The first "unofficial" Spitfire was a total failure.
The name Spitfire was also "unofficial" at that stage, Mitchell preferring the name
"Shrew"
Despite Reginald Mitchell's tremendous skills it was originally designed to meet the
Air Ministry's demands for a new generation of fighter aircraft to replace the ageing
existing aircraft designed around the twin gun, open cockpit biplane, the specifications
being issued by the Air Ministry in 1931 and annotated F7/30.
Mitchell's original design was for a low cranked monoplane with fixed undercarriage
and of an all metal construction with open cockpit and two machine guns in the forward
fuselage sides and two mounted in the wing roots, all synchronised to fire through the
propeller arc.
This aircraft, designated the Type 224, was flown for the first time on 19 February
1934 in the capable hands of "Mutt" Summers, the chief test pilot for Vickers
and Supermarine.
The performance of the aircraft was however far lower than anticipated and the cooling
system regularly failed. Despite experimentation with new designs submitted to The Air
Ministry in June 1934 under Specification 425a based on the original F7/30 his plans were
still turned down.
Mitchell however persevered and developed his original plans still further by
designing the new fighter with thinner elliptical wings and a smaller span, a stressed
skin construction and a faired cockpit with perspex cover - this was known as the Type
300.
A new engine, the Rolls Royce Merlin, 27 litre PV-12, was to be installed and the Air
Ministry, now impressed formalised a contract on 3 January 1935 with the official
specification written to suit Mitchell's design being designated F37/34 as a short
appendix to the original F7/30 Specification.
By early March of 1936 the prototype, K5054, had completed the ground trials and
engine run-up tests and the necessary Aeronautical Inspection Directorate's Certificate
had been issued and so The Spitfire was ready for the first flight.
There has been much debate upon the exact date that this flight took place although
the Spitfire historian Alfred Price uncovered a hand written report of the expenditure on
the Spitfire programme dated 29 February 1936 amounting to £14,637 on which is hand
written "flown 5 March 1936".
Bearing in mind that Reginald Mitchell was such a stickler for detail, and the fact
that he would have attended the Board meeting on 2 April 1936 at which this certificate
was presented, it can be taken that the Spitfire's first flight was on 5 March 1936 at
Eastleigh. This has now been confirmed by the discovery of an original file, thought to
have been destroyed, which reveals that the first flight lasted just 8 minutes starting at
4.35pm.
Once again the pilot for the new aircraft's first flight was "Mutt" Summers
and in his usual apparent manner he stepped from the aircraft and tersely conveyed to the
assembled crew that he had found no problems - then he added "I don't want anything
touched" - and so the first official Spitfire was born.
Over the next three days a further three flights took place, all piloted by
"Mutt" lasting 23 minutes, 31 minutes and 50 minutes during which time he flight
tested the aircraft with a variety of stalls and steep turns to fully explore the flight
characteristics of this unique aircraft.
Over the next few months further trials were carried out with no major problems and
K5054 was delivered to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Martlesham
Heath for official trials on 26 May 1936.
The Air Ministry were so impressed with this new fighter aircraft that prior to the
full test programme being completed they issued a contract for 310 Spitfires on 3 June
1936.
K5054 - The Prototype, believed to have been taken early May 1936
As for the Prototype itself, it was first involved in an accident during performance
trials at Martlesham Heath on 22 March 1937 following an oil pressure failure where a
wheels up landing was made on heath land beside the Woodbridge - Bawdsley road although
minor damage was sustained and the aircraft was subsequently repaired.
Regrettably the aircraft was totally destroyed on 2 September 1939 in a crash at
Farnborough where the pilot, F/Lt White, was also killed.
These photographs show the prototype with Mutt Summers, Chief Test Pilot, taxiing,
taking off and landing and have been kindly supplied by Peter Weston. (Click on
the thumbnail for a full size image)
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