A STORY OF FIGHTER DEVELOPMENT

[Music] ladies fight in production there the Supermarine works is the attacker part of one rolls-royce mean jet engine of five thousand pound thrust this fordable fighter armed with four twenty millimeter cannons bombs or rockets it designed for Shore based or aircraft carrier operations and is now being delivered to squadrons or the police Royal Navy it first appeared before the public at the society or British aircraft constructors display at Radlett in 1946 where it's great speed and manoeuvrability was demonstrated by super marines test pilot jeffrey quill [Music] behind it lies a technical refinement learnt from years of experience building high-speed okay nice a future of aerodynamic development which a foretaste can be had in the type v 1m a very high speed version of the attacker with wings and tail swept back 40 degrees and employed at present on research at high transonic speeds this airplane was first seen by the public at the SBAC display at Farnborough in September 49 where it was booked to educators by bigger Supermarine test pilot with then commander mike ditka world press were unanimous and for all its 40 degrees a sweep back and high wing loading it is amazingly stable of slow speeds so that the approach and landing prevent noticed these small airplanes capable of speeds which is the outbreak of the last war would have seen fantastic armed with the most powerful modern weapons and operating heights up to nearly 50,000 feet are highly complex examples and engineering skills the other result not of just two or three years work but at more than 30 years of steady effort achievement in the field of high-performance aeronautics so let's go back for a moment and try and appreciate the technical background which step-by-step led to such aircraft as the attacker and the five 100 25 years ago super Marines produced their entry for the famous Snyder cricket the contest we did so much to stimulate high-speed research it was known as the s for this machine our Stanley ahead of its time and very burdened conception that when it cantilever wings will float structure gained the world speed record at 226 miles an hour in the hands of Captain Henry beard it was powered by 700 horsepower nickel on engine next came the s5 in 1927 also written by Nick and I mention this machine went to Venice and won - an attractive knitler at a speed of 281 miles it was learned by Factor tenants now air Commodore SN Webster in 1928 the s5 put up a world speed record of 390 miles long in the hands of flight attendants now air Commodore Darcy great because a great Grammont written when Darcy Greg was carried ashore after making his record flight the achievements of the F score on the s5 had given us a world lead in high-speed aviation in 1929 came the next on the contest the s6 that year the contest took place in the south and through vast crowds the first machine away with the s6 learned by the late flight attendant our Waghorn and he was the winner at three hundred and twenty eight point six three miles allowed the s6 with its rolls-royce r-type supercharged engine of 1904 spar with the aeroplane that started the association between super brainz and the great engine firm of rolls-royce which has continued without interruption until the present day take you off now if the Italian market 52 which was second in the 1959 contest was learned by the late with talent down Moline [Music] here is a British team our Pro 1929 race actually a Waghorn and we and here is a commander the late air vice-marshal oliver them a squadron leader later in 1929 all about achieve over the measured cost result a new world speed record near six a three hundred and fifty seven point seven miles long for this record the world's right engine delivered 1900 bhp for the 1931 contest Supermarine produced the s6b this machine is modified to accommodate increased machine to tennis still it will be remembered there at this time contemporary fighter aircraft had speeds about 150 miles an hour and therefore the shares of schneider trophy races and the outstanding record speeds achieved was one of the most significant and important aeronautical activities of the interwar period it was not mere chance that within five years an aircraft which is a prototype of the most famous fighting machine of all time took the air I've done the directions of the late RJ Mitte by the same team that built the racing sea plans powered by the rolls-royce merlin engine the little spitfire first appeared in 1936 with its fixed pitch wooden propeller and eight machine guns in case completely inside the wing in july 1936 it made its first public appearance east layer ground [Music] in May 1938 the first production Spitfire dressed in more somber colors took the air did anyone imagine that time of this amazing time deliveries commenced the RAF in August 1938 shortly before the Munich practice and soon the first squadrons were equipped constituting a small that highly trained force for metropolitan defense the outbreak of war found the RAF equipped with only a few squadrons of Spitfires but during late 1939 and early 1940 deliveries women came to the high rates from the spitfire forces rapidly built up the primary role of the fighter is of course to destroy the enemy in the air and to establish air superiority in the earth in which it operates all other rows of sickness there's a combat out of air the Spitfire remain unsurpassed throughout the war in the battle button its specialized in the destruction of German fighters but soon their bomber crews were also had to shout Achtung Spitfire after battle but the arias began to take their fits sweeping over the occupied territories and ever-increasing numbers in 1942 the Spitz began to go abroad to Mata North Africa and later to