Reginald Joseph Mitchell C.B.E., A.M.I.C.E., F.R.Ae.S. was born on May 20, 1895, at Talke, near Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. He died June 11, 1937, Southampton, Hampshire). Mitchell was a leading British aircraft designer, the developer of the Spitfire, one of the best known fighters in World War II. After secondary schooling Mitchell was apprenticed at a locomotive works and attended night classes at technical colleges. In 1916, before the age of 22, he went to work at Supermarine Aviation Works in Southampton, where he remained the rest of his life. He designed seaplanes, used largely for racing for the Schneider Trophy in the between 1922 and 1931. The Spitfire was a low wing monoplane that was first flown in 1936 and was first put into service with the Royal Air Force in 1938. The Spitfire I entered active service in 1938 had a top speed of approximately 360 miles (580 km) per hour and an armament of eight wing mounted browning .303 inch machine guns. He did not like the name Spitfire and the machine almost was called the SHREW! He sadly died on the 11th of June 1937 aged 42, he only lived long enough to see the prototype fly.  |