An icon of the Battle of Britain, the Supermarine Spitfire is probably the best known and most highly regarded British plane of the wartime era. Many would say that the Hawker Hurricane played a more important role in the Battle of Britain itself, but few would deny the Spitfire its other accolades: innovative design, production quantities and longevity. More Spitfires were produced than any other fighter on the allied side and it was the only allied aircraft that remained in production before, throughout and after the war.

The Spitfire was designed by R. J. Mitchell. At the time, Mitchell was the chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong. After the Spitfire's first flight in 1936, but before main production began in 1938, Joseph Smith took over main responsibility for design when Mitchell died of cancer in 1937.

The most striking design feature is the elliptical wing with a thin cross section which, together with the liquid-cooled V12 Rolls Royce 'Merlin' engine in a small, streamlined frame, helped the Spitfire to outperform its contemporaries. Later models, from Mark XII, took the more powerful Rolls Royce Griffon engine.

The vast majority of Spitfires were single seat. There were various conversions to allow a second seat. The one illustrated below is a two-seat trainer, firing up for a display at Biggin Hill.

Other variants were the naval 'Seafire', initially adapted from Spitfires but later as a purpose-built Seafire F/FR Mk 47, with folding wings and other adaptations to make it more suitable for use from carriers, and high-speed photo-reconnaissance craft with extended range.

First Spitfires were armed with eight Browning 7.7mm (0.303") machine guns but later models substituted four of the Brownings for two 20 mm (0.787") Hispano Mk II cannon. They could also carry two 250 lb (113 kg) bombs.

Unfortunately, the first casualties of the Spitfire in action were a pair of Hurricanes that were shot down in a 'friendly fire' incident over the Medway in September 1939. It's first enemy victim was a Junker 88s, shot down on 16th October 1939 over over the Firth of Forth in Scotland.

One of the most famous Spitfires is the Old Flying Machine Company's MkIXb MH434, traditionally flown by the renowned Ray Hanna, former Red Arrows leader and display pilot, until his death in late 2005. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) has five Spitfires, including MkIIa P7350, the only surviving Spitfire that actually flew in the Battle of Britain, and PR MkXIX PM631 high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, which entered service just after the end of the war. There are about 40 more airworthy Spitfires, most in the UK, but with further examples worldwide, and many static Spitfires in museum display condition.