Spitfire's Forgotten Designer

Spitfire's Forgotten Designer PDF Author: Mike Roussel
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752492403
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
The Supermarine Spitfire was a classic design, well known for its efforts in defending British shores during the Second World War. However, while Reginald Mitchell is rightly celebrated for his original design of the Spitfire, the role of Joe Smith in the development of the Spitfire is often overlooked. Smith was an integral member of the design team from the earliest days, and on Mitchell’s death in 1937 he was appointed design office manager before becoming chief designer. Smith’s dedicated leadership in the development of the Spitfire during the war, as well as his efforts on post-war jet aircraft, deserve their place in history. Charting the fascinating history of Supermarine from 1913 to 1958, when the company ceased its operations in Southampton, shortly after Joe Smith’s death in 1956, this book tells its story through the eyes of apprentices and many other members of Smith’s team. Marvellous photographs add to the sense of what it was like to work under Joe Smith at the drawing boards of one of Britain’s most famous wartime aviation manufacturers.

Spitfire's Forgotten Designer

Spitfire's Forgotten Designer PDF Author: Mike Roussel
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752492403
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 446

Get Book

Book Description
The Supermarine Spitfire was a classic design, well known for its efforts in defending British shores during the Second World War. However, while Reginald Mitchell is rightly celebrated for his original design of the Spitfire, the role of Joe Smith in the development of the Spitfire is often overlooked. Smith was an integral member of the design team from the earliest days, and on Mitchell’s death in 1937 he was appointed design office manager before becoming chief designer. Smith’s dedicated leadership in the development of the Spitfire during the war, as well as his efforts on post-war jet aircraft, deserve their place in history. Charting the fascinating history of Supermarine from 1913 to 1958, when the company ceased its operations in Southampton, shortly after Joe Smith’s death in 1956, this book tells its story through the eyes of apprentices and many other members of Smith’s team. Marvellous photographs add to the sense of what it was like to work under Joe Smith at the drawing boards of one of Britain’s most famous wartime aviation manufacturers.

Secrets of the Spitfire

Secrets of the Spitfire PDF Author: Lance Cole
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1781599963
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 538

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Book Description
This book tells the tale of the brilliant aerodynamicist Beverley Shenstone MASc, HonFRAes, FAIAA,AFIAS, FCASI, HonOSTIV. As R.J. Mitchells chief aerodynamicist, it was Shenstone who designed the Spitfires wing the wing that gave the Spitfire it crucial advantage in the Battle of Britain and beyond. A quiet man, Shenstone never sought glory for his work, yet in recent years he has been credited as the man who persuaded Mitchell to adopt the ellipse a modified ellipse that was unique in its shape and its combined use of two integrated aerofoil sections. Shenstones knife-edge shape reached far back into early aeronautics for its inspiration. This book also names the other forgotten Spitfire design contributors who were Mitchells men Mr Faddy, Mr Fear, Mr Fenner, Mr Shirvall, a Prof Howland and others.Intriguingly, Shenstone had left his native Canada and early training as an RCAF pilot, to study at Junkers and then under the father of the delta wing Alexander Lippisch in Germany in the early 1930s. There, he became immersed in delta wings and flying wings. He also became a glider pilot. The story of how Beverley came to be in the right place at the right time is revealed for the first time. So too are the enigmatic tales of his involvement with the military, the intelligence world, Lord Beaverbrook , the USAF, and Canadian aviation.During the war Shenstone worked at the top secret Wright Patterson air force base and was involved with the Air Ministry and the pro-British movement in America when Shenstone worked for Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfrid Freeman, the unsung hero behind British defence procurement. Shenstone achieved high office a President of the Royal Aeronautical Society, technical director at BOAC, chief engineer at BEA and a consultant to several aircraft makers. He was courted by Avro, de Havilland and Vickers, and was the force behind the renaissance of human-powered flight.Using exclusive access to his family documents, his unpublished autobiography and many notes and stories, as well as forensic research, this book details for the first time, a new twist to the Spitfires story and the secrets of its advanced science. A tale of design and military intelligence reveals a story of a man whose name should be more widely known in the UK, Canada and the aviation world.

Schneider Trophy to Spitfire

Schneider Trophy to Spitfire PDF Author: John Shelton
Publisher: Haynes Publishing UK
ISBN: 9781844255306
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This is the first book to give a comprehensive account of the entire design career of legendary aircraft designer Reginald J. Mitchell. Renowned as the creator of the iconic Supermarine Spitfire fighter, Mitchell was also responsible for the sleek record-breaking seaplane aircraft that won outright the Schneider Trophy in 1931, and other classic designs such as the Stranraer and Southampton flying boats. John Shelton examines Mitchell’s 28 designs and recounts how each of his aircraft emerged in response to contemporary requirements and to prevailing design philosophies.

