In 1904 an eccentric inventor, Noel Pemberton-Billing, took an interest in flying machines. In the spirit of the pre-Wright brothers pioneers, he launched himself off the roof of his house in a flight which ended 30 feet directly below. From these humble beginnings emerged a company that went on to produce the most famous, most instantly recognisable fighting aircraft in the world: the Supermarine Spitfire. Supermarine's engineering mastermind, R. J. Mitchell, designed an astonishing twenty-four different aircraft during his twenty years at Supermarine. The Spitfire, his greatest creation, earned a legendary status rarely bestowed on mere machines. After Mitchell's untimely death, and the factory's destruction at the hands of the Luftwaffe, Supermarine forged ahead with radical new designs for the jet age. The path to the Spitfire and its jet-powered successors is one of the most remarkable journeys in aviation history. From the founding of the first airport, to record-breaking racing seaplanes and year-long flying boat expeditions beyond the frontiers of civilisation, the story of Supermarine is one that has influenced the course of world history. This book records the history behind the iconic photographs that captured the spirit of this golden age of experimentation and rapidly shifting frontiers of technology and human achievement.

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Subtopic
Military & Maritime HistoryTable of contents
- Cover
- Prelude
- Introduction: The Birthplace of the Spitfire
- Chapter 1: The Men of Supermarine – Noel Pemberton-Billing (1881–1948) Founder of Supermarine
- Chapter 2: The Men of Supermarine – Hubert Scott-Paine Supermarine General Manager
- Chapter 3: The World’s First Airport
- Chapter 4: The Rise of the Flying Boats
- Chapter 5: The RAF Far East Flight ‘The Greatest Flight in History’
- Chapter 6: Aircraft of the Far East Flight: The Supermarine Southampton
- Chapter 7: The Schneider Trophy Part I – The Sea Lions
- Chapter 8: The Schneider Trophy Part II – The Supermarine S4 – S6B
- Chapter 9: The Spitfire
- Chapter 10: The Second World War
- Chapter 11: Towards the Jet Age
- Postscript
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Yes, you can access Supermarine by Christopher Smith in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Technology & Engineering & Military & Maritime History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.