Sicily Italy France Belgium and Holland meanwhile many more were being shipped to India Burma and Australia ah-hoo they kept up their watch on the champ and taking any big boy soon after the beginning of the war if the can care the Royal Navy must have more high-performance fighters a Spitfire was modified in 1942 for successfully landed on the decorates miss victorious pilot in command of RAM many technical problems have to be faced never come to fit the spitfire for carrier operations but by the time of the all-important occupation or death and the subsequent landings of Salerno she passed as a modified straight father came down flying from the deck so hunter attack officer and unicorn provided the essential air cover over the beaches during at first vital for da da they flew aircraft carriers in the Pacific and were seen in the skies over Japan at the time continent the demands of c-pod was so great that they have to reproduce by other firms the Western Aircraft Company and confer an aircraft limited at one time during 1944 the aggregate Spitfire production through the various liquors works amounted to more than 450 machines of in addition there were thousands of men and women employed in engine reduction by Brazil's rice and by the many subcontractors and equipment manufacturers that is seven different master Spitfires were produced during the war d-day saw the Spitfires in their hundreds and in the thick of battle they operate it from the first has to the stablished our enemies son they fought the enemy in the air and on the ground from Normandy rebellion [Music] little spittle dates a gallon parknem the german air offensive 1940 now four years later immeasurably improved performance Nachman reached a terrible destruction abundances vital communication and supply [Music] very shortly after d-day an event of considerable significance took place the Supermarine experimental airfield at high pass a new high-speed wing or thin laminar flow section with straight taper took the air for the first time designed by Susan green collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory this wing was now fitted to a modified Spitfire known as a spite later stricter with coolant radiators it was to be used on the attacker much essential research was done to the spike including work on the wing Armitage dish in 1944 Spitz Mars once will patrol the skies defense in the home country this time it was a minister the flying ball the Spitfires now capable of very much higher speeds with part of the large rolls-royce griffon in director send them to the archive engine in the s6 we're able to catch this war the deadly weapon mounted for no less than four hundred and ninety flying bar after the war spit bars were still needed and am still produced almost even your attorney Air Force was equipped and they still served in Norway Sweden Denmark Holland Belgium France Italy Turkey and further afield Egypt South Africa India and Australia the last of the stairs for the c-54 to set this machine weighing more than double its original prototype with over two and a half times a range carrying two and a half times the way to the fence apartment having twice the rate of climb then if 10,000 feet are seen and then a hundred miles an hour speed competed without ceremony in March 1949 just 13 years after the first fight - the first time the war is over the days the Spitfire gone and the days of the attacker and the five one hour here in 1949 and 1950 the attacker completed deck blending files aboard HMS industrious in this next landing observes the complete absence of any tendency to bounce from the main undercarriage these undercarriage legs resultant years of specialized development experience capable with standing a vertical velocity of 16 feet per second and a design for the special high degree of rebound damping to obviate bounce a special system of lift spoilers facilitates the Atlantic these characteristics to the stand the stresses of deck landing make the attacker especially suitable for operating ashore for vast areas as well as on ships in March 1948 the attacker carrying four mil to load established a world record from 100 km/s 500 miles now commander might lift who made this record conditions are very van in their visibility [Music] in the factory of South Boston the attackers and nine production and begin to roll off the line meanwhile work goes on in the technical department at her sleep park here the brains and effort of more than 350 men and women are concentrated on the problems of aeronautical design young and cunning technicians work under the guidance of the old experienced hands assistant chief designers Cooper and fatty chief craftsmen corner in charge of engine installation and pepper all these men are sir there were 25 years in the design office in the research department every feature of a new aircraft straight to the source of intestine the separators testify to fuel system at every possible more than 1 million operations were made under under cash history before design was finally approved chemical and metallurgical tests are being made in the monitors the other wig has been prepared for stink test the mechanical test Department providing of old active designers to German coordinating the work of hundreds of men and women and guiding it into a stream of effort which produces a finished person my department of the scale counted things it must grow and it built after Lavinia as far the one upon the other of the city charitable each one must which business and the accumulated knowledge we'll be working together right from the beginning in 1935 the s4 amazed the world is speed record of 226 mile my brother meshes pastor cloud there is several hundred miles long [Music] and best be judged by the achievements of the past [Music]