian Carbury Spitfire of No. 603 Sqn in August 1940.

Airbrush on canvas, 40 x 80 cm. Herman Veltrop's website is available at http://www.airbrushpower.nl/.
[Herman Veltrop, used by permission of the artist]

Detail of the painting

Last Moment of Wing Commander

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:26:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

Another pencil drawing by Czech aviation artist Pavel Rampír. This scene shows the last moments of Wing Commander Alois Vašátko, an accomplished pilot and a commander of the Czechoslovak Fighter Wing in the RAF. On that June day in 1942, he was returning from a mission over France when unexpectedly, his aircraft was jumped near the English coast by a lone Focke-Wulf Fw 190. In a violent break, Vašátko's Spitfire and the German aircraft collided. Both fell into the sea. Amos did not survive.

The DFC had been awarded to him, tragically, on the very same day that he died.

Vašátko's Spitfire MK. Vb carried his initials "AV".

Pavel Rampír is also an illustrator of the Revi aviation journal. His website is available at: http://www.aircraft.flying.to/
[Pavel Rampír, used by permission of the artist]

Memory of the Spitfire Funds in India

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:28:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

Traces of the Spitfire Funds reach as far away as India. Gautham Venugopalan sent us the image of this commemorative plate which he found in the Western Railway headquarters in Bombay. The plate was funded by the Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1940 as a token of gratitude for the received donations.

The inscription reads:

IN THE HOUR OF PERIL
BOMBAY & BARODA CENTRAL
INDIA RAILWAY CO.
EARNED THE GRATITUDE
OF THE BRITISH NATIONS
SUSTAINING THE VALOUR OF
THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
AND FORTIFYING THE CAUSE
OF FREEDOM
BY THE GIFT OF
FIGHTER AIRCRAFT

[Gautham Venugopalan]

Blue Skies Over Darwin

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:29:00 +0000

<
Click on the image to enlarge

"Blue Skies Over Darwin" is the title of this painting by Troy White, showing an RAAF Spitfire Mk. VIII in full glory over the blue Australian coast.

Notably, this is not just any Spitfire, but A58-484 flown by W/Cdr Clive R. Caldwell. Caldwell was the highest scoring Australian fihter pilot of WWII; his awards include the DSO, DFC & Bar and the Polish Cross of Valour.

http://www.starduststudios.com/
[Troy White, used by permisison of the artist]

Red Nose

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:07:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

Australian artist Noel Barnes sent us this image of his newest work, a portrait of Spitfire Mk. VIII Mt928 as flown by Sqn/Ldr McKay, CO of No. 145 Squadron. McKay piloted ZX-M during the Italian campaign of 1944.

The painting has been comissioned by the family of the pilot and is the second painting of ZX-M created by Noel.

The artist's website is available at www.noelbarnes.net.
[Noel Barnes, used by permission of the artist]

McLaren Spitfire

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:50:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

Among the more unusual products influenced by Spitfire's lasting popularity is this, the McLaren Spitfire baby buggy. It was launched in 2008 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Spitfire first going into service.

Owen Maclaren, the founder of McLaren company, was the inventor of the lightweight baby buggy in 1965 but he also had a strong conneciton to aviation, as a test pilot and aeronautical engineer. Among his achievements was the design of the Supermarine Spitfire undercarriage.

Fittingly, the new McLaren product had its official premiere at RAF Duxford, where visiting families were provided with a free Spitfire buggy loan for the day. Information on the achievements of Owen Maclaren and his link to aviation were also a subject of a special exhibition at the museum.

Mecha Spitfire

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:44:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

In Japanese usage, the word Mecha can refer to any kind of mechanical device such as a gun or a robot. In the world of anime and science fiction, this word has made international career as a general designation of fantasy war machines approximating the shape of a human body. The genre is broad: if it is fun, robotic and has the imaginative nature of working technology not yet in existence, it's Mecha.

Mecha Musume is the term coined by Humikane Shimada for designs that combine anime girls and military hardware. They commonly feature cat-ears, and rarely (if ever) pants. This one clearly brings associations with the Spitfire.

It's just one more of these random design concepts from Japan that proves something doesn't need to make sense to look good. I like it. Do you?

Check out more interesting toy mashups by Don Solo on Flickr.
[Don Solo, via Creative Commons license]

Tribute to Pete Brothers

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:18:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

The new airbrushed piece by Herman Veltorp of the Netherlands is a tribute to the late Peter Brothers with a "missing man formation" of three preserved Spitfires. Air Commodore 'Pete' Brothers, CBE, DSO, DFC & Bar was one of the prominent RAF fighter aces of the war, scoring a total of 16 kills, 10 of which were during the Battle of Britain.

Brothers first saw action during the Battle of Britain as a flight commander in No 32. Squadron based at Biggin Hill, flying Hurricanes. By the end of August 1940, he was officially recognised as an ace, having shot down eight enemy aircraft. In Spetember of that year, he was transferred to No. 257 Squadron, also at Biggin Hill. Next posting came in 1941 as CO of No. 457 Squadron RAAF. Soon afterwards, Brothers and his unit converted to Spitfires. In October 1942, he took command of the Tangmere Wing.