Beyond the Spitfire

Beyond the Spitfire PDF Author: Ralph Pegram
Publisher: History Press
ISBN: 9780750965156
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Was R.J. Mitchell truly a genius? Delving into the projects that remained stuck on the drawing board. Reginald Mitchell's death at just 42, soon followed by the defence of Britain by pilots flying his finest creation, the Spitfire, elevated him to legendary status. He spent his whole career as a designer with Supermarine, whose products came from his pen or those that worked under him. Histories focus on the successful aircraft; those that failed to make the grade tend to be glossed over. But beyond this is a large body of concepts, early designs and projects that have never seen the light of day, the ideas generated by Mitchell and his team that never left the drawing board ; stepping- stones on the way to later aircraft, sketched out concepts that withered on the vine, and projects that failed to attract orders. This book attempts to look at the entirety of Mitchell's portfolio in perspective. Was Mitchell truly a genius? Hopefully this book will allow the reader to draw their own conclusions.

R J Mitchell

R J Mitchell PDF Author: Gordon Mitchell
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780947750053
Category : Aircraft industry
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Biografi over den enkelske flykonstruktør, der skabte det fra 2. verdenskrig kendte jagerfly Supermarine Spitfire, redigeret og delvis skrevet af hans søn.

Dogfight

Dogfight PDF Author: David Owen
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473830680
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 421

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Book Description
Innumerable books have been published on the two most famous fighter aircraft of all time, the Supermarine Spitfire and the Messerschmitt Bf109. But books setting out to tell the story of both aircraft are very much rarer - probably fewer than the fingers of one hand. Yet their joint story is one which bears retelling since both were essential to the air campaigns of World War Two.Incredibly, the men who designed them lacked any experience of designing a modern fighter. R J Mitchell had begun his career working on industrial steam locomotives, Willy Messerschmitt had cut his aeronautical teeth on light and fragile gliders and sporting planes. Yet both men not only managed to devise aircraft which could hold their own in a world where other designs went from state-of-the-art to obsolete in a staggeringly short time, but their fighters remained competitive over six years of front-line combat. Despite the different ways their creators approached their daunting tasks and the obstacles each faced in acceptance by the services for which they were designed, they proved to be so closely matched that neither side gained a decisive advantage in a titanic struggle. Had either of them not matched up to its opponent so well, then the air war would have been a one-sided catastrophe ending in a quick defeat for the Allies or the Axis powers, and the course of twentieth century history would have been changed beyond recognition.

Mustang Designer

Mustang Designer PDF Author: Ray Wagner
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution
ISBN: 1588344282
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Mustang Designer tells the story of American wartime fighter development, including engines and armaments, as part of a nationwide program of aircraft builders and fliers, focusing on Edgar Schmued, the designer of the Mustang. The P-51 Mustang is widely regarded as the best propeller-driven fighter that ever flew. What many might not realize is that the plane's developer was a German migrant. This book tells of how Schmued created a weapon that would ultimately prove lethal to the aspirations of those who had seized control over his native land.

The Grand Designers

The Grand Designers PDF Author: John D. Anderson Jr
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108340563
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
The airplane has experienced phenomenal advancement in the twentieth century, changing at an exponential rate from the Wright brothers to the present day. In this ground breaking work based on new research, Dr John D. Anderson, Jr, a curator at the National Air and Space Museum, analyzes the historical development of the conceptual design process of the airplane. He aims to answer the question of whether airplane advancement has been driven by a parallel advancement in the intellectual methodology of conceptual airplane design. In doing so, Anderson identifies and examines six case histories of 'grand designers' in this field, and challenges some of the preconceived notions of how the intellectual methodology of conceptual airplane design advanced. Filled with over one hundred illustrations which bring his words to life, Anderson unfolds the lives and thoughts of these grand designers.

R.J. Mitchell: Schooldays to Spitfire

R.J. Mitchell: Schooldays to Spitfire PDF Author: Gordon Mitchell
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752474480
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
The Spitfire began as a near disaster. The developments of this famous aircraft took it from uncompromising beginnings to become the legendary last memorial to a great man - an elegant and, with its pilots, a highly effective, weapon of war. The Spitfire would not have happened at all, however, without Mitchell's indomitable courage and determination in the face of severe physical and psychological adversity resulting from cancer. His contribution to the Battle of Britain, and thereafter to the achievement of final victory in 1945, was so great that our debt to him can never be repaid. This poignant story is written from a uniquely personal viewpoint by his son, Gordon Mitchell.

Great Aircraft Designs 1900-Today

Great Aircraft Designs 1900-Today PDF Author: Richard Spilsbury
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 1484626214
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description
Discover the most amazing aircraft designs since 1900. From the Wright brothers' Flyer to supersonic jets, this book charts the story of design that led to some amazing machines. We look at the needs that prompted their design, the designers responsible for breaking boundaries and the technology that made them possible.