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From making cars to making planes |
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DESCRIPTION Supermarine Fighter Aircraft Spitfire Mark IX, ML 427
MANUFACTURER Vickers Armstrong, Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory, Britain
INVENTOR/DESIGNER Reginald Joseph Mitchell (1895-1937), British
DATE 1944
MATERIAL Steel, copper alloy, white metal alloy, plastic, rubber, wood
DIMENSIONS 3770x10000x11460
PROVENANCE Gift from the Air Ministry in 1958
LOCATION Thinktank
CAT. NO 1958.S.00987 | |
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Supermarine Spitfire Mark IX | © Thinktank Trust | Come and see it in the Move It gallery at Thinktank
Even before the outbreak of the war aircraft makers could not produce all the planes the RAF needed. The government turned to the nation’s motorcar industry for help.
Massive new ‘shadow factories’ were built alongside those of the six biggest carmakers. Government money paid for them to be built, equipped and managed. Lord Austin, founder of the famous Birmingham car firm, was put in charge of the scheme. Castle Bromwich in Birmingham was the largest of these factories. Half of all the Supermarine Spitfires ever made were built there including this one. A staggering 11,000! MORE |
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