In 1944 Brothers took command of the Exeter Wing, leading his six squadrons on attacks against transportation targets and enemy airfields on the Brest peninsula and in Normandy. Heavily involved in the lead-up to the Allied invasion in June 1944, his squadrons operated in support of the beachhead. On August 7, 1944 he achieved his sixteenth and final success when he shot down a Focke Wulf 190 over the river Loire.

By 1945, he had flown 875 operational hours and was credited with having shot down 16 enemy aircraft and damaged many more.

Late in his life Pete Brothers became the Chairman of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association. He died, aged 91, on 18 December 2008.

Airbrush on canvas, 60 x 100 cm. Herman Veltrop's website is abailable at www.airbrushpower.nl.
[Herman Veltrop, used by permission of the artist]

ML407 The Grace Spitfire

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:01:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

New contribution from the Dutch airbrush artist Herman Veltrop is this piece presenting the well-known preserved Grace Spitfire, double-seater Mk. IX serial no. ML407. The artwork is airbrush on canvas, 120 x 60 cm.

ML407 was originally built at Castle Bromwich in early 1944 as a single seat fighter and served in the frontline units during the last months of WWII with six different Squadrons of the RAF's 2nd TAF. After the war, it was converted in 1950 to the 2-seat trainer configuration by Supermarine at Southampton for the Irish Air Corps where she flew until 1960. Acquired by engineer Nick Grace in 1979, it was restored to flying condition and remained in posession of the Grace family ever since.

The artist's site is available at www.airbrushpower.nl.
[Herman Veltrop, used with permission of the artist]

Signed by Alex Henshaw

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:21:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

Barry Gillingwater has submitted the image of this collectible. Quoting the owner's description:

"I have included a photo that I think should grace a site dedicated to the Spitfire. It is a print I obtained from the Vickers archives in the mid-60's (I have been collecting wartime aircraft photos since my teenage years). It is a very well-known shot of a Griffon-engined beastie and really emphasises what lovely lines the Spit has. In the late 80's I took it along to an evening held in our New Zealand Warbirds hangar at Ardmore aerodrome, South of Auckland. That night Alex Henshaw gave us all a wonderful talk of his days competing in the early air races and testing the Spitfire. We didn't have a Spitfire at Ardmore back then but we placed the speaker platform in front of the nearest thing we had, which was a P51. At the end of the evening he very kindly autographed this photo for me."

Alex Henshaw was a reknown pre-war air racer and a chief test pilot for the Castle Bromwich Spitfire factory during the Second World War.
[Barry Gillingwater]

Tally Ho!

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:34:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

Another submission by Herman Veltrop is this airbrush painting of an anonymous Spitfire pilot with his aircraft.

Airbrush on canvas (60x100 cm). Herman Veltrop's website is abailable at http://www.airbrushpower.nl/

[Herman Veltrop, used by permission of the artist]

Mark Hanna and his MH434

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:50:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

Dutch airbrush artists Herman Veltrop joins us with this picture of Mark Hanna piloting his favourite Spitfire Mk. IX MH434 over the cloud cover.

Mark Hanna was one of Britain’s most experienced pilots of historic military aircraft, and gained particular fame for his Spitfire displays. Sadly, his brilliant career met a tragic end on 25 September 1999, when Mark passed away following a serious injury in an aircraft crash in Spain.

Airbrush on canvas (80x120 cm). Herman Veltrop's website is abailable at http://www.airbrushpower.nl/
[Herman Veltrop, used by permission of the artist]

Double victory

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:52:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

A recently complete piece completed by James Baldwin is this one, showing the Spitfire Mk. IX BS451 of No 303 (Polish) Squadron in combat with the notorious German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 on 17 August 1943. On that day, Flt/Sgt Chudek and used BS451 to startling effect when he downed two German fighters. The Focke-Wulf in the image is attempting the classic roll and dive that was this type's trademark manoeuvre but on this occasion it was too late.

Penicl on cardboard. Prints of this piece will be available soon from the artist's website at www.watercolour-paintings.me.uk/aviation_art.html
[James Baldwin, used by permission of the artist]

"Rotol constant speed airscrew"

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire Site Editor) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:02:00 +0000

Click on the image to enlarge

1941 advertisment for Rotol constant-speed propellers, by the standards of the era referred to as "airscrew". The introduction of the Rotol 3-blade constant speed propeller which began in June 1940 finally released the full potential of the Spitfire in terms of performance. It added about 7,000 feet to the flight ceiling, cut time to altitude by around 1/4 and improved diving and turning performance. It also cut take-off distance by 1/3 and made the airplane simpler to handle at low speeds.

The improved Spitfire Mk. II, factory-equipped with Rotol propellers and introduced into combat service on 16th August, 1940, was also fitted with a Rolls-Royce Merlin XII which delivered about 190 hp more power. This further increased the climbing speed and service ceiling. The Spitfire II was some 6-10 mph faster than the service Mk Is below 17,000 feet but some 4-8 mph slower above 23,000 feet.
[Jenny Scott coll